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Halls

In Architecture, a Hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. As more complex house plans developed, hall remained a large room for dancing and large feasts. There are different types of halls such as religious halls, meeting halls, collegiate halls. The type of hall which Lahore arts council owes is collegiate hall. There are three major collegiate halls and one Adabi Baithak which is specially made for Poets, writers, and philosophers of every genre. The details of the Halls is mentioned below.

Open Air Theatre
The Open Air Theatre is an extension of the Alhamra. The Ferozepur Road location was selected to take the pressure away from an overly congested Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam and to create a performing arts facility for the newly developed areas of Lahore i.e. Model Town, Faisal Town, Garden Town, Johar Town, Township, Gulberg and Defence, etc. The theatre sits in the midst of large green areas, at a stone’s throw from Lahore’s famous willow lined canal. Its imposing brick façade set with local regional features such as handmade Multani tiles is an interesting blend of the contemporary and the traditional classicism of the Roman coliseum. The multi-purpose theatre is designed to cater for drama, music, cultural melas and large scale concerts.

Ustad Allah Bux Art Gallery

This gallery, named after the eminent South Asian painter Allah Bux, extends over an area of 11,000 square feet and hosts solo and group exhibitions. Designed by Nayyar Ali Dada in 1983, the gallery consists of four parts including two octagonal halls. In 1949, Khawaja Nazim-ud-Din inaugurated an exhibition of paintings by Abdul Rahman Chughtai at the Alhamra Arts Council. We have featured the works of many notable painters including, among others, Anna Molka, Anwar Jalal Shemza, S. Safdar, Murtaja Baseer, Novera Ahmed, Zubeida Agha, Khalid Iqbal, Naseem H. Qazi, Saeed Akhtar, Zahoor ul Akhlaq, Shahid Jalal, Razia Feroze and Askari Mian Irani.

The celebrated South Asian painter M.F. Husain held an exhibition of his works in 1990. An exhibition Old Masters, Young Voices brought together acclaimed artists from across South Asia—Husain, Krishan Khanna (born in Lyallpur), Gulgee, Shahid Sajjad, and H.A. Karunarante from Sri Lanka.To showcase a wider mix of international artists, architects and photographers, we have over the decades partnered with cultural organizations like the British Council, the Embassies of China, Japan, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, France, Romania, Czech Republic, Romania and more.

As Pakistan's premier gallery space, Ustad Allah Bux Gallery continues to attract established and emerging artists alike.

Alhamra Modern Art Museum (AMAM)

Alhamra Modern Art Museum is Pakistan's first museum devoted exclusively to Modern Art of Pakistan (1945-1990), located in Gulberg III adjacent to Alhamra Open Air Theatre. Its 12,000 square feet showcase some of the best examples of early Pakistani painting, including watercolours by A.R. Chughai, paintings by Allah Bux, sculptures by Novera Ahmed, pastel drawings by Anna Molka, and the rural landscapes of Bengal as depicted by Zainul Abedin.

Several of our works have been featured in important exhibitions and catalogues, including Manzar: Art and Architecture from Pakistan, which took place at the Qatar National Museum in Doha in November 2024.Among the early painters who contributed to the growth of Pakistani art, AMAM invites you to experience their remarkable creative prowess. Join us for free tours, artist talks, and other exciting events that make this space engaging and inspiring.

Archives Centre
Archives are a major source of learning for any society by seeing whatever their elders/seniors have done in the past whether it relates to music industry, art industry, acting industry, drama industry, novel writing, drama script writing, plays writing, antique books writing, historical buildings, or some other works relating to the past which may serve as a secondary source of information for researchers. Alhamra archives section got operative about couple of months back. Archive section is a compilation of works done by notable personalities in past in the shape of Drama scripts, Press clippings, cassettes, Antique Gramophone, Audio Cd’s and VCR. Drama scripts include some of the famous dramas in the television history of Pakistan, while press clippings relate all the famous historical events that happened in past in the art industry. Audio cassettes are a wonderful addition to the archive section as it includes some live famous recordings in the voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, and some other famous unforgettable memories. A total of 4 PhD’s researchers have done their research in the field of art and culture along with prominent personalities involved in the promotion of art and culture activities through the collection available in archive section. Last but not the least archive section is a valuable addition in the facilities of Lahore Arts Council (Alhamra), this facility remains open in all working days for visitors.

Adabi Baithak
Adabi Baithak literally means intellectual meetings. Alhamra has set aside whole premise for writer, poets, thinkers etc as after the closure of the Pak Tea House a void had been created and the Alhamra Adabi Baithak is the perfect environment for literary discourses, discussions, poetry readings and all such literature based activities.

Puppet Theater
Alhamra Arts Council has a long tradition of arranging for children. One of them is the Puppet Theatre that has been presented for more than twenty-five years and has provided entertainment to children. Every Sunday morning children can see fairy and folk tales performing live on the stage. Regular workshops are conducted for those interested in learning this art form. This theatre has a seating capacity of 150.

Lawns & Parking
Burney Garden serves as a healthy environmental space and can be used for special function with space for 1500 persons, can be a cover of shamianas and in open at nights with the adjunct facility of wide area for parking.

Gosha-e-Gayan
Gosha-e-Gayan is an intellectual cafe in Alhamra, which is traditionally frequented by the city's artistic, cultural and literary personalities. Many writers frequented it, and it is also a favorite haunt of the section of Lahore youths with non-mainstream points of view. It maintained a reputation as a forum for people of diverse backgrounds to voice their opinions in a non-judgmental atmosphere. Gosha-e-Gayan is a little corner in the blogosphere that will endeavor to revive the culture of debate, pluralism and tolerance. It has no pretensions nor illusions but the motivation of a few people who want to see Pakistan a better place - where ideas need to counter the forces of commercialism, adverse effects of globalization, extremism and ideas must translate into action that leads us to an equitable, just and healthy society.

Recording Studio
Alhamra Arts Council has taken an initiative in order to develop a recording studio which was funded by Government of Punjab, Information and Culture Department. The recording studio consists of latest musical instruments, Sitar, Tabla, Guitar, Violin along with a newly built sound proof recording room for recording songs of high quality with the help of all musical instruments. One of the major production of recording studio is Alhamra Unplugged Season 1 which was being launched in 2015 and on Aired in Feb 2016. Alhamra Unplugged season one Auditions were held in Alhamra Arts Council, Kinnaird College, University of Lahore and F.C College. More than 500 contestants participated and only 22 Artists were selected. Artists include Justin Girls, Grandson of Ustad Tafu, Pakistan Idol Contestant, Rahat Fateh Ali khan’s student, female vocalist of Pakistani movie, Naqsh Band, LUMS Olympiad winner.