Introduction

There is a rising need to revisit our approach to Research led development that contributes to critical awareness and- sound co-shaping of our shared environment. Encouraging interdisciplinary discourse, Laajverd initiated its visiting school that works on the intersections of cultural landscapes – local communities and knowledge production. It also questions the role of interventions in regional communities with regards to development. LVS responds to conditions of ‘crises’ by bringing together multiple actors for dialogue and collective thinking on varied and disparate issues.

People

Zahra Hussain (Program Director)

Zahra Hussain is an Architect, Conservator and Cultural Geographer based in Pakistan. She leads the ‘Academy for Democracy’ project that explores forms of engagement with changing landscapes. She has developed the Creative Participatory Action Research framework, which integrates critical spatial investigations with the study of complex social entanglements, grounding research in context and attending to both human and non-human subjects. Her recent work explores heritage and belonging in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, where communities face the combined pressures of infrastructural development and climate change. She is particularly interested in rethinking the pedagogy of conservation through critical reflection and material engagement, shaping it into an inclusive, adaptive, and transformative practice. Hussain has co-led several UKRI (United Kingdom Research Institutes) funded projects committed to exploring resilience and adaptation in times of climate crisis in South and Central Asia.

Fatima Hussain(Tutor)

Fatima Hussain is an artist and academic researcher with over a decade of experience in exhibition-making and pedagogical interventions, working at the intersection of culture, art, and architecture. Her work specifically focuses on the preservation of practices of making, exploring their embodied knowledge and material histories. Fatima’s curatorial approach blurs the line between exhibition-making and classroom interventions, facilitating collaboration with practitioners, students, and communities. Her work in both art and academia focuses on critically analyzing geographies shaped by prevailing notions of space, influencing how creative practices are represented in postcolonial environments. She is the founder of Second Practice, a collective for collaborative artistic research, and co-directs Laajverd, an interdisciplinary collective focused on culture, heritage, and creative practice. Fatima exhibited globally at venues including the Karachi Biennale 17’ & 21, 17th Istanbul Biennale, and Aicon Gallery London.

Somana Riaz(Tutor)

With a background in Geology and Disaster Management I have the scientific as well as social understanding of the region in terms of climate change and disaster profile and transformation of communities as a result of such events.  Through Laajverd Visiting Schools, I have worked with communities that are vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic hazards with outputs in the form of community based interventions. I have been involved in mapping the time line of climate change extreme events that has affected mountain communities located in the project area and identify potential sites at risk in the future. Work in collaboration with local communities to document indigenous practices for adaptation to climate change and create awareness among locals to device a sustainable adaptation to such rapid changes in the future.

Jaffar Ali(Research Associate)

Engaged in a range of community-based development projects spanning cultural heritage and rural development. Facilitates community and site engagement during the Visiting Schools, supporting participants in developing meaningful connections with local communities and contexts.

Kamran Rizvi(Research Associate)

Involved in several research themes across the Visiting Schools, with a focus on data synthesis and analysis. Facilitates participants in conducting field research and supports the cross-analysis of data across various schemes.

Muhammad Abdullah(Field Associate, Baltistan)

Support field-based learning by facilitating site visits, community interactions, and on-ground research activities during the Visiting Schools.

Akram Hussain(Field Associate, Kalash Valleys)

Support field-based learning by facilitating site visits, community interactions, and on-ground research activities during the Visiting Schools.

Collaborators

  • Kalash, Lower Chitral
  • Lasput, Upper Chitral
  • Hashupi, Shigar
  • Sadpara, Baltistan
  • Ghanche, Baltistan
  • Gwadar, Balochistan

Participants

Valleys

  • Hunza Valley
  • Gojal Valley
  • Kaghan Valley, Kpk
  • Neelum Valley, Kashmir