Rashid Rana, Imran Qureshi, Salima Hashmi, are just some of the exponents of contemporary Pakistani art already known to the international public, but unfortunately in our collective imagination Pakistan is still a country linked almost exclusively to conflicts, attacks, or violations of human rights. Little is known about its  lively cultural scene, the changes under way and how this country, through art, managed to stay in touch with the rest of the world even in the darkest moments of its history.
With the aim of making the Italian public aware of the ferments of the Pakistani art scene and supporting the young under 40 artists of this country, the Italian Friends of the Citizens Foundation (IFTCF) established the “Emerging Pakistani Artists” competition in 2017. To the three winners will be offered in May 2018 a artist-in-residence program at Villa Poggio Verde in Barzanò (LC). And to the 35 selected artists will be offered the opportunity to be part of the exhibition that will be held in autumn this year in Milan entitled “Art for Education: Contemporary Artists from Pakistan “: the first collective exhibition of contemporary Pakistani art in Italy, at the Diocesan Museum.
The three winners of the “Emerging Pakistani Artists” competition are Amber Hammad (Lahore, Pakistan 1981), Mahbub Jokhio (Mahrabpur, Pakistan 1992) and the duo Unum Babar (Lahore, Pakistan 1986) & Matt Kushan (Cleveland, USA 1987) and better know their work and the context in which they operate, we have addressed the same questions to everyone by recording their (different?) points of view. (read more)