Our arts and design programme provides a chance to see the inventiveness and vitality of the United Kingdom, at first hand in Pakistan. Nothing demonstrates more eloquently the creativity of contemporary Britain than the work we do in this field. People who attended our sculpture exhibition: 'A Changed World' in 1997 still speak of it as a milestone experience.

Our collaborative programme aims to promote awareness and development in all aspects of the arts, as our recent events show.

Lahore enjoyed the Royal Shakespeare Company for the first time as a result of our sponsorship.      We arranged for classical dancer Nahid Siddiqui to perform in three centres across the country.      We arranged for the exhibition ‘Traditions of Respect’, celebrating the ties between Islam and the UK, to tour Pakistan.      We brought Move over Moriarty, fresh from its successful run at the Edinburgh International Festival, to be performed in Pakistan.      The folk-reggae-calypso band Edward II played at concerts staged by the British Council in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.      Peasouper, the hit comedy play by the Rejects Revenge Theatre Company, delighted audiences in Pakistan in October 1999.      Design Age, a multimedia exhibition and workshop package, showcased the excellence of British contemporary design.      Michael McEvoy toured extensively throughout Pakistan in November 1999 with his play on Shakespeare and Marlowe: An Act of Will.

For more information about our work in Pakistan, please write to:

Mariya.Afzal@britishcouncil.org.pk