ISLAMABAD, OCT 23 /DNA/ – The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP), and the Pakistan-U.S. 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 U.S. government-sponsored exchange program alumni in the arts.
The first exhibition is a solo show by Lahore-based artist Minaa Haroon, an alumna of a U.S. Department of State exchange program on cultural preservation. Ms. Haroon showcased artwork utilizing inherited jewelry and accessories as carriers of memory, identity, and lineage, starting with her mother’s jewelry. The opening marks decades of U.S. education and exchange programs and spotlights an alumna whose achievements reflect the mutual partnership between the United States and Pakistan.
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 U.S. 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, Director of Public Engagement at U.S. Embassy Pakistan, Heidi Smith said that “for decades, educational and cultural exchanges have brought Americans and Pakistanis together as partners in learning, innovation, and creativity. Minaa Haroon’s work shows how an exchange experience can sharpen an artist’s vision and strengthen the ties between our two nations.
As the United States celebrates 250 years of independence, our exchange alumni are helping shape the next chapter of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship.” She also presented Ms. Haroon with a Certificate of Recognition for her artistic excellence and her achievement as an exchange alumna.
Minaa Haroon is a visual artist and Assistant Director (Fine Arts) at the Lahore Arts Council. In April 2024, she traveled to the United States as a visiting scholar in the Cultural Preservation Professional Exchange Program run by the U.S. Government. “My participation as a visiting scholar in the U.S. 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.
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. How better to consider that kind of transformation and the exchange of ideas, forms and horizons, than in art. Thank you to our United States Department of State exchange alumni, who express their ways of seeing and framing the world, and make us reflect on our own vision.”
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 exhibition is open to the public through November 20 at the USEFP building in Islamabad. Viewing hours are from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Three additional alumni artists will have their work featured in solo exhibitions in the USEFP gallery in 2027.
Since USEFP’s founding in 1950, thousands of Pakistanis and Americans have taken part in its educational and research exchanges.
