Daily Times

British Council is partnering with PoliNations on the Pakistan-UK New Perspectives Season to mark the 75th anniversary of Pakistan.

The partnership seeks to create an artistic response to the themes of PoliNations, including celebrating diversity and the cross-pollination of culture, exploring the influence of journeys along the silk road and the history of tea.

New Perspectives showcases the cultural wealth and contemporary creativity of both countries, facilitating professional collaboration for culture, creative and education sectors, with a focus on a shared future through building lasting partnerships.

Created and produced by Trigger Collective, PoliNations is part of the UK-wide UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK. This project will culminate in the Birmingham 2022 Festival and will be open to all through free events across multiple art forms. The festival will celebrate the beauty, colour and diversity that makes up British horticulture and culture. Up-and-coming and renowned artists from Birmingham and beyond will perform under the shelter of giant architectural trees and surrounded by thousands of colourful plants.

In June PoliNations’ costume designer Joey A Frenette travelled to Pakistan to collaborate with renowned Pakistan based designers Yousuf Bashir Qureshi and Riffat Aliani during a residency in Karachi to design and create costumes influenced by the journey of tea, for special performances as part of the PoliNations programme in Birmingham in 2022.

In collaboration with Yousuf Bashir Qureshi Studios Institute, the designers showcased their work at The PoliNations Pakistan Costume Show on Saturday 18th June at the Commune Artist Colony, Karachi.

Distinguished sitar player Rakae Jamil, who has been commissioned to write and record two new compositions responding to the themes surrounding tea and the tulip, also gave a soulful performance.

PoliNations Creative Director and Artistic Director of Trigger, Angie Bual said: “We’re so excited by the creative opportunity and collaboration this partnership provides. Exploring, celebrating and learning from the diversity and creativity across our cultures is at the heart of what PoliNations is – so being part of this season and collaborating with such talented Pakistan based creatives through the programme is a really exciting opportunity for us.”

Laila Jamil, Director Arts, British Council Pakistan said: “The British Council is very pleased to have enabled this cultural exchange programme between UK and Pakistani artists. It’s exciting to have collaborative projects for fashion and music under the PK-UK Season. This is a great programme for learning and future collaboration in the arts.”

After this event, the costumes are being transported to Birmingham to be showcased in a spectacular fashion by renowned dancers for a special series of performances at the festival.

PoliNations is produced by Trigger Collective and led by Bristol-based arts organisation Trigger who have brought together multi-disciplinary independent arts organisations and companies collaborating to make bold, inclusive and cross disciplinary work. Drawing on experts in horticulture, arts, science and architecture, Trigger has brought together an expert team to form Trigger Collective. In addition to the award-winning team at Trigger, this includes: creative director Angie Bual designer and artist Carl Robertshaw, set and costume designer Bronia Housman, events specialist Dock Street Events, architectural studio THISS and horticulturalists Arbor-Nova.

Trigger are shapeshifting creatives who dream-up, create and produce free, bold live and digital events which care for the community. Trigger reimagine and revive public spaces, interrupt daily life, and put audiences and togetherness at the heart of everything they do. Their varied output, ranging from The Hatchling – a ground-breaking puppetry and kite flying experience – to with You, a free innovative digital service created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, is inclusive, accessible and aims to shine a light on the creativity of local communities and underrepresented talent. Trigger is for everyone and everyone is invited.

Marking the 75th anniversary of Pakistan, Pakistan-UK New Perspectives is taking place from March – August 2022. The programme showcases the cultural wealth and contemporary creativity of both countries, facilitating professional collaboration for culture, creative and education sectors, with a focus on a shared future through building lasting partnerships. It focuses on challenging perceptions, particularly amongst the younger generation in both countries. An expansive programme explores collaborations across the following themes:

CULTURE & HERITAGE — building innovative partnerships in the arts and cultural sectors of both countries;

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY — supporting the next generation of artists and creative entrepreneurs in Pakistan and the UK to collaborate in tackling today’s environmental challenges;

WOMEN & GIRLS — providing opportunities for young people in Pakistan and UK, especially young women and girls, to develop skills and in the areas of arts and education addressing global challenges

UNBOXED — creativity in the UK is a celebration of creativity taking place across the UK in 2022, designed to reach millions and bring people together. It features free large-scale events, installations and globally accessible digital experiences in the UK’s most ambitious showcase of creative collaboration. Produced by some of the brightest minds in science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, UNBOXED features ten major multi-site and digital creative projects that share new ideas and possibilities for the future. Events and activities take place from 1 March to 2 October 2022 – from the Outer Hebrides to Dover and from Omagh to Swansea, and across traditional and online media. UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK is funded and supported by the four governments of the UK and is commissioned and delivered in partnership with Belfast City Council, Creative Wales and EventScotland.