The United States Embassy in Islamabad, the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan and the Pakistan-US Alumni Network have opened the first Shahkaar Fankaar art showcase. The gallery, housed in the USEFP building in Islamabad, opened on October 22.
The space will celebrate the achievements of alumni of United States government-sponsored exchange programmes in the arts. It gives returning artists a permanent platform in the capital.
Shahkaar Fankaar art showcase: the first exhibition
The opening exhibition is a solo show by Lahore-based artist Minaa Haroon. She is an alumna of a US Department of State exchange programme on cultural preservation.
Haroon works with inherited jewellery and accessories, using them as carriers of memory, identity and lineage. Her pieces explore how objects passed down through families hold personal and collective histories.
Haroon is Assistant Director of 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.
She said the visit deepened her thinking about cultural inheritance. Touring museums and galleries, she encountered different ways in which histories and traditions are preserved, interpreted and carried forward.
The opening featured a 3D projection of Haroon’s works on the exterior wall of the USEFP building. Hoola Digital, an Islamabad-based company, created the projection. The same firm produced the projections on the Pakistan Monument and Lahore Fort for the 250th birthday of the United States on July 4, 2026.
Who was there
Satrang Gallery Director Asma Rashid-Khan served as programme adviser for the showcase. Sarah Rajper curated the exhibition.
Representatives from the US Department of State joined guests from Pakistan’s art world, exchange alumni and members of the diplomatic corps at the opening.
US Embassy Pakistan’s Director of Public Engagement, Heidi Smith, told the gathering that educational and cultural exchanges had brought Americans and Pakistanis together for decades as partners in learning, innovation and creativity.
Why it matters for Pakistan’s art scene
Exchange programmes have quietly shaped Pakistan’s cultural life for years. Artists who train or study abroad return with new techniques, networks and ideas. A dedicated gallery turns that scattered influence into something visible.
The showcase also points to a wider story. Pakistan’s cultural traditions, from the distinctive features of Pakistani culture to its living traditions, have long absorbed outside influences while keeping their own character. The many cultures within Pakistan give artists a deep well to draw from.
Haroon’s own work fits that pattern. She uses inherited objects, rooted in local family life, and frames them through ideas picked up on an American exchange. The result speaks to both worlds.
The Kalash valley’s unique cultural heritage shows how Pakistan’s smaller traditions also find audiences when given a stage. ‘Shahkaar Fankaar’ offers a similar stage to exchange alumni.
Three more alumni artists will hold solo exhibitions in the USEFP gallery in 2027, the organisers announced.
Frequently asked questions
What is ‘Shahkaar Fankaar’?
It is a new alumni artist showcase and gallery space in the USEFP building in Islamabad, opened by the US Embassy, USEFP and the Pakistan-US Alumni Network to feature alumni of US exchange programmes.
Who is the first featured artist?
Lahore-based artist Minaa Haroon, Assistant Director of Fine Arts at the Lahore Arts Council and an alumna of a US cultural preservation exchange programme.
What does her work explore?
Her pieces use inherited jewellery and accessories as carriers of memory, identity and lineage.
Will there be more exhibitions?
Yes. Three additional alumni artists will have solo exhibitions in the USEFP gallery in 2027.
