On May 12, 2018, Asia Society hosted the third annual Lahore Literary Festival New York, the American version of the celebrated Pakistani cultural event. The "safe place for dangerous ideas" (The Guardian) hosts writers, artists, and commentators speaking on issues affecting Pakistan and the world. The full day of programs included discussions on fiction and non-fiction, art, architecture, history, current events, and politics. 

Watch the complete videos of each panel discussion below: 

How has the artistic development of Lahore layered upon itself? A MacArthur Fellow, an art historian, and a curator discuss the progression from Mughal Empire aesthetics to the Progressive Artists' movement of post-Partition India.

Panelists including Man Booker prize winner Kiran Desai discuss whether new literature from South Asia is humanizing a region long plagued by crime and volatility.

Waqas Khan's minimalist drawings, which were recently shown at the Lahore Art Biennale, are deeply inspired by the Sufi poets of South Asia. Here, he appears in conversation with curator Alistair Hudson, discussing the connection between his work, religion, and contemporary society.

What makes a city extraordinary in the hurly-burly of urban South Asia? Architects, conservationists, and urban planners discuss the remarkable building history and environment of Lahore.

In a globalizing world, the Urdu language has found new homes in New York, Chicago, and Toronto — to name just a few. In the panel, discussants addressed the idea of Urdu as a means of adaptability, mobility, and anchorage for the South Asian diaspora in America. In the process, how are the creative expressions in Urdu, such as the novel and poem, faring?

As the United States looks ahead to the 18th year of conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a panel of journalists and regional experts asks whether we've learned nothing from history.

Author, professor, and MacArthur Fellow Ayesha Jalal delves into the history and relationship between liberalism and the Muslim question in her keynote address at this year's festival. 

Following her keynote, Ayesha Jalal was joined on stage by lawyer and human rights advocate Saroop Ijaz, newspaper editor Raza Rumi, and NPR journalist Bilal Qureshi for a discussion on Pakistan's coming of age in the world.

Presented in conjunction with Lahore Literary Festival, the event is part of Creative Voices of Muslim Asia.