Jubilees
His Excellency President Michael Higgins of Ireland and his wife Sabina Mary Coyne, today received Mawlana Hazar Imam at their official residence Áras an Uachtaráin. The occasion honoured Hazar Imam’s Diamond Jubilee, which concluded last month.
As part of the Diamond Jubilee Celebration, the inaugural Jubilee Arts International Film Festival was held in Lisbon last month. NOS Cinemas at the Vasco da Gama mall in Portugal’s capital hosted over 20,000 visitors, who watched film submissions screened in six movie theatres over the course of four days.
Two decades ago, on 11 July 1998, Mawlana Hazar Imam and then-President of Portugal Jorge Sampaio officially opened the Ismaili Centre Lisbon. The Centre’s 20th anniversary coincided with the Diamond Jubilee Celebration held in Lisbon earlier this month, during which thousands of visitors attended the building and its gardens for guided tours.
Over 40,000 members of the Jamat from over 45 countries around the world assembled at Feira Internacional de Lisboa for one of the largest Jamati gatherings in modern history and the final Darbar of the Diamond Jubilee year on 11 July 2018.
Mawlana Hazar Imam departed Portugal on 12 July, concluding a seven-day Diamond Jubilee visit to the country as well as the Diamond Jubilee year.
Highlights of the all the events on day seven of the Diamond Jubilee Celebration.
If you missed the showings in Jamatkhana, the film of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Diamond Jubilee visit to Portugal and the Diamond Jubilee Celebration is now available online. This 58-minute film recounts the preparations by the Portugal Jamat, the Diamond Jubilee Celebration, and the programme undertaken by Mawlana Hazar Imam during his visit.
At a ceremony earlier today, marking the conclusion of his Diamond Jubilee year, Mawlana Hazar Imam officially designated the premises located at Rua Marquês de Fronteira in Lisbon — the Henrique de Mendonça Palace — as the Seat of the Ismaili Imamat, and declared that it be known as the “Diwan of the Ismaili Imamat”. The ceremony was attended by members of the Imam’s family including Prince Amyn, Princess Zahra and her children Sara and Iliyan, Prince Rahim and Princess Salwa with their children Prince Irfan and Prince Sinan, Prince Hussain and Prince Aly Muhammad as well as leaders of the Jamat from around the world.
Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Parliament address on 10 July was followed by the formal opening of the exhibition Ideals of Leadership: Masterpieces from the Aga Khan Museum Collections. The exhibit is being displayed at the Parliament building, São Bento Palace until 14 September 2018.
Today marked day six of the Diamond Jubilee Celebration - Lisboa 2018, which included Mawlana Hazar Imam's address to the Portuguese Parliament, the inauguration of the Aga Khan Museum exhibition at the Parliament Building, as well as the afternoon and evening Sufi Voyage concerts featuring Salim-Sulaiman, Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, and Nobovar Chanorov.
Prince Amyn, Princess Zahra, Prince Rahim, Princess Salwa, Prince Irfan, Prince Sinan, Miss Sara Boyden, and Master Iliyan Boyden visited the Diamond Jubilee Celebration today, where they went on a tour of the Exhibitions before taking in the International Art Gallery and the International Talent Showcase.
Mawlana Hazar Imam delivered an historic address to the Portuguese Parliament today in the presence of government officials, members of Hazar Imam’s family, and leaders of the Jamat and the Aga Khan Development Network.