Pakistan Ambassador to the United Nations Supports Caravanserai: A Place Where Cultures Meet

NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- One month into Arts Midwest's international cultural exchange program Caravanserai: A place where cultures meet, its overwhelming success has caught the eye of Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations, Abdullah Hussain Haroon.  Upon seeing video and photographs, and receiving a briefing on audience reaction in five U.S. cities, Ambassador Hussain declared that Caravanserai "has proven its ability to bring people together in peace and friendship."

Caravanserai, a series of performing arts and film programs, features art and artists from Muslim cultures. The pilot program focuses on Pakistan and was launched in early October in Helena, MT. Caravanserai, which is funded by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art Building Bridges program and presented by Arts Midwest, has since visited Littleton, NH; Oswego, NY; West Long Branch, NJ; and is currently in Providence, RI.  A second wave of Caravanserai programming begins in February 2012.

The Pakistani artists on the first Caravanserai tour are Qawwal Najmuddin Saifudding and Brothers, Qawwali singers and Ustad Tari Khan a tabla drum master, dholis Abid Hussain and Abdul Rasheed. The artists have been enthusiastically received during their residencies, which include public performances, student workshops, and multi generational receptions and classes.

Ambassador Hussain issued the following statement about Caravanserai:

"The Caravanserai program is everything we wish for when we think of bridging cultural divides. People listening to and learning from one another. Children embracing new friends who make new types of music. Adults opening their hearts and arms to traditions other than their own.  Artists finding new audiences.  Caravanserai has proven its ability to bring people together in peace and friendship.  I hope it continues for many years to show us the way toward peace and understanding."

Caravanserai is presented at the following locations:

• The Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire; Littleton, NH
• Artswego SUNY Oswego; Oswego, NY
• FirstWorks; Providence, RI
• Monmouth University; West Long Branch, NJ
• The Myrna Loy Center; Helena, MT

Arts Midwest works closely with artistic director Zeyba Rahman, to select a roster of outstanding contemporary Pakistani artists.

• Arif Lohar –Folk singer
• Qawal Najmuddin Saifuddin – Qawali singers
• Ustad Tari Khan – US-based tabla master
• Abid Hussain and Abdul Rasheed – Dhol drummers
• Ayesha Khan –Filmmaker, "Made in Pakistan"

Future programming will feature other geographic regions and artistic disciplines and will travel to more US cities.

Caravanserai: A place were cultures meet is managed by Arts Midwest on behalf of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations with financial support from the Building Bridges program of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. Caravanserai's film programming is coordinated on behalf of the program by South Arts.

SOURCE Arts Midwest