Beyond borders and gatekeepers

Express Tribune

13-02-2025

If you take the road to Larkana this weekend, you may cross paths with a van packed with musicians and a humming anticipation. Perhaps, you will encounter an old alghozo player tapping his fingers on his knee. Or an aspiring rapper from Lyari adjusting his headphones. That is if you are not too caught up watching the fields slip past. Lahooti Melo's 12th edition arrives with a reminder to observe your surroundings.
Founded by Sketches frontman Saif Samejo and his wife Sana Khoja, the festival is just as much about space as it is about music. But Lahooti Melo is not only about sound—it is also about space. "It's a whole structure that gets a boost," Sana tells The Express Tribune. "When you leave Karachi to attend Lahooti in Sukkur or Larkana, you want to shop certain things, try certain foods. The journey matters as much as the destination."
More than a stage
When the festival moved to Hyderabad, it nudged open the doors for a city with scarce avenues for cultural expression. This year, as it moves to Larkana, a city of rivers and poets, political legacies and simmering discontent, a similar transformation is hoped for. The guesthouses are already filling up, the local markets preparing for an influx of visitors.
"When we had our festival in Mithi, all the guesthouses were sold out," says Sana. "It's the same everywhere we go." The festival does not just bring audiences—it pulls in local businesses, vendors, craftspeople. People come not only for the music but for the journey: the roadside dhabas, the generous simplicity of kiosks, the quiet pull of an unfamiliar city made momentarily familiar through sound and shared experience.
In a country where the public commons is constantly shrinking, where art feels increasingly privatised, Lahooti insists that space can be reclaimed. The agenda repeats itself this year, insisting that music, conversation, and cultural ferment cannot be contained within the borders of metropolis and market. What happens when you shift the stage?
A lineup that blurs boundaries
"This year's Lahooti Melo lineup is a reflection of what we have always stood for - bridging cultures, breaking barriers, amplifying voices that deserve to be heard," says Saif. "We are bringing together legends, emerging artists, and global sounds in a way that blurs the lines between the traditional and the contemporary."
There is Hadiqa Kiani, whose voice has carried across decades, sharing the stage with Shae Gill and Umair Jaswal who rose from the digital ether into global prominence. Sindhi folk legends Sajan Sindhi and Dilbar Jalal Chandio perform alongside Ittehad Band, a Lahooti discovery that has since found its way to mainstream platforms. From the electronic pulse of German DJ Sabrina to the ancient strains of Nathan Torrence's alghozo, the festival's soundscape is deliberately porous.
"The music landscape has undoubtedly expanded, with artists from the peripheries regions gaining more visibility," Saif nods before sketching the long path that lies ahead. "But the barriers remain - record labels still exploit folk musicians, limiting their autonomy and preventing these traditions from flourishing. Corporations engage in tokenisation, offering short-lived visibility without sustainable support. This is why independent platforms like Lahooti are essential."
At its core, Lahooti Melo remains committed to emerging artists. Arslan Shykh, a rising voice from Larkana, and Ittehad Band, who recently made waves in Nescafé Basement, represent the new wave of artists breaking through. Young performers like Sachal Jiskani, Azad Qalam, Asif Balli, AK Sky, and Urooj Fatima are carrying forward rap and storytelling traditions, channelling resistance and identity through their words.
"We're not just giving artists a stage; we're nurturing long-term opportunities," Saif explains. "The industry has gatekeepers, and for musicians outside the mainstream, the barriers remain Lahooti is about creating a space where these artists don't just perform but thrive on their own terms."
Expanding the conversation
The 12th edition promises to turn its ear toward younger voices - not just in music, but in setting up narratives of identity and people. One panel will probe the role of influencers in shaping cultural narratives; how an algorithm can amplify or erase, how a viral moment can spark dialogue or dilute meaning. Meanwhile a session on rap brings together voices from Lyari and beyond, tracing hip-hop's easy affinity towards the margins and their resistance.
"We are exploring how digital archiving can preserve cultural heritage beyond commercial exploitation, dissecting the role of influencers in shaping social consciousness, and amplifying the resistance embedded in rap music," Saif shares a snapshot of the two-day festival. "Sessions like Larkano Saah Sebano highlight the intellectual and literary contributions of the region, while discussions on inclusive storytelling in film and TV push for narratives that reflect our realities."
Another talk, on film and television, interrogates the relationship between mainstream entertainment and regional narratives. Director Farooq Rind, whose hit drama Ishq Murshid featured the Sindhi song Sapna Sapna, joins the discussion. "People connected with the song regardless of whether they spoke the language or not. Culture has a way of touching hearts without interlocutors," remarks Sana.
Hope as resistance
When asked how one sustains hope in an era of exhaustion, the Sketches frontman is clear: "Hope isn't naive - it's an act of defiance." Economic precarity and political disillusionment have shadowed generations, but the entanglement of exploitation, violence, and climate catastrophe has tightened into an unrelenting grip, unprecedented in its scale and severity. But Lahooti Melo refuses to give in. "When a musician from a forgotten village gets to perform on a stage, when a young artist finds a mentor, when a fading instrument is revived - these are radical acts of hope. And they are enough to keep us going."
He adds, "When everything is designed to crush us, making music, telling stories, and gathering as a community is itself a form of resistance. Lahooti Melo exists because despair cannot be the final answer."
Lahooti Melo 2025 will take place in Larkana on February 15-16.