Faizan Peerzada passes away

Renowned Pakistan's puppeteer and director of the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop Faizan Peerzada passed away in Lahore on Friday. He was laid to rest in Lahore in the presence of thousands of his fans. According to doctors, 54-year-old Faizan died of a heart attack.
According to the family sources Faizan never had a heart problem before and that this was his first heart attack. "It happened suddenly," they said. They also said that Faizan had complained about chest pains and was being taken to the hospital when he passed away. Doctors confirmed cause of death to be cardiac failure.
Peerzada, 54, was the son of Pakistan's leading playwright Rafi Peer and brother of renowned film and television artistes Salman and Usman Peerzada. Born in Lahore, he began his career at Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop in 1977.After schooling from St Anthony's in Lahore, he attended the National College of Arts, but did not complete the design course he had enrolled in.
He was an accomplished sculptor as well as puppet-maker, having carved and created 3,000 or so puppets of different kinds. He also remained a passionate painter. He is presently the president of UNIMA in Pakistan, which was setup on the 15th February, 1993 in Pakistan. Peerzada was a puppeteer with distinction and was awarded the President's medal for the Pride of Performance. In 2011, Peerzada was awarded the commission for the project in collaboration with Sesame Workshop, the creator of the American show.
Film has now given Faizan a new dimension to express himself and he intends to continue in it. Currently he is filming a project delineated into three major documentaries on the Sufi Shrines of Pakistan. The project takes an in depth look at, and analyses, over 800 diverse shrines all across the country, while the individual films are separated into studies focusing on the architectural, spiritual, and the poetic elements of the shrines.
Faizan especially designed programs to celebrate the International Year of the Child in 1979 spread over the entire year, including three major art festivals in which at least 35,000 children participated in a span of six months.
He used to perform regularly in all the major towns of Pakistan and in many cities abroad. The puppets have also given a sense of achievement to Faizan as an artist both for stage and television. He has created more than 2500 puppets for an assortment of puppet plays, and has produced over one hundred TV puppet shows as a director as well as the stage and puppet designer.
Faizan travelled internationally on over 7 major international tours and festivals with various productions. Another major step in the development of the puppetry art form is the setting of the museum of puppets in Lahore, of which Faizan was Project Director. This museum is first of its kind across South Asia. Faizan has been the integral driving force in creating 15 International Festivals of Puppets, theatre, music, and dance beginning in 1992. These festivals have had participation from 56 countries, with over 3000 artists representing over 300 groups.
The Fourth International Puppet Festival 1998 held in Lahore was declared as the biggest international puppet festival in the world. He now heads The World Performing Arts Festival Pakistan with its latest session planned for October 2003.Faizaan has also been a founding member for UNIMA Pakistan.