After nearly two decades of devastating conflict, of violence made more horrific by the achingly lovely natural surroundings, times are better now in Kashmir, the Himalayan region fought over by India and Pakistan. The two countries are engaged in a peace process, and the arts here are slowly coming back to life.

Over the last two or three years, Kashmiri painters, sculptors, filmmakers, poets and playwrights have again started plowing ground that had lain fallow for so long. Their cautious reemergence comes at a time when civil society as a whole is beginning to reclaim the space formerly monopolized by the Indian army and Pakistani-backed militants, whose confrontations have left more than 60,000 people dead since 1989.

- Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times: Link.

Image: “Masood Hussain, a sculptor and teacher, brought an arts conference back to Srinigar after it had gone years without such gatherings.” [Photo by Zackary Canepari]

Update, see also:
“Violent protests in Kashmir threaten India-Pakistan peace process. Riots sparked by a controversial land-transfer deal have widened to become pro-independence rallies.”
- Link.

~ Karl Jones

© karl_g_jones for Babel: The multilingual, multicultural online journal and community of arts and ideas, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
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