The Lahore Arts Organized a musical night on Wednesday at Alhamra Arts Center Mall.The Executive Director Alhamra Farhat Jabeen has said that Alhamra Academy of Performing Arts is one of the great institutions of the country. A large number of young people get education from here. She further said that the Alhamra Academy of Performing Arts and it’s teachers polished the skills of our young artists here to make them the most talented artists in the field of fine arts. Deputy Director Alhamra Naveed Ul Hassan Bukhari said that the purpose of the program is to provide an opportunity to music listeners to listen standard singing from great singers During the event Performers Abdul Rauf, Inam Ali Khan, Nayab Ali Khan, Chand Khan and Suraj Khan performed brilliantly. The event was broadcasted live on social media. Alhamra is basically an Arabic word, which means a woman in “Red Clothes”. This was the name initially given to the Royal territory at Cordoba Spain by the Arabs. The idea of constructing buildings of this style for an Arts Council was sought by our illustrious Architect Mr. Nayyar Ali Dada. The palaces and other buildings were constructed in red bricks.The building of Alhamra Arts Council was being awarded with Agha Khan Award for architecture in the seven Award distributing ceremony being held in 1998 at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The Arts Gallery covers an area of close to 11,000 sqft and is used for exhibition of art works for solo as well as group shows. It is split into four parts and provided to artists free of charges. From the year 1998 it was decided to have painting or 10% of the commission from the artists performing solo exhibitions. Quite a few artists from all over the country have showcased their work The Arts Gallery is really an astounding facility for the artist community and has gone made huge progress in the promotion of fine arts. In addition to national exhibitions of paintings and groups including solo shows help a lot in projecting and promoting the discipline.It encourages the younger generation in art education and attracts public appreciation. Consequently, the market develops for the art works and people become interested in arts under international standards exchange programs, with Federal Government, many exhibitions of arts, sculpture, architecture and handicrafts are held which provide plentiful opportunities to the local artists to see standard of work in the world. Alhamra Art Gallery, located at a central place in the city and being offered with no charges is a big credit to the Punjab Government who finances the Arts Council for all purposes. The Art Museum located at Alhamra Cultural Complex Qaddafi Stadium is known as the Art Musuem and houses the collection of paintings, prints, sculptures and ceramics owned by the Lahore Arts Council. A curator looks after the collection and other affairs pertaining to the Art Musuem This Museum has an area of over 12000 sqft. with generous wall space for displaying 200 plus works. The provision of the Musuem has fulfilled a long standing and important demand of the artist. This is the only Musuem that houses a collection that stays on display permanently with works of old masters and living legends along with contemporary artists on display. The sheer number of activities of the Alhamra Arts Council is vast and varied. The halls and theatres are taken all year round and the people of Lahore enjoy a collection of informative and entertaining programs that range from music, theatre, festivals, literary (book launchings, poetry reading, seminars, lectures & discussions), school programs and government organized programs To enter it is required that an application be written giving details of the program plus duration along with script, cast etc. This department is headed by a Director (Art & Culture) who oversees all activities of the auditoriums. Alhamra Arts Council has taken an initiative in order to develop a recording studio which was funded by Government of Punjab, Information and Culture Department. The recording studio consists of latest musical instruments, Sitar, Tabla, Guitar, Violin along with a newly built sound proof recording room for recording songs of high quality with the help of all musical instruments. One of the major production of recording studio is Alhamra Unplugged Season 1 which was being launched in 2015 and on Aired in Feb 2016. Alhamra Unplugged season one Auditions were held in Alhamra Arts Council, Kinnaird College, University of Lahore and F.C College. More than 500 contestants participated and only 22 Artists were selected. Artists include Justin Girls, Grandson of Ustad Tafu, Pakistan Idol Contestant, Rahat Fateh Ali khan’s student, female vocalist of Pakistani movie, Naqsh Band, LUMS Olympiad winner. The Administrative Department is headed by a Deputy Director with an Assistant Director to look after all kind of paper work, legal issues, and everyday running of the Arts Council. Security and upkeep of the Alhamra comes under the sphere of the Administrative Department. Alhamra Arts Council has a long tradition of arranging for children. One of them is the Puppet Theatre that has been presented for more than twenty-five years and has provided entertainment to children. Every Sunday morning children can see fairy and folk tales performing live on the stage. Regular workshops are conducted for those interested in learning this art form. This theatre has a seating capacity of 150.