'Shahkaar Fankaar' art showcase opens

Highlights cultural impact of United States EFP exchange programmes

ISLAMABAD:

The US Embassy in Islamabad, 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.

This gallery space will feature the achievements of US government-sponsored exchange programme alumni in the arts.

The first exhibition is a solo show by Lahore-based artist Minaa Haroon, an alumna of a US Department of State exchange programme on cultural preservation. Haroon showcased her artwork which utilises inherited jewellery and accessories as carriers of memory, identity and lineage.

Minaa Haroon is a visual artist and Assistant Director (Fine Arts) at the Lahore Arts Council. In April 2024, she travelled to the United States 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. Through visits to museums and galleries, I encountered different ways in which histories and traditions are preserved, interpreted, and carried forward," said Haroon.

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 United States on July 4, 2026.

The opening of the showcase marks decades of US education and exchange programmes and spotlights an alumna whose achievements reflect the mutual partnership between the United States and Pakistan. Three additional alumni artists will have their work featured in solo exhibitions in the USEFP gallery in 2027.

Satrang Gallery Director and programme advisor for the showcase, Asma Rashid-Khan, and the exhibition's curator, Sarah Rajper, 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.

Speaking at the opening, US Embassy Pakistan Director of Public Engagement Heidi Smith said that "for decades, educational and cultural exchanges have brought Americans and Pakistanis together as partners in learning, innovation and creativity.