Austrian envoy opens show at Comsats Art Gallery

Islamabad

An exhibition to promote intercultural understanding was jointly inaugurated by Ambassador of Austria to Pakistan Dr. Brigitta Blaha and in-charge Islamabad Campus COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) Prof. Dr. Raheel Qamar, here on Wednesday at the COMSATS Art Gallery (CAG), says a press release.

The exhibition titled 'Where are we?' is part of the Austria-Pakistan Music and Arts Festival, initiated by Renald Deppe and organised by the Austrian Embassy in cooperation with Pakistani partner institutions. It will continue till Saturday (28 May), from 10:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m.. Ambassadors of Italy, Spain and Switzerland also graced the occasion.

With this international art programme, galerie hinterland - an independent art space based in Vienna, Austria - sets up its temporary home in Pakistan. It recently hosted an exhibition of Pakistani artists, curated by Aisha Khalid, in Vienna and is now presenting 13 artists from Austria in Islamabad.

The first in this series of exhibitions, took place in June 2015 in Tehran, Iran, before it moved to Vienna. Earlier this month, the exhibition was displayed in Lahore. The curator, Ms. Gudrun Wallenböck, who especially flew to Islamabad, eagerly interacted with art enthusiasts, among which were many diplomats, artists, art directors, who appreciated the CIIT's efforts for promoting art and its positive impact on society.

The exhibition comprises works of 13 Vienna-based artists, and showcases their visual interpretation of and understanding of "identity" and perception of history and historical images of "national" identity in a unique way. The artists include: Azra Akšamija, Vooria Aria, Carla Degenhardt, Siegfried A. Fruhauf, Clemens Krauss, Constantin Luser, Stefan Arztmann, Lisl Ponger, Frenzi Rigling, Gabriele Sturm, Niko Wahl, Nives Widauer  and Ilma Rakusa.

The exhibition is a collaboration between the Austrian Embassy Islamabad, galerie hinterland and the COMSATS Art Gallery (CAG), the coordination for which was done by Farrah Mahmood.

The gallery has been building bridges between Pakistan and various nations through a number of collaborations with embassies and other art galleries.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the presence of Curator Gudrun Wallenböck in Islamabad, CAG has organised an interactive talk today (Thursday), at 2:00p.m. Ms. Wallenböck and Farrah Mahmood will be discussing the possibilities and collaborations of such travelling exhibitions and share their rich local and international experience.