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Karachi Biennale (KB) is the flagship project of the KBT that has been designed to use art as a vehicle to discover, discuss and respond to Karachi.

The Karachi Biennale Trust (KBT) was founded, in 2016, by a group of visual art professionals and educators as a dynamic platform to promote creativity, innovation and criticality in the visual arts. KBT -a not-for-profit organization- has remained a citizens’ initiative supported by the corporate sector. It works closely with a network of local and international cultural, educational and philanthropic organizations.

Karachi Biennale (KB) is the flagship project of the KBT that has been designed to use art as a vehicle to discover, discuss and respond to Karachi. Its each iteration has a thematic that is relevant to the host city, in 2017, the first KB, artists were invited to respond to the theme ‘WITNESS’, and in KB19 they will focus on the devastating ‘development footprint’ on ecology.

Envisioning Synergies

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Vision

“The Trust aims at creating a strong ‘Public Art presence’ in the city and initiate conversations on its role in vitalizing the environment.”

The vision of KBT is to create a public audience for art and its projects offer a chance to revisit Karachi’s past, recognize it’s contemporary challenges and contribute to an optimistic reimagining of its future. KB has been conceived as an international art forum that penetrates the city with improvised exhibition spaces where innovative art from Pakistan and overseas can be showcased.

Educational interventions to engage youth with art, as a transformative experience, is a vital part of the KBT mandate. We believe in discursive exchanges, research and art scholarship to achieve criticality. The trust aims at creating a strong ‘Public Art presence’ in the city and initiate conversations on its role in vitalizing the environment.