KARACHI, Pakistan: The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) in collaboration with Routes2Roots (R2R), an Indian non-profit organisation working for peace and dialogue between Pakistan and India, presented the final exhibition of ‘Exchange for Change: Pakistan India 2013 – 2015’.
A total of 5,000 students from 31 schools across Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Dehradun believe that their stories across the two nations are the same and are worth sharing with the general public to dispel misconceptions that prevail on both sides of the border.
To this end, the CAP has undertaken a series of three exhibitions in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi where participating students of the Exchange for Change project shared experiences and lessons learnt from the 18-month initiative.
The Karachi Exhibition was held at Sadequain Gallery in Frere Hall and was well-attended by students, members of faculty from participating academic institutes and esteemed members of the press.
The invited guests visited the exhibition and interacted with the numerous audio-visual installations at the venue. Visitors observed actual letters, postcards and posters which Pakistani and Indian students had created and shared with each other. Guests also listened to actual accounts
of students who shared stories of their experiences from the programme. The concluding exhibition of the ‘Exchange for Change: Pakistan India 2013 – 2015’ cycle will be open to the public till 16th March 2015.
Upon the completion of every Exchange for Change (EFC) cycle, CAP holds exhibitions to showcase the correspondence generated by students over the course of the exchange. ‘Crossing Borders’ is a multimedia exhibition that takes visitors through the tale of a little boy from Pakistan and a little girl in India who met through Exchange for Change. The exhibition takes the form of a giant interactive storybook, and features letters, collages, postcards and oral histories that were exchanged as part of the program. The exhibition invites visitors to explore the friendships made and the adventures embarked upon by participants of the EFC 2013 – 2015 cycle.
Speaking about this initiative, Swaleha Alam Shahzada, Executive Director and Governing Board Member of CAP said: “Exchange for Change has negated stereotypical views of the ‘other’. These children have taught us that despite Pakistan and India’s violent past we can move forward towards a more peaceful coexistence.”
Rakesh Gupta, Founder of Routes2Roots said: “Exchange for Change – a student exchange program between the school children of India and Pakistan has brought about a visible change in the perceptions of the young participants who will be the leaders of tomorrow, thereby brightening the hope for a peaceful future.”
The participating schools from India are The Doon School, Welham Girls School, Him Jyoti School, P.Y.D.S Learning Academy, Kasiga School, Doon International from Dehradun. Cathedral & John Connon Middle school, Bombay International School, Diamond Jubilee High school, Euro School, Shindewadi Mumbai Public School, Abhudhaya Nagar Public School, Global Mill Passage Municipal School from Mumbai. Delhi Public School, Bloom Public School and Dev Samaj School from Delhi.
The EFC is an interactive initiative introduced by the CAP that works at improving relationships between school students of two countries. This project is the first of its kind to exist between Pakistan and India and to date there are no sustained cultural exchange programmes of this scale and nature between the two countries. It seeks to help students in the two countries realize that a sustained dialogue is possible. The CAP and R2R believe that such exhibitions will further build upon the relationships developed over the life of the project, leading to a positive change in restructuring cultural misconceptions and inter-generational conflict. It is believed that youth interaction and direct communication will in time lead to a more informed and fundamental understanding of each other.
