International Public Art Festival (IPAF 2020) Season II – ‘Karachi Ki Khoj: [Re]defining the metropolis’ to held from 07th February 2020.

I Am Karachi (IAK) announced the launch of ‘International Public Art Festival (IPAF 2020) Season II’, which is to be held at NED University’s City Campus located next to DJ Science College. This exhibition will be held from 07^th February 2020 and will go on till 16^th February 2020. Timings of this exhibition will be from 06:00 pm in the evening till 10:00 pm. This event is free and open to all. This announcement was made at IPAF 2020 press conference. Title of this year’s exhibition is ‘Karachi ki khoj’ – ‘[Re] defining the metropolis’.

Press conference of IPAF 2020 Season II was addressed by CM Sindh’s Law Advisor Mr. Murtaza Wahab, President Arts Council Karachi Mr. Ahmad Shah, President I Am Karachi (IAK) Mr. Amin Hashwani, Executive Director I Am Karachi (IAK) Ms Ambareen Thompson and members of IPAF.

Mr. Murtaza Wahab praised the efforts of I Am Karachi and the works they are doing around the city. He said the role of civil society is always very important for the city and he and his government would support the IPAF initiative and all positive activities undertaken by I Am Karachi.

Mr. Ahmad Shah said as a founder member of I Am Karachi, he was proud of the work the society had been doing and creating of a local art festival in Karachi was commendable. He looked forward to its opening on the 07^th of February and also to felicitating all the participating artist and musicians.

Amin Hashwani and Ambareen Thompson outlined the vision of I Am Karachi and the importance of reclaiming public spaces and creating positive narratives for healthy activities as well as the integration of all communities in the society. Using art, culture, music & sports was neutral avenue that United more people and also painted a positive soft image of our beloved city Karachi and of Pakistan.

ABOUT IPAF: IPAF 2020 has integrated more ideas and programs and is increasing outreach. IPAF has brought this city one of the world’s tallest murals in the world, which was designed and curated by Italian Artist Pepe Gaka. IPAF also has to its credit a 7 week cultural fellowship program for 40 young students and professionals representing over 10 different ethnicities from across the city. This 7 week program was held from 20th December till 02nd February. These future planners, engineers, architects, thinkers were exposed to an extensive program of cultural management, business start-ups, organizing festivals, research and sustainability issues.

IPAF 2020 – Season II will include activities like artwork/installation display, poster presentation, short film screenings, photography exhibition, workshops on different subject / topics, of Karachi’s Cultural Heritage. The festival also includes panel discussion, book readings, poetry recitation, round table discussions, indigenous cultural performances and musical performances.

ABOUT I AM KARACHI: I Am Karachi (IAK) has taken on-board 25 schools from the city for cultural heritage tours. A tour guide accompanies school children and staff of the tours which begins at Quaid-e-Azam House Museum in the morning to St. Patrick’s Church, Swami Narayan Mandir, Gurdwara at Light House, Memon Masjid, KPT Archival Museum, State Bank Museum and finally ends at National Museum.

World’s tallest mural by a single artist ‘Rising Blue’ unveiled at Centrepoint Tower.

A 286.67 feet tall public art mural made by Italian artist Giuseppe Percivati called ‘Rising Blue’ was unveiled at Centrepoint on Saturday evening. This unveiling was done by panel of distinguished dignitaries including Jameel Yusuf Ahmed Chairman TPL Properties, Amin Hashwani President I Am Karachi (IAK), Anna Rufihno Italian Consul-General for Karachi, Giuseppe Percivati (aka Pepe Gaka) Artist of this mural, Maqbool H. H. Rahimtoola Chairman Berger Paints Pakistan, Rear Admiral Jamil Akhtar Chairman Karachi Port Trust, Ambareen Thompson Executive Director I Am Karachi (IAK) and many others.

This mural is part of the project that is an initiative of the International Public Art Festival (IPAF) under I AM Karachi (IAK), in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy, TPL Corp and Berger Paints. This mural in on Centrepoint a property owned by TPL Properties (TPL Corp) is ideally located at the end of Shaheed-e-Millat Expressway near Qayyumabad. What makes it ideal, is its proximity to best industrial area of Karachi i.e. Korangi Industrial Area along-with premier residential locality of Karachi by the name of DHA.

Formal proceeding of this unveiling event started off with Mr. Jameel Yusuf Ahmed Chairman TPL Properties welcoming all the guests at this unveiling ceremony. He specially thanked Italian Consulate, Berger Paints, the artist Mr. Giuseppe Percivati and the support staff at Centrepoint for making this record breaking feat possible. He said; “Pepe Gakka worked tirelessly from dawn till 06:30 in the evening to complete this mural”.

chairman of International Public Art Festival (IPAF) Mr. Jameel Yusuf Ahmed said; “this mural traces the stunning coastline of Karachi and the mangroves which supports Pakistan’s eco-system and also is a breeding ground for marine life and birds. It depicts the rise of a nation, of a voice, of the awakening of a conscience of climate change. It is also symbolic of us as a nation: how we keep rising despite our setbacks”.

He also went on to inform that; “the ‘red dot’ on the top of the mural, dates back to Britain’s greatest art rivalry during the 18^th century between the nation’s two most renowned painters Joseph Mallord William Turner and John Constable”.

John Constable’s painting “The Opening of Waterloo Bridge” was hung alongside Turner’s latest seascape. The surface of Constable’s painting stood out, leaving its rival Joseph Mallord William Turner in the shadow. Turner retaliated by painting a red dot in the middle of his green sea, changing the entire composition. Suddenly it looked a lot more exciting, experimental and set alight by red in a moment of pure painterly freedom. Turner’s historical red dot had profound influence on the birth of modern art – the concept of ‘less is more.’ Interestingly the red dot also represents the logo of Centrepoint.

Mr. Amin Hashwani President I Am Karachi (IAK) spoke about reclaiming Karachi’s heritage and said that; “we with our IAK initiative are trying best reclaiming Karachi long lost heritage. We are paining the walls and old buildings to attract normal citizens. We have painted more than 5000 spaces and we also have organized musical concerts at various sites one of them being Port Grand. We are trying our best but we would need more from corporate sector and from public sector”.

Ms. Anna Rufihno Italian Consul-General for Karachi spoke about; “mural being a message of peace and friendship and this mural is also a cry of alarm for mangroves and ecosystems of Karachi. With the subject was the conservation of mangroves in Pakistan especially along the coast of Sindh, which was why it was a great gift to Karachi.

She thanked the Italian Artist Giuseppe Percivati (aka Pepe Gakka) for his tireless efforts and informed that “this talented artist had worked in Karachi before at IPAF and also worked in several other countries such as the US, Portugal, Australia and Japan”. She further thanked and also Etihad Airways for arranging transportation and finally to event organizers I Am Karachi for doing valuable work for the city. “Italian Consulate will continue to help I Am Karachi as it has done before”. She concluded.

Mr. Giuseppe Percivati (aka Pepe Gaka) is a mural artist from Italy. His work includes depictions of the relationship between human beings and nature, creating pieces that are in harmony with their surroundings. He said; “this project took about nine days to paint but months for preparation. He first came in July to find a location and as soon as he saw the TPL Tower (Centrepoint) he thought of it as the perfect place.”

He thanked the people behind the project, especially Jameel Yusuf Ahmed chairman IPAF, Ambareen Thompson Executive Director (IAK) and Amin Hashwani President (IAK) for lending their support to him. She specially thanked the support staff at Centrepoint for taking care of day to day needs. Pepe Gakka also mentioned the terrific support and co-ordination from Italian Consulate and his travel sponsor Etihad Airways.

He said; “Karachi is a beautiful city but has been neglected a bit. It’s called the City of Lights but sometimes it’s more like a city of dust. People of Karachi are beautiful. The city can be as beautiful as Milan, Rome or London. I cannot take all the credit for the mural because a lot of people are involved and I would love to do more project like this one”.

Maqbool H. H. Rahimtoola Chairman Berger Paints Pakistan said; “he was honoured to be a part of this record breaking mural. He said this project has been completed with ‘Berger Weather Shield’ paint which can surely withstand extreme weather conditions.

Rear Admiral Jamil Akhtar Chairman Karachi Port Trust said; “I Am Karachi (IAK) is doing an extraordinary work for this city and I am proud to be a part of this initiative”. He announced that; “we are embarking upon another project of similar scale, details of which will be announced within next three months and I am sure that this upcoming project will be bring tremendous happiness to residents of that locality but also for the visitors”. He pledged to give a blank cheque to the organizers for this project”.

Ambareen Thompson Executive Director I Am Karachi (IAK) said; “my team and I have been working tirelessly for past four years to change city’s narrative and it seems now that we are getting some level of success here. We are working to create a soft image of our city Karachi and I would request everyone for come forward and support us as you can, be it moral, physical or financial support”.

Ambareen Thompson announced that the International Public Art Festival (IPAF 2020) will be held at the NED University of Engineering & Technology from 07^th February 2020 ~ 13^th February 2020.

After the final speech from Ambareen Thompson, shields were distributed among the stake holders of this mural after which they proceeded towards plaque for declaring the mural officially open.