Biography

Sharp eloquence, humanist philosophies and mystic poetries are given a global voice by Arieb Azhar – acclaimed musician, producer and curator. Arieb was exposed to performing arts and activism from a young age. He began his career as a professional musician performing Irish, Balkan and Pakistani music with his band “The Shamrock Rovers” while living in Zagreb- Croatia . Arieb became a pioneer of performing and interpreting Sufi poetries for urban audiences. He co-founded and curated the “Music Mela” festival of Islamabad in 2014 and later established his own festival platform “Art Langar” in 2017, which connects music, arts and culture with ecology and the environment. In 2018 Arieb took charge of T2F (The Second Floor) – a renowned social venue, art gallery and cultural hub of Karachi and spearheaded its activities as executive director for two years. During this time, he also curated the third edition of the multidisciplinary “Creative Karachi Festival”. Arieb has over 25 years of experience in music and cultural promotion and is a regular speaker on the topic of culture, music and Sufi poetry of Pakistan. He has produced several documentary films on music including award-winning documentary “Indus Blues” on Pakistan’s endangered musical heritage and a 13 episode travel show “Salaam Balkan” on the music of Bosnia and Croatia. He was featured in the award-winning US-Pakistan film “Without Shephards” of which he was also the narrator.