About

Founded in 2013 by musician and cultural practitioner Saif Samejo, Lahooti emerged from humble gatherings in Jamshoro — where artists shared songs, rhythms, and resistance under the open sky. Those rooftop sessions became a festival. That festival became a movement. Today, Lahooti is a force at the intersection of music, memory, and meaningful change.

What sets Lahooti apart is its deep commitment to both celebration and structure. In an age of tokenization, Lahooti creates ethical, inclusive stages — where folk legends and first-time performers stand shoulder to shoulder. Over 300 artists have found space here, from iconic voices like Mai Dhai, Bhagat Bhooro Lal, Shamu Bai, and Faqeer Zulfiqar, to new waves like Nafs band, Indus Valley Squad, Arslan Shykh, Amjad Mirani, Urooj Fatima, and Shamroz Dibai.

International performers from Nepal, France, Hungary, Australia, Indonesia, Canada and the U.S. have joined in — not as headliners, but as collaborators.
 

Through Lahooti Live Sessions, many artists saw a camera for the first time. Others saw their music broadcast on MTV Indies. These weren’t passive recordings — they were moments of transformation, where folk instruments met digital loops, and changg and boreendo rhythms merged with synth beats.
 

Beyond music, Lahooti has fostered public discourse and cultural literacy. Since 2013, it has hosted 103 panel sessions across Sindh — shaping narratives and policies alike:

• 35 on climate, water, and environmental justice

• 24 on cultural preservation and indigenous knowledge

• 12 on creative arts and media

• 8 on gender, sexuality, and women’s rights

• and others on musicology, dissent, education, and spiritual inquiry

• Its panels have informed policy — including conversations around music education in Sindh’s public schools, and bridging indigenous knowledge with environmental advocacy.

• Lahooti is also a school, a lab, and a living archive. Between 2018 and 2024, it hosted 13 workshops on music, dance, sustainability, feminist practice, and storytelling — building the confidence and skills of hundreds of participants. It has elevated dance as a central, not decorative, practice, featuring pioneers like Suhaee Abro, Kaif Ghaznavi, Joshinder Chaggar, Mani Chao and emerging performers like Afsheen Memon & Shahin Rasaili.

• Its Art & Craft Market showcases dozens of women-led businesses, offering direct economic opportunity through exposure and sales — from composters and ajraks to bamboo structures and handwoven goods.

• Lahooti’s regional presence spans Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Sukkur, Aror, Mithi, Larkano, and Karachi — each location curated with intention:

• Mithi for interfaith harmony

• Sukkur for Indus River advocacy

• Aror for heritage and academia

• Larkano for youth pride

• Karachi for coastal ecology

• Hyderabad for cultural revival
  
  Thousands travel to these gatherings each year, supporting local hotels, artisans, transporters, and food vendors. In doing so, Lahooti has catalyzed regional economies and inspired a wave of independent festivals across Sindh.
  
  Core Team:
  Saif Samejo, Sana Khoja, Areesha Khuwaja (Pakkhee), Asif Ansari, Arshmaan Alee

By collaborating with the Culture Department Government of Sindh, British Council, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, United Nations Pakistan, and an ecosystem of communities, Lahooti continues to bridge the grassroots and the global. It doesn't curate culture for consumption —
it curates it for connection, continuity, and change.
 

Today, Lahooti’s initiatives form the pillars of an evolving organization:
 

Lahooti Melo

Pakistan’s first music festival rooted in regional identity.
A celebration of sound, soil, and soul — bringing artists, activists, scholars, and communities together in cities often left out of the cultural map. Each edition is curated with intention, centering place-based stories and voices.

Lahooti Live Sessions

A living, digital archive of Pakistan’s musical heritage.
Documenting lesser-known instruments, rare vocal traditions, and bold new fusions — from boreendo and bhagti to electronic loops. These sessions bridge ancestral rhythms with contemporary expression.
 

Lahooti Music Aashram

A school for sonic lineage.
A training ground where young learners are taught to play both folk and contemporary instruments — not as separate genres, but as interconnected languages. The Aashram revives oral pedagogy and offers mentorship by master musicians.
 

Winter Lores

A seasonal event series preserving the art of orature and storytelling.
From folktales to resistance poetry, this platform revives spoken traditions, featuring poets, storytellers, and elders in a fireside atmosphere — where memory is passed mouth to mouth, word to word.
 

Lahooti Coming Together

Art in service of solidarity.
A gathering space activated during moments of collective need — from flood relief to humanitarian aid. Through music, community, and fundraising, Lahooti responds to crisis with care and creativity.
 

 Lahooti Center for Contemporary Folklore

A new venture into long-term archival work.
This research-led initiative is dedicated to digitizing, documenting, and reinterpreting folk traditions across Pakistan — from regional rituals to endangered languages — using interdisciplinary tools and decolonial methods.