An exhibition of work by young artists from across Pakistan opened at Beach Luxury Hotel in Karachi in conjunction with the Karachi Literature Festival. These art pieces had qualified in a competition titled “We the Peoples, We the Arts”, which aims to promote Sustainable Development Goals and provide Pakistani students with a unique opportunity to gain international visibility.

Students of five art schools were invited to develop sculptures, miniature paintings and paintings on “Zero Hunger”, the second of 17 Sustainable Development Goal, for this competition. A total of 64 art pieces were received, out of which 23 made it to the final exhibition, which was first inaugurated at the residence of Swiss Ambassador in Islamabad and later opened for public in Islamabad and Peshawar.

A jury comprising Swiss and international art experts, the Embassy of Switzerland and the United Nations selected a winner for each category. Gina Gul (Karachi University) won the award for the miniature painting. Tooba Ashraf (NCA Lahore) was declared winner in the ‘painting’ category while Haseebullah Zafar (NCA Lahore) claimed award for crafting the winning sculpture.

“Through this exhibition, my country joined hands with the United Nations to promote zero hunger, the second most important goal for the United Nations efforts to achieve sustainable development by 2030,” said Phillipe Crevoisier, the Consul General of Switzerland in Karachi, who was the chief guest of the opening ceremony in Karachi.

Deputy Head of Cooperation SDC Benedikt Hürzeler and Aline Rumonge, head of the World Food Programme office in Sindh, also attended the opening.

“We the Peoples, We the Arts” is an initiative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Embassy of Switzerland in partnership with the UN Information Centre (UNIC) to mark the 50th year of SDC’s cooperation with Pakistan.