ISLAMABAD: Australian High Commissioner Dr Geoffrey Shaw welcomed artists to a reception on Wednesday night to celebrate ‘We the Peoples, We the Arts 2019’ and acknowledge the 34 talented finalists in the contest.

‘We the Peoples, We the Arts’ is an initiative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) that involves young artists to promote Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through visual arts.

Launched in 2016, the art competition involves students from arts schools across Pakistan.

The Australian connection to this contest is executive director of Artspace Sydney and curator, Art Basel Hong Kong, Alexie Glass-Kantor, who is back again this year as one of the jurors.

Dr Geoffrey Shaw also welcomed the Swiss ambassador, Thomas Kolly, for his efforts to support arts in Pakistan.

“Artspace is one of Australia’s most highly respected contemporary art spaces supporting exhibitions, residencies and international partnerships. Alexie Glass-Kantor and Artspace work energetically to develop collaborative projects across Asia, including Pakistan,” Dr Geoffrey Shaw told guests standing in the beautifully lit and manicured back lawns of his residence.

The high commissioner explained that since her involvement with ‘We the Peoples, We the Arts’ commenced in 2017, Alexie Glass-Kantor has worked with many Pakistani artists in the Artspace programme.

“Australia is proud of its precedent in promoting the work of generations of Pakistani artists at one of Australia’s most important exhibitions, the Asia Pacific Triennial, at the Gallery of Modern Art in Queensland. Most recently the 2018 edition of the APT featured Aisha Khalid, Naiza Khan and Ali Kazim alongside Waqas Khan and Rasheed Araeen,” the envoy said.

He believed that the contemporary art scene in Pakistan had tremendous profile internationally as a result of strong artistic leadership.

“It is extraordinarily dynamic and can count on a number of aspiring, committed and engaged people, like the young artists participating in this contest. We at the Australian High Commission keenly support the arts in Pakistan. Art can often speak things that words cannot, and express contemporary issues. It has a unique capacity to promote inclusion, foster understanding and to connect peoples, including the people of Australia and Pakistan,” he added.

Alexie Glass-Kantor was pleased to speak about Australia’s contribution to the art world and not cricket.

She said the lives of artists were complex, at times obstructed and challenging but it was rich, nourishing, beautiful and dynamic because they learned to persevere to create something extraordinary in life.

“Coming to Pakistan over the past few years I have seen artists come together from across the country to share ideas of their work, concerns and the complexities of the context in creating art. Its these relationships for me that build the capacity, strength to execute ideas that exemplify risk, experimentation that underscore the urgency of the times in which we live,” said Alexie Glass-Kantor.

She said all these artists, she described as cultural leaders, had profound degree of empathy and intellect have been credits to Pakistan.

The contest ‘We the peoples we the arts 2019’ will be hosted at the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2019