ISLAMABAD: As guests and patrons scurry around the gallery and cameras explode in flashes of light, Rose Davies looks relieved. She is a printmaker, in Pakistan to work with local artists as part of a collaborative art residency.

She has spent the larger part of last week cooped up in a printmaking studio, preparing for the exhibition.

“I haven’t seen the light of day in Pakistan yet,” she jokes as the sun sets on the lawns of the Serena.

An exhibition of her work, along with works by fellow British artists Hannah Lawson and Kara Seaman, opened at the Satrang Gallery on Wednesday.

Entitled ‘Five Connect’, the show features art developed by participants of the Zaira Ahmed Residency Programme, which began cross-cultural art exchange programmes in 2013.

Opened by British High Commissioner to Pakistan Philip Barton, the exhibition also features work by two Pakistani printmakers, Zaira Ahmed Zaka and Atif Khan.

Satrang Gallery Director Asma Khan said: “(We are) firm believers in local and international collaboration – we maintain that art and culture build the strongest and most interesting bridges – linking people and countries.”

This is Rose’s second visit to Pakistan.

Hannah, who is visiting for the first time, said that Zaira arranged a visit to Taxila, which was inspirational and prompted her to make prints of the Taxila Horse, which were also on display.

Zaira Zaka Studio Residencies is also committed to facilitating cross cultural exchanges through collaborative exhibitions and shared artistic practices and techniques.

The studio’s programme of residencies and exhibitions promotes the art and culture of Pakistan internationally while developing relationships with artists and galleries across the world.

The residency provides participating artists with the opportunity to collaborate in a friendly and supportive environment, and facilitates the exchange of ideas and builds connections between two (or more) countries.

This was the second time that work produced by the residency was being exhibited at Satrang, Asma said, adding, “the gallery is thrilled and continues to support the Zaira Ahmed Residency Programme to provide a platform from which to showcase the art works of this talented and dynamic group.”

The artists employed a range of innovative printmaking techniques and their work ranged from monotypes and collagraphs to block and screen prints, with the occasional digital cut-out and hand stamped piece.

Aqeel Shigri, a printmaking graduate from the National College of Arts (NCA) said: “Seeing this work is an eye-opener. In Pakistan, most people don’t know what printmaking is and when you tell them you’re an artist, they only think of painting.”

Kausar Cheema, a NCA faculty member, found parts of the work very unusual.

“The themes and ideas depicted are those that we portray too, but it is amazing to see how different an outsider’s perspective can be. Rose Davies particularly, has taken local faces and truck art and shown me a completely different version of how they can be.”

Michele Galopin, one of the guests at the opening, said she particularly enjoyed Kara Seaman’s work, which was “childlike in its innocence and naiveté, but very skillfully executed”.