Islamabad’s New Art Gallery: 28 Years in the Making

Travel Blog  •  Joanna Kakissis  •  09.27.07 | 12:36 PM ET

imagePhoto: AP

Built in the 1960s, Islamabad is known for being clean, planned and, well, a little sterile—at least compared to the rest of colorful, crowded and unpredictable Pakistan. But the arrival of the National Art Gallery—which opened last month after 28 years of planning and construction—may liven up the capital, writes Carlotta Gall in The New York Times. Interestingly, the half-completed building was neglected for nearly a decade, until none other than Gen. Pervez Musharraf himself moved his offices into the neighborhood. Apparently he grew tired of looking at the thing and one day said, “What can you do with this eyesore?”

With that, millions of dollars were freed up to complete the work.

The gallery’s architect, Naeem Pasha, believes the gallery’s mere presence makes a strong statement about the people of Pakistan.

“An art gallery sends a very strong message to the world that we are creative and peaceful, and I want this to be stronger than the act of a suicide bomber,” he said.

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Tags: Asia, Pakistan, News and Briefs

Joanna Kakissis's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, among other publications. A contributor to the World Hum blog, she's currently a Ted Scripps fellow in environmental journalism at the University of Colorado in Boulder.


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