French ambassador Nicolas Galey visits Arts Council Pakistan for ‘World Culture Festival’

Envoy says festival activities are helping strengthen cultural exchange and diplomacy between the two countries

With the 2025 'World Culture Festival' entering its halfway mark, the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi (ACP) hosted French Ambassador Nicolas Galey on Tuesday.

He visited the venue with his wife, Camelia Galey, Consul General Alexis Chahtahtinsky and Director of the Alliance Française de Karachi Emmanuel Bruerec. The Alhamra Arts Council chairman and Razi Ahmed also joined the tour.

 

The visit took place as performances, exhibitions and film screenings continued across the council’s grounds under the thirty-nine day festival. Noting the scale of participation, Galey said the series of global artistic programmes at the event was helping strengthen cultural connection and exchange.

 

The delegation also viewed a mural being painted by French street artist Chifumi on one of the council’s exterior walls. Galey called the work “a symbol of friendship and cultural harmony between Pakistan and France,” adding that it reflected the ongoing artistic dialogue between the two countries during the festival.

ACP President Mohammad Ahmed Shah, who received the visitors and led them through the festival spaces, said the council’s intent remained rooted in cultural communication rather than ceremony. “Art can still speak where politics fails,” he said, describing the festival as an attempt to create space for dialogue at a time of global division.

The 'World Culture Festival', which opened earlier this month, features artists from more than one hundred and forty countries and includes folk and contemporary music, visual art and short films centred on peace, climate awareness and cultural exchange.