جب سے ناپا بنی ہے پوری کوشش کر رہی ہے کہ سارے تھیٹر سمیت تمام پرفارمنگ آرٹس کو ہی ایک مستقل اور باعزت حیثیت حاصل ہو جائے بلکہ تماشائیوں کے ذوق کی بھی پرورش ہو۔
یہ کام آسان نہیں ہے کیوں کہ ایک تو یہ خالصتاً غیر روایتی ہے اور پھر اب ایسے لوگ بھی بڑی تعداد میں سرگرم ہیں جو من پسند تصورات اور معنی مسلط کرنے پر تُلے ہیں۔
کراچی آرٹس کونسل میں ناپا کے تحت ڈرامہ ’آرٹ‘ پیش کیا جا رہا ہے۔
یہ ڈرامہ ساحر (فواد خان)، سمیر (عدنان جعفر) اور سلمان (منصور احمد) نامی تین پرانے دوستوں کی کچھ ملاقاتوں پر مشتمل ہے۔ ان میں سمیر جلدی امراض کا ماہر اور خوشحال ہے، ساحر ایک مقامی یونیورسٹی میں اردو پڑھاتا ہے اور سلمان کو تعلیم حاصل کرنے کے باوجود مناسب ملازمت نہیں ملی۔
ازدواجی اعتبار سے تینوں سنگل ہیں۔ سمیر کی بیوی سے علیحدگی ہو چکی ہے۔ ساحر کا عشق جاری ہے اور سلمان اپنے مالک کی نسبتی بیٹی سے شادی کی تیاریوں میں ہے۔
یہ لوگ سمیر کے گھر اکھٹے ہوتے ہیں اور ڈرامے میں پیش کی جانے والی ان کی ہر ملاقات اختلاف اور نا اتفاقی پر ختم ہوتی ہے۔
نیا جھگڑا چار بائی پانچ فٹ ایک پینٹنگ سے پیدا ہوتا ہے جو سمیر نے ڈھائی لاکھ میں خریدی ہے اور جو سفید کینوس پر محض کچھ سفید خراشوں پر مشتمل ہے۔
ساحر اسے پینٹنگ ماننے کے لیے تیار نہیں۔ سمیر اس کی باتوں کو روایت پسندی اور جدید تصورات اور محسوسات سے ناآشنائی کا نتیجہ قرار دیتا ہے۔
یہ بحث آرٹ میں جدیدیت اور روایت کے مباحث میں آنے والے دلائل کی مضحکہ خیزی پر مشتمل ہے لیکن اس کے دوران بات نکلتی ہے تو ایک دوسرے کے ذاتی مسائل اور حوالوں تک جا پہنچتی ہے
London (CNN) -- London has unveiled The Orbit, the sculpture at the heart of the Olympic Park, with the city's mayor claiming the bright red swirling structure -- likened by many to a rollercoaster -- is better than the Eiffel Tower.
Boris Johnson said the Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond-designed structure, which rises up next to the Olympic Stadium at Stratford in the city's East End was "a masterpiece of design and engineering."
"It endlessly repays the viewer, it is a very rewarding thing to look at. The Eiffel Tower is very simple, the Shard, behind me, is a piece of cake -- any child of two could do that -- this is much more elaborate, more sophisticated, more intriguing and complex," he told CNN.
The tower stands 114.5m tall, making it Britain's biggest sculpture, more than twice the height of Nelson's Column, almost six times the height of the Angel of the North, and 22m taller than the Statue of Liberty.
Visitors will climb 455 steps -- or ride one of two elevators -- to two observation decks offering expansive views across London.
Johnson and Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of steelmaker ArcelorMittal, joined forces to champion the creation of a large-scale sculpture at the Olympic Park -- after meeting in a cloakroom at Davos.
"It started as a small project, a casual discussion." Mittal told CNN. "It was just a scribble on a piece of paper. But it expanded and expanded into this exciting project."
Mittal's company stumped up more than £19 million ($30 million) of the £24 million cost of the structure, providing steel from their plants across the globe.
"The Olympics are a global games -- the whole world participates, 202 countries. ArcelorMittal has businesses in so many countries around the world and so I wanted every one to participate," he said.
Kapoor and Balmond won a competition to design the piece, and have watched it rise from the one-time wasteland, as the Olympic venues around it have also taken shape.
Kapoor said the initial brief called for a tower on the Olympic site, "100 meters tall, or more, and we've done more," explaining that the work "questions the concept of what towers can be."
"As you walk up, around and through it, it's as if the object is happening around you," he said, adding that the Orbit "demands, requires, needs public participation."
The artist conceded that the £15 entry fee (£7 for children) was high, but that it had been an expensive project, and that he hoped it would eventually be free, allowing more people to visit.
(CNN) -- Scores of pages of al Qaeda documents seized in last year's U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden were released Thursday.
They comprise 175 pages in the original Arabic of letters and drafts from bin Laden and other key al Qaeda figures, including the American Adam Gadahn and Abu Yahya al-Libi.
The Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, published the papers on its website.
Here are the center's brief description of the documents. You can click the links for the English translations.
Description of the Abbottabad documents (PDF)
The center says the letters were written between September 2006 and April 2011 by many well-known figures.
Letter from bin Laden in August 2010 seeking information about Anwar al-Awlaki and Yemen (PDF)
References are also made to floods in Pakistan and the media plan for the 9/11 anniversary.
Letter from Gadahn in January 2011 giving media advice for 9/11 anniversary (PDF)
The center says the letter appears to be a response to earlier questions from bin Laden.
Letter from bin Laden, using the pseudonym "Zamaria" to the head of a Somali militant group (PDF)
Bin Laden politely declines a request for formal unity with al Qaeda.
Letter composed in December 2010 from a high-ranking personality, possibly Ayman al-Zawahiri (PDF)
The letter refers to the request from the al-Shabab group in Somali to unite with al Qaeda.
Letter dated December 3, 2010, about indiscriminate violence of a group in Pakistan (PDF)
The authors indicate that al Qaeda's top leaders had serious concerns about the actions of the TTP, a Pakistani Taliban group, including the killing of Muslims.
Letter saying that a militant group needed financial assistance "to support jihad" (PDF)
The center believes the letter was forwarded to bin Laden.
Part of a letter discussing the re-branding of al Qaeda (PDF)
It's not clear who wrote the letter, but it talks of a need to change the name of the terror organization to "Qaidat al-Jihad."
Letter from bin Laden dated April 26, 2011 (PDF)
Bin Laden outlines his response to the Arab Spring, a week before his death.
Letter dated March 28, 2007, showing the author's alarm at al Qaeda in Iraq's conduct (PDF)
The author, who appears to be of Egyptian origin, asks a legal scholar about the use of chlorine gas.
Letter dated June 11, 2009, about the release of detainees from Iran (PDF)
There is an indication that more people may be released, including some bin Laden relatives.
Draft of a document on the Arab Spring (PDF)
This formed the basis of statements released by al-Zawahiri and reveal the al Qaeda editing process.
Two letters apparently on how al Qaeda is perceived among Saudi scholars (PDF)
The author provides summaries of meetings with scholars, apparently with the intent of evaluating support.
Letter dated October 21, 2010, from bin Laden on the Afghanistan/Pakistan region (PDF)
Bin Laden comments on the security situation in Pakistan's Waziristan and the need to move al Qaeda members out.
Letter, possibly from bin Laden, to the head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (PDF)
The author tells group to focus on the United States, not the Yemeni government .
Series of paragraphs, some of which match letter in previous entry to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (PDF)
The letter discusses strategy, the need to target the United States including possible U.S. targets in South Africa.
