USEFP opens new gallery space in Islamabad for US exchange alumni artists

The United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP), and the Pakistan-US Alumni Network on October 22 opened the first ‘Shahkaar Fankaar Alumni Artist Showcase’ in a new gallery space in the USEFP building in Islamabad, a press release by the US embassy said on Friday.

"This gallery space will feature the achievements of US government-sponsored exchange program alumni in the arts," it said. The release added that the first exhibition was a solo show by Lahore-based artist Minaa Haroon, an alumna of a US Department of State exchange program on cultural preservation.

Haroon "showcased artwork utilising inherited jewellery and accessories as carriers of memory, identity, and lineage, starting with her mother’s jewellery," the embassy said, noting that the opening marked "decades of US education and exchange programs and spotlights an alumna whose achievements reflect the mutual partnership between the United States and Pakistan."

Haroon is a visual artist and Assistant Director of Fine Arts at the Lahore Arts Council, the embassy said. It added that in April 2024, the artist traveled to the US as a visiting scholar in the Cultural Preservation Professional Exchange Program run by the US government. “My participation as a visiting scholar in the US deepened my reflection on cultural inheritance," she said.

Haroon added, "Through visits to museums and galleries, I encountered different ways in which histories and traditions are preserved, interpreted, and carried forward.”

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The opening included a 3D projection of Haroon’s works on the exterior wall of the USEFP building by Hoola Digital Pvt Ltd, the Islamabad-based company that created the projections on the Pakistan Monument and Lahore Fort to commemorate the 250th birthday of the US on July 4, 2026.

According to the press release, Director of Public Engagement at the US embassy Heidi Smith said that “for decades, educational and cultural exchanges have brought Americans and Pakistanis together as partners in learning, innovation, and creativity."

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She noted that Haroon's work "shows how an exchange experience can sharpen an artist’s vision and strengthen the ties between our two nations."

As per the embassy, Smith stated that as the US celebrates 250 years of independence, "our exchange alumni are helping shape the next chapter of the US-Pakistan relationship.” The director also presented Haroon with a certificate of recognition for her artistic excellence and her achievement as an exchange alumna.

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Further, USEFP Executive Director Dr Peter K Moran provided a written statement to commemorate the opening saying, “A cultural and educational exchange program has the power to disrupt our everyday, to reframe our usual signposts, and alter our horizons, not just metaphorically, but physically too." According to the release, Moran added, "How better to consider that kind of transformation and the exchange of ideas, forms and horizons, than in art."

The executive director thanked the US Department of State exchange alumni, "who express their ways of seeing and framing the world, and make us reflect on our own vision.” Asma Rashid Khan, Director of Satrang Gallery and program advisor for the showcase, and Sarah Rajper, the exhibition’s curator, along with representatives from the US Department of State with other guests from Pakistan’s art world, exchange alumni, and members of the diplomatic corps attended the event.

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Open to the public through November 20 at the USEFP building in Islamabad, the viewing hours for the showcase are from 10:30am to 5:00pm from Monday through Friday.

Since the USEFP’s founding in 1950, thousands of Pakistanis and Americans have taken part in its educational and research exchanges, with three additional alumni artists to have their work featured in solo exhibitions in the USEFP gallery in 2027.