LAAJVERD VISITING SCHOOL 2018 FIELD REPORT
Exploring Etho-Ecologies; Building Shared Futures Natural/Social entities and the environments they inhabit must be engaged with equally – if a shared future is to be considered for human and non-humans. In times when disaster events are escalating beyond humans’ governable capacities, and when debates on climate change induced mifrations, risk and resilience are intensifying, there is a felt urgency that actions must be taken towards building sustainable futures. A greater importance is being afforded to natural entities that are governed by human societies but upon which they also depend. To begin thinking about a shared future, in LVS 2018, we seek to understand the composition of environment and the social, cultural and natural landscapes; what do these consist of and how can we think collectively with nature and culture. Laajverd Visiting School was conducted in Laspur and adjoining valleys in August 2018 to understand the nature-culture relations amidst the challenges of natural hazards, environmental degradation, and the recent surge of slipshod construction and development. Engaging with the concept of etho-ecologies, we focussed on natural environment, culture, architecture and natural landscapes to identify correlations, interdependencies and potential synergies upon which we might speculate a shared future.
CONCEPT NOTE There is a rising need to revisit our approach to Research led development that contributes to critical awareness andsound 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 or otherwise. LVS responds to conditions of ‘crises’ that we understandas instants of shifting modalities – they mark points of change in a multilayered program (economic, social, religious, cultural etc.). It is a crucial period of time as systems and processes are being determined and regulated in an escalated force field. Combined systems of humans and nature are complex in terms of how they anticipate and respond to disturbed environments: disasters, hazards and conflict zones.The capacity to deal with the types of uncertainties and surprises requires innovative approaches, creative combinations of strategies, and the ability to adapt tothe changing environment. To this end, we ask, how does the creative and developmental faculty respond to shifting environments? How do we, as researchers co-produce research and knowledge with the inhabitants of our field of inquiry be it humans, nonhumans or more than humans? This intensive invite the creative and development faculty, students, faculty and field experts to join the visiting school in chalking out a more effective research and intervention methodology. Based on the project Academy for democracy (AFD), Laajverd’s visiting school encourages interdisciplinary discourse across faculties, professional and academic and local communities by employing creative negotiation as a method to co-produce knowledge. Experimental cooperation across disciplinary boundaries exemplified in this project seeks to address the educational skills and knowledge practice required to tackle the critical environmental and humanitarian challenges. It provides an opportunity to see how field practice might best interact within the audio-visual arts, and how scholarship aligns with professional reflective analysis and creative impulse. It involves performance, sound and visual arts, design and policy recommendations. The immediate goal of the AFD is to collaboratively engage with the community under studyin order to analyse the context and propose inclusive and sustainable strategies for development. The visiting school further composes a trans-disciplinarycurriculum for higher education, presenting a workable and academically feasible design for shared knowledge building under the AFD visiting school auspices.
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The research and seminar topics are designed by instructors from different fields that not only present a broader understanding of the subject under study but aims to experiment with the various ways in which we perceive the human condition within the geo-fabric. LVS is an inter-disciplinary platform comprising of workshops, seminars, field trips and opportunities to experience cultural practices, local music and food. Through rigorous research activities and tutorials, participants will learn to use a range of research methods, develop projects with local community, explore techniques of presentation, and carry out cross-curricular research projects. In 2014, the school was based on the Attabad Lake disaster in Northern Pakistan. In 2015, LVS was conducted in Neelum Valley that lies on the Line of Control in Azad Jammu Kashmir. In 2016, the LVS was based in Kaghan Valley while 2017 was based in Gojal Valley, Gilgit Baltistan. In 2018, the LVS was conducted in Laspur Valley in North-West Pakistan.
By Zahra Hussain
Zahra Hussain Director LVS
Creative-Participatory Action Research Audio Visual Cultures An architect, researcher, and a human geographer; MA in Visual Cultures from Goldsmiths in London. Founding Laajverd in 2007 as an undergrad, Zahra has taught at National College of Arts, directed plays, exhibited across 4 continents and documented the trees of an entire forest. She has also conceived and curated several projects that experiment with communication strategies often relating to the sub-continental and post-colonial debates eg Info Bomb and her recent research titled “Halo-caust; the architecture of counter-insurgency” which examines the ways in which Pakistani Urban spaces have rapidly transformed due to geopolitical conditions and various natural and man-made disasters. At present, Zahra is pursuing her PhD in Human Geography at the Department of Geography in Durham University. Zahra is actively working towards making the LVS a dynamic interdisciplinary platform for experimenting alternate strategies for working with communities and exploring pedagogies for higher education in Arts and Humanities.
WORKSHOP CONVENERS PROFILE
Abdullah Aslam Core team LVS
Fatima Hussain Core team LVS
Audio Visual Cultures Fatima Hussain is an Artist-Curator/Theatre Practitioner based in Pakistan. Her work over the last few years has addressed multiple issues bringing into it the political, the historical, the everyday, and whether with intention or escape, ‘art’ for her, has fallen within a larger interpretation of the colonized structures, languages and territory. She founded Other Asias, a transnational in 2011 that voices fictive and found sounds in order to create and inform technocratic society. Her recent curatorial projects include Info-Bomb, SLICE and Redo Pakistan, mostly nomadic in nature, curated in the form of newspapers, websites, radio shows and public events. Fatima is a 2005 graduate of the National College of Art (Lahore). She moved on to Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London for her MFA 2008.
Shafiqullah Khan
LVS Outreach Program Abdullah Aslam is a graduate of National College of Arts, Rawalpindi. He is an architect, graphic designer, illustrator and a cyclist. Abdullah has been part of the core team at Laajverd asince 2010. For the LVS, Abdullah conducts sessions on Responsible Business Management and Tourism. He also conducts the Built-Environment workshop and is responsible for the LVS Outreach Program . He faclitates the workshops to enrich the conceptual concern.
Somana Riaz
Environmental Security Somana holds MS (Disaster Management) degree from MCE (NUST) University and BS (Geology) degree from University of Peshawar. She has worked on the Tectonics and Sedimentary Geology of Potwar Basin, Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxes, Peshawar Plain, and Geomorphology, Geology, Glacial dynamics and natural hazard potential of the Northern Areas (Abbottabad to Passu), and flood hazard assessment during 2010 floods. Her research in MS titled “Deforestation as a future disaster for Pakistan” studied policy analysis and role of communities in mitigating disaster risk.
Natural Conservation Shafiqullah khan is a natural resource conservationist belong to district Chitral Northern Pakistan, currently associated with Aga khan Rural Support Programme(AKRSP) as coordinator water management and environment since April 2016. Before joining AKRSP, he served world wide fund Pakistan as field biologist and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wildlife department as Range office Broghil national park. He did his Msc(Hons) in agricultural economics from agricultural university peshawar and MSc forestry from Pakistan Forest institute Peshawar. His field of interest are biodiversity conservation, Snow leopard conservation, avifauna and conservation of high land ecosystem.
Aftab Rana Eco Tourism
Mr. Aftab-ur-Rehman Rana is professionally associated with tourism industry since 1988. He is a well-known figure in tourism sector due to his pioneering efforts for the promotion of youth tourism, adventure tourism and ecotourism in Pakistan. Presently, he is working with USIAD Firms Project as a Tourism Development Specialist. Previously, he has served Adventure Foundation Pakistan as Director General and Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) as Senior Tourism Promotion Officer. He has also worked with the government of KPK and Gilgit Baltistan to develop regional tourism policy and framework for the public-private partnership in tourism sector. He is also the founder of sustainable tourism movement in Pakistan and a pioneer of ecotourism in Pakistan.
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WORKSHOPS & SESSIONS Creative - Participatory Action Research
Built-Environment
This workshop gave participants an insight to the various qualitative research methods used in social sciences and the arts exploring creative methods for conducting participatory research with local communities. This workshop served as a backdrop for the research carried out throughout the Visiting School and helped participants orient their inquiries with the local community.
Aimed to highlight the significance of traditional living patterns through a unique study of pattern language and howit is connected to architecture. An anthropological insight tohabitat systems, this method of research gives an insight tohow social structures are embedded in architectural forms.
Audio Visual Cultures
Bio-Diversity and local Eco-system management
This workshop introduced the participants to culture and nature and how the relationship between these two entities has developed. Through this workshop participants learn to map local practices and living patterns that ultimately inform their individual projects. These practices and patterns are also added to the IPPC.
This session introduced the participants to the Bio-Diversity in the region of Laspur and adjoining Valley. In addition to knowlege around local medicinal plants, herbs, local animals, wild life and birds, the participants were also introduced to the indigenous systems of managing the natural ecology.
By Zahra Hussain
By Zahra Hussain & Fatima Hussain
By Zahra Hussain & Abdullah Aslam
By Shafiqullah / AKRSP
Cultural Heritage Management
Briefing by AKRSP
Designed by Zahra Hussain
By Atta-ur Rehman
This workshop explores ways in which the local community of Laspur can be made more aware and conscious of their unique cultural heritage in order to manage it in face of development, progress and change. The workshop engaged with local community (men, women and children) to identify and explore local cultural heritage and devise ways in which it can be integrated in development plans for the community. The sessions were run by multiple conveners.
The Agha Khan Rural Support program conducted a briefing for LVS participants in Booni and Laspur Valley to introduce the various programs being run by AKRSP in the region; the objectives, process, community engagement and successful completion of the projects.
Environmental Security By Somana Riaz
The purpose of this workshop was to understand the concept of development for mountain communities, identifying the potential environmental threats that have been introduced to the area as a result of human interventions. Field research aimed to highlight the effects infrastructure expansion leaves on the mountains, environment and available natural resources.
An effort to unlatch from the prevalent global narrative of development, Laajverd Visiting School aims to understand the regional patterns of growth and progress to map trajectories that can help us develop inclusive, participatory and sustainable action-research.
NOTES FROM THE FIELD The journey started at 4am from Islamabad on 28th July 2018 with the cloudy sky and light rain. Participants were comfortably settled in the Coaster and the twelve-hour journey began. With a quick stop for breakfast, we made our way towards upper Dir where we stopped for Lunch in a beautiful river side hotel. We started making our way towards the Lowari Tunnel which took more time than anticipated. This patch of road is under construction and due to frequent rains, the road was muddy, slushy as well as slippery. By the time we reached the tunnel, it had already closed down and would open in another 1.5 hours. While the initial plan was to drive straight to Booni and spend the night there, the plan was changed to spend the night in Chitral instead. The tunnel re-opened at 6pm and we started moving again and reached Chitral at 9pm. Here, we stayed at the Pamir River Side hotel where the participants enjoyed the fresh breeze in the hotel gardens. Next morning, at 7am, the luggage was loaded on local vans and we made our way to Booni in order to get the briefing by Agha Khan Rural Support Program.
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The AKRSP briefing was arranged at the PTDC in Booni where the LVS participants were welcomed with snacks and tea. Mr. Atta ur Rehman gave a briefing on AKRSP role in Laspur Valley and the various projects which have been initiated and completed by the AKRSP. The session gave the LVS participants a good overview of development projects which are currently happening in Laspur Valley. After the session, LVS participants boarded the vehicles in order to make their way to Laspur Valley. The road from Booni to Laspur is rough and the journey took us around four hours to reach Laspur. After the tiring journey, participants were settled in their rooms with their welcome packs consisting of clean sheets, towels, bags etc. One guest house was allocated for the boys and another guest house was given to the girls. The evening was spent relaxing and recuperating from the journey and ended with an early dinner at 8pm.
The next morning began with breakfast and workshop on Creative-Participatory Action Research Workshop. Participants were introduced to various qualitative methods of research while critically questioning the role and positionality of the researcher. Since LVS lays great stress upon the participatory element of research, local community members were invited to participate from the very first day. The workshop exercise aimed to introduce the participants to the physical landscape of Laspur Valley in order to orient them for the next couple of days. Participants were divided in groups led by a local community member and sent off to conduct Transect walks on water, land and fauna. After the exercise, they returned to the workshop space and prepared presentations. Tea was served at 5pm to freshen up the teams for presentations. The exercise helped orientate the participants and establish a working relationship with their local counterparts. The next day was dedicated to workshops in order to prepare participants for field work the next day. Starting with a massive breakfast, participants were given the Audio Visual Cultures Workshop and divided in groups to prepare research questionnaires and content. The exercise helped them share ideas around how and what data to collect in the field. After this, the workshop on Built Environment was conducted followed by Lunch. After Lunch, the participants were taken to a hundred-yearold traditional house called ‘Baipash’ in Khowar language. An elder person from the community welcomed us in the house and told the participants about the significance of different features of traditional architecture. Following on from here, the participants were taken to the recently constructed Heritage Museum Laspur, a project by AKRSP, supported by SDC and design and curated by Laajverd.
Mr Amirullah Yaftali, who is the owner of the museum gave a detailed tour to the participants and told them about the artifacts and stories associated with them. Participants filled out ‘Visitor Forms’ developed with the help of Dr Mohamad Meqdad based at the AKU in London. After the museum tour, participants visited another traditional house which two hundred years was approximately old. They returned to the workshop space and prepared for field work. Some of the work was critically analyzed by the LVS core team so that participants could improve their approaches and techniques of research before stepping into the field.
And came the field day, participants were sent to conduct research in Raman, Phargram, Brok and Sor Laspur. In the field participants were warmly welcome by local communities where they enjoyed their hospitality. Participants returned from the field by 5pm and welcomed with Pakoras, Juice and Tea to revive their energies for field work compilation and presentation. The evening was spent in compiling data from the field. This was followed by dinner and participants were sent to rest and recuperate for the next day. The next morning participants arrived and presented the data collected the day before. Some participants made their way to the museum in order to engage in a session of Cultural Heritage Management Workshop. Under the Cultural Heritage Management workshop, three sessions were conducted followed by a local cultural fair. The first session explored ways of making the Heritage Museum Laspur a learning platform for local school children, an exercise introduced by Batool Ali on Museum as a Learning Space. As part of this activity Ayesha Kamal, Somana Riaz and Yumna Ali engaged with local School teachers from Govt Secondary Girls School in order to design learning exercises using museum objects. School teachers were engaged from Government Boys Secondary School as well and were briefed by Daniyal Khyzer, Kamran Rizvi and Sheryar Hassan about the importance of creating the museum as a learning space in order to preserve and conserve the cultural heritage for next generations. This exercise was followed by lunch and individual project tutorials at the workshop space.
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Participants were advised to work in pairs or individually to produce project proposals. These proposals should respond to the current problems and challenges that the community faces hence the projects must be developed in close consultation with local community members. In the evening, a briefing was given by Somana Riaz for her workshop ‘Gauging Sustainability in Mountain Landscapes’ followed by discussion on what to do in the field next day. After an early breakfast, the participants were given a Briefing on the Bio-Diversity and Forestry by Mr Shafiqullah from AKRSP. The session was very informative for the LVS participants and they got a chance to learn about the local practices of stewardship of natural landscapes. The information shared in this session filled many gaps in participants research regarding local communal practices of engaging with natural landscapes. The session was followed by a trip to Phargram Village where participants observed the Check Dams constructed by AKRSP to manage water and soil erosion on mountains. Participants moved around the Phargram landscape and met with local community members. Lunch was served in a lush green field after which participants were taken back to the workshop space to collate the data from field and present their findings. The next morning, participants were sent to carry out research on their individual projects. They returned for lunch and continued their research. In the evening, participants were taken out to view Polo game practice in the local Polo ground in Harchin. Participants thoroughly enjoyed this activity and returned later in the evening for dinner.
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In the evening, participants were given handouts prepared by Mr Aftab Rana on Sustainable Tourism in order to introduce the participants to this concept and gave them an exercise on preparing a business plan for the locality. Participants conducted the assignment as two groups and discussed with the Core Team as Mr Aftab Rana could not be present. The next morning participants were sent out for individual project research and prepare presentations for the next day while the Core Team conducted the Cultural Heritage Management sessions. The second session was conducted with local tour operators exploring the possibilities of regulating sustainable and culturally sensitive tourism in the Valley. The third session was conducted with local crafts women exploring crafts practices and techniques in order to improvise products for a global market. Once these sessions were completed, a local cultural fair was also arranged where locals brought traditional food, handicrafts and played local music. The LVS participants got the chance to once again engage with local community, know more about their crafts, food and music. The evening ended with a beautiful traditional music and dance performance. On the 10th day, participants were taken on a trip to Shandur Pass for recreational walk. They returned for lunch and greeted the local community elders who were invited to view the presentation of LVS participants. There were around 15 local community members who assessed the projects presented by the LVS participants. This became a rich discursive session where LVS participants learnt about the strong and weak points of their research and how to better respond to contexts and fill the gaps. The day ended with a scrumptious dinner with the local community after which participants were advised to pack up their bags for an early morning return journey. At 5am next morning, the team started their journey from Laspur with a stopover in Chitral. Here, a delicious brunch arranged at Chitral Mess hosted by Mrs. Sabiha Saulat and Mr. Saulat Hussain, which the participants thoroughly enjoyed and then began the journey to Islamabad.
LVS team would like to especially thank Mr Aftab Rana who introduced us to Laspur Valley in 2017, Mr Imtiaz Ahmed, Atta ur Rehman and Mr Shafiqullah from AKRSP for facilitating the briefing sessions. We would like to thank the local community for their warm hospitality especially Asif Yaftali, Noor ul Islam, Fouzia Yaftali, Azher, Ahsen Yaftali, Aftab, Sultan Salahuddin, Nadeer Aunty and all the women who prepared food dishes and the community elders who gave their time and shared their knowledge with us at the final session.
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PROPOSALS & OUTREACH During the Visiting School, participants are encouraged to work on individual inquiries, which may lead to a project. Thorough collective crit sessions and individual tutorials with LVS core team directed participants to develop their projects. Following are some projects proposed by the participants,
Indigenous Practices and Patterns Catalog LVS Team Audio Visual Cultures and Built Environment assignment led participants to identify practices and patterns through the field research conducted in Harchin, Sor Laspur, Brok, Phargram and Raman. The extensive list contains the products used and made, craft of the area, building techniques, practices, folklore, localknowledge and usage of herbs etc. The information was further compiled by Fatiha Khwaja and Zeeshan Ghani.
Revisiting the Khuras
By Aihab Anwar and Akhyar Razzaq Water mills also known as Punchakis, Khura in the local language used to be an important part of the Laspur Valley as they were for grinding wheat .These Khura are approximately 200 years old and there usage was during the months of September until March. However, changing times, decrease in water supply and the introduction of technology has changed the focus from Punchakis to Electric Powered Mills. The idea is to rehabilitate these structures into spaces that are relevant to the current local situation and help in generating revenue for the local community. This project explores how Pun-Chakkis (water mills) can be revived and used as community gathering spaces such as craft center, music workshop or a cafe for tourists.
Mehmaankhana - platform for Tourism Daniyal Khyzer
Livelihoods Diversification and CPEC Sidra Tabassum & Fatima Afzal
This project explores the aspirations and perceptions of local men and women related to the CPEC. It focusses on the diversification of economies based on the resources, skills and capacities the local people claim to have.
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MehmaanKhana is a community based business plan which is not only for their economical development but it also helpful in creating an opportunity of self sustainable and interactive tourism. This will be controlled from a community head office which was run by manager should be selected and trained from local community. Mehmaan Khana is just not only to facilitate the tourist but also an income generating program in the town according to their skill. It will create an income generating opportunity for Cooks, rooms and guest house owners, Tour guides, Polo players and coaches, local story tellers, craftsmen, Musicians.
Learning in Museums - HML Batool Ali, Ayesha Kamal, Somana Riaz, Yumna Sadiq Museum as a learning platform for young children was one of session facilitated by Batool Ali. Conducted under Cultural Heritage Management workshop, Heritage Museum Laspur hosted the activity with the blessings of the owner Mr Amirullah Yaftali. The exercises developed in this session are for children from Grade 3-5 and Grade 6-8 keeping in view their Learning dynamics. These exercises were developed in collaboration with local school children. These will be further refined by the LVS team to be introduced in the Heritage Museum Laspur in 2019. Story Through Flip-cards Yumna Sadiq The objective of the project is to make children relate to the objects at the Heritage Museum in Laspur Valley. By designing a game titled ‘Shelog Dikk’ (Storytelling), the children get to explore different objects at the museum while creating stories around them as well as adding cultural references to the story. This game can help school children to interact with the objects by themselves. This can also be useful for future researchers and local (Chitral) school trips. Developing stories can be very helpful in tapping into a child’s imagination and enhancing creativity. Children’s stories can also fit into the larger stories of the world. Creative Learning Activities Somana Riaz Laspur Valley holds a treasure of traditional values, cultural norms and a rich heritage that has been preserved as the valley’s heritage museum. This asset needs to be promoted and made an interesting, fun filled and interactive space both for the local community and for visitors. Children specifically are to be made the custodians of local heritage. For this purpose a set of activities are designed for school children of different age groups. These activities are aimed at acquainting these young minds with their cultural roots, changing practices, inculcating creative thinking and educating them about their area and the museum. The designed activities are focused on creative writing, observation skills, drawing and mathematical observation keeping in view the courses taught at schools from grade 3 to 7. Laspur Interactive Ayesha Kamal Using the Laspur Heritage Museum as a Centre, a suggestion of a series of products shall be introduced to promote sustainable tourism in the valley and keep a soft check on the people who visit to be responsible tourists. The Laspur interactive is not only a way to connect the valley of Laspur with the rest of the country by sharing the culture and tradition of Laspur, but also a way to connect the locals with their own traditional values, creating products which promote sustainable tourism in the area and generate income with open ended, locally produced selection of items. Since, the area has problems with accessibility and adaptability to technology, simple trade craft shall be used in the promotion of these items. One particular product shall be created in this report, a cardboard model set of a traditional house which could be built by folding and locking flaps. This shall be available in an A3 size booklet which would have introductory chapters to a Traditional house in the Harchin Valley.
Qashkaari Crafts - Resilient Futures Project Fouzia Yaftali, Zahra Hussain, Fatima Hussain Sheheryar Hassan & Kamran Rizvi Qashkaari is crafts based program initiated with the local women of Laspur Valley in order to protect, preserve and practice the techniques of hand-crafting embedded in the cultural heritage of the area. As of now either centuries old practices are being casacded by change, or the locals are being coerced into selling their products at lesser than a subsistence wage. Qashkaari aims to change this. Our session with local women explored ways in which local craftswomen can be facilitated in a niche market so that they can be the direct owners of their own products - through profit and loss alike. This approach aims to make the local women direct owners of the craft and also preserve the cultural specificities of the craft. It will also introduce a proper brand, run a campaign involving the local community, provide reasonable resources, training the local managers, and in a long run setting up a training institution within their own locality. The business model is developed by Sheheryar Hassan and Kamran Rizvi while the project is being led by a local woman Fouzia Yaftali, assisted by Laajverd.
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Collaborators
Research Collaborator
Theoria
ARA Theoria is an action - research think-tank led by Zahra Hussain working at the intersections of culture - heritage - environment. It is invested in conducting cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and employs creative and participatory communication strategies. ARA Theroia combines action-research, analysis and advocacy.
Laajverd Visiting School Laajverd Visiting School led by Zahra Hussain, is an initiative to engage bachelor students and mid career professionals in rigorous field research. This encourages them to critically analyze the culture, environment and people of that area. This helps them reflect upon their own position in an increasingly urbanized and globalized world while understanding the challenges faced by local cultures and traditions. For the locals, we try to make them aware of their environment and also do on-site impromptu workshops in areas where we can assist them through the LVS outreach program. The LVS believes in a two-way learning model where the locals and visiting participants engage a healthy dialogue for shared knowlege production.