Participants of the PUAN “Meet Pakistan Through Art, Culture and Society” Conference
The Pakistan U.S. Alumni Network alumni conference ‘Meet Pakistan through Art, Culture, and Society’ took place in Islamabad from July 12 to 16, 2018.
Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Marie Royce, addressing the conference
The conference brought together more than 200 alumni of U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs in the fields of arts and culture from Pakistan and Afghanistan. The four-day conference focused on the Pakistani-American partnerships in cultural industries, entrepreneurship, and international education, while promoting shared values of tolerance and social inclusion.
The conference was attended by Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Marie Royce, who was visiting from Washington, together with the guest of honor, American Embassy Chargé d’Affaires John Hoover.
Meet Pakistan included prominent activists, artists, musicians, and community leaders from across Pakistan. The conference featured experts like Nazir Sabir, Sheema Kermani, Ramesh Jaipal, Nighat Chaodhry, Arshad Mehmood, Jamal Shah, Sidra Iqbal, Tauseeq Haider, Farooq Qaiser, Arieb Azhar and Moin Khan to name a few.
Ahsan Bari, Asif Sinan, Arfa Chaudhry, Yousuf Nisar, Zohaib Khawar, Rehan Karim, dosti music, Khumariyan and Bulbulik feted the audience with cultural music. While our Fulbright alumnus and standup comedian, Shehzad Ghias gave the participants a much need dose of laughter.
From left to right: Nighat Chaodhry, Arshad Mehmood, and Sidra Iqbal entertaining the participants with anecdotes and insightful conversation
The theatre performance ‘Yeh Sheher Zerey Taamir Hai by ‘Theatre Wallay,’ was very well received.
PUAN in partnership with Satrang Art Gallery and Nukta Studios organized an art exhibition featuring work by emerging Pakistani artists and prominent alumni of U.S.-funded exchange programs.
Art exhibition featuring the work of Pakistani visual artists was also part of the conference.
The ramp walk was one of the highlights of the event where models donned cultural wear to celebrate the cultural diversity of Pakistan. Marvia Malik, the first transgender news anchor of Pakistan, along with the Afghan alumni and U.S. diplomat, graced the ramp.
The conference concluded with the participants expressing solidarity with the families of the victims of the Mastung attack.
More pictures from the conference can be viewed on our Flickr page. To read up on other PUAN related activities, please visit our website.
