Renowned US museum to feature work of emerging Pakistani artists

Fifty emerging artists from across Pakistan gathered at the National College of Arts (NCA) in Rawalpindi to display the artwork they created in a series of workshops sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.

Many of the pieces on display have been selected to travel to the United States, where they will be featured in the renowned Phillips Collection Museum in Washington, DC.  The museum is already planning special Iftaar events during Ramazan to showcase the work of Pakistan’s emerging artists.

Rachel Goldberg, a program manager from the Phillips Collection Museum, led art students from as far away as Balochistan and rural Sindh through a series of classes centered on the work of Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), one of America’s most important artists of the 20th century.  Goldberg used Lawrence’s seminal “Migration Series” to challenge students to create their own narratives, as Lawrence did, to depict important cultural events in Pakistan’s history.

“Art gives us the opportunity to experience contemporary and historic social issues in a unique way,” said Peter Brennan, the U.S. Embassy’s Minister Counselor for Public Affairs, at the exhibition’s opening ceremony at NCA Rawalpindi.  “The United States will continue to support emerging Pakistani artists who use their work to foster a better understanding of Pakistan’s rich cultural history.”

During her two-week stay in Pakistan, Goldberg held workshops for 100 emerging artists in Lahore and Islamabad, led training sessions for arts educators, and hosted discussions with art curators and gallery managers on how to engage with the community.  She also taught underprivileged children and orphans at the Mashal School at SOS Village to use art to convey important stories from their past.

“There is so much artistic talent in Pakistan,” Goldberg said.  “I am inspired by what I have seen, and I will take back to the United States some of the pieces we created so that Americans can share in the stories told by Pakistani artists.”

Goldberg visited Pakistan on one of the U.S. Embassy’s professional exchange programs, which bring highly-skilled professionals from the United States to work with their counterparts in Pakistan.  The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan sponsors the largest exchange program in the world, with over 1,000 students and professionals traveling to the United States and dozens of Americans traveling to Pakistan each year.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=40035

Posted by Tahir Khan on Apr 26 2013. Filed under Latest News, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.