KARACHI: An international photographic exhibition titled Colour of the World has opened for public at the Japanese Information and Culture Centre, Consulate and will continue till next week.

The exhibition opened for visitors on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohammad Azmat Shigeyuki Ataka, the patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Association of Photo Journalists, said the first international photographic salon of Japan was held in 1927 with entries from 15 overseas countries. It was initially held in alternate years, which was then suspended due to World War II. But since 1950, it is being held annually.

Mr Ataka said for the ongoing 81st edition of the show, the total number of submissions was 11841, 65 per cent of which was submitted by overseas photographers from 76 countries, 32pc from within Japan and three per cent were submitted in the U30 category. Among them, the jury selected a total of 111 works including six special prize winning entries.

Yasuo Sakuma, a former senior photojournalist at the Asahi Shimbun, who is instrumental in bringing the exhibition from Japan to Karachi from where it will travel to other parts of Pakistan, talked about the history of the exhibition a bit and expressed his happiness at its inauguration in Karachi on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Pak-Japan ties.

The Consul-General of Japan in Karachi, Toshio Odagiri, said it is his pleasure to be inaugurating the 81st edition of the show being held in Japan since 1927. He congratulated all those who thought of bringing the display to Karachi on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the setting up of Pak-Japan relations.

He mentioned those who are suffering because of the flash floods in Pakistan and said the international community including Japan will continue to support the affected people. He added photography was interesting way of looking at the world.

Kalim Farooqui, chairman of the Pak-Japan Business Forum, said looking at the pictures on view is more than a thousand words. He was grateful to the consul general for bringing the pictures from Japan to Karachi.

Zahid Hussain and Muhammad Zubair also spoke.

The exhibition will continue till Oct 13.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2022