Beaconhouse National University (BNU)

Funded by the prestigious Exeter International Excellence Scholarship, Qaisar Abbas did his PhD at the Department of Communication, Drama and Film, University of Exeter. He was the Commonwealth Scholar at Goldsmiths, University of London, and was awarded with Distinction for his MA in Applied Anthropology and Community Development. He took training in Acting at Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU) under the Erasmus Exchange Program. He has published articles in New Theatre Quarterly (2024), THAAP journals (2016 and 2017), and a chapter in From Tsiam to the Hindu Kush: Kalasha People and their Culture (THAAP and UNESCO, 2019). His extensive practice-based work with the folk performers of Punjab - including storytellers, actors, theatre makers, dancers, and musicians - contributed to UNESCO’s study on the promotion of ICH into the school curriculum in the Asia-Pacific region. He has also presented his work at various national and international conferences. He is currently working on his first monograph The Neo-liberalization of Political Theatre in Punjab (Pakistan) to be published by Routledge. Recently, he received a research grant award from the Association of Asian Studies (AAS) for his project Theatre of Colonial Lahore (1900-1947).