Lok Virsa on Thursday created a new diorama on ethnic wedding costumes of Pakistan depicting wedding and other traditional costumes from all provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Information & Broadcasting Ministry Additional Secretary Zahida Parveen was the chief guest of the opening ceremony. Lok Virsa Executive Director Shahira Shahid in her welcome address said that Lok Virsa is a national institution and works in close collaboration with all provincial culture departments, arts councils and community-based organisations for promotion of their indigenous folk culture. The ceremony featured a specially-produced traditional/wedding costumes show presented by male and female models on ramp on beautiful tunes of the popular folk musical instruments. Live folk musical performances by folk artists and folk musicians are also included in the programme. Zahida Parveen also spoke on the occasion and commended efforts of Lok Virsa for materialising the project in such a beautiful and effective way. “The fascinating thing about the Heritage Museum is that it presents history and living traditions of the people of Pakistan both from the mainstream and the remotest regions of the country,” she expressed. Lok Virsa is a specialised institution dealing with research, collection, documentation, preservation and dissemination of the Pakistan’s traditional culture. Established in the year 1974, the institute has made notable achievements in the field of culture at home and abroad. These include establishment of the first ethnological museum in Pakistan, officially named as Pakistan National Museum of Ethnology and popularly known as Heritage Museum. The museum depicts living cultural traditions and lifestyles of people covering whole Pakistan including remote and far-flung areas, presented through three-dimensional creative manner. The museum has a covered area of 60,000 square feet which makes it the largest museum in Pakistan. Besides documenting the indigenous folk heritage of Pakistan, the museum also projects cultures of other friendly and brotherly countries that share similarities and influences with the culture of Pakistan including China, Iran, Turkey and Central Asian States through various link passages showcasing artefacts contributed by them, the statement added. The museum is an important show-window on Pakistan’s living culture which is frequented by around 50,000 visitors a month. This includes VIP delegates, dignitaries, state guests, students, researchers and general public. The improvement of the existing displays and the creation of new dioramas is an on-going process at the museum, said the organisers. Published in Daily Times, January 11th 2019.