A TEN DAY CROSS-CURRICULAR & INTERDISCIPLINARY INTENSIVE WITHIN A REGIONAL LANDSCAPE
LAAJVERD VISITING SCHOOL 2015 FIELD REPORT
Focus Site: Upper Neelum Valley, AJK Consumption of natural resources that is faster than it can be replenished results in depletion of the natural environment. Contemporary global challenges are laden with issues of natural resource availability and its management. Neelum District in Kashmir has a beautiful valley that not only attracts tourists but also houses indigenous settlements along with an ancient temple ruins. This valley is located at the Line of control (Loc) and is also divided by it. There are amplified pressures on the natural environment of this area due to population and increased tourism, excessive deforestation as well as dependency of livelihoods. This influx of foreigners who are not local to the land also affects the indigenous cultural archive. The cultural archive is embedded in the local practices, folklore traditions and customs for which the school will work closely with the indigenous people. Laajverd Visiting School aims to investigate and put forth creative propositions for conserving indigenous culture, suggest alternate livelihoods and promote methods of conserving the environment focusing on reading form language, audio-visual cultural uplifting, ecotourism and environmental security among other issues.
LAAJVERD VISITING SCHOOL Conceptual note There is a rising need to revisit our approach to academia that contributes to critical awareness and sound co-shaping of our shared environment. Encouraging interdisciplinary academic discourse, Laajverd initiates its visiting school that responds to conditions of ‘crises’. Crises are instants of shifting modalities – they mark points of change in a multilayered program. It is a specific period of time that is crucial in several ways of identification and determination of a system that is being regulated in an escalated force field. Combined systems of humans and nature are convoluted in terms of how they anticipate and respond to disturbed environments: disasters 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 to the changing environment. The governance of such areas is exercised by the state and the development sector that deals with the conflict that arises due to the crises. Often, disaster zones prove as a fertile ground for the conflict to foster. How does the creative faculty and developmental faculty respond actively to shifting environments? This intensive invites the creative and developmental faculty, students and field experts to join this visiting school in chalking out a more effective academic methodology. Based on the project Academy for democracy (AFD), Laajverd’s visiting school encourages interdisciplinary academic discourse that employs creative negotiation as a method to address the communities undergoing conflict. AFD is a practice led research project that aims to analyze, understand and refine the role of the creative faculty in order to equip them with the precise body of knowledge that will aid them during humanitarian activities. It provides artists with an opportunity to see how field practice might best interact within the visual arts, and how scholarship aligns with professional reflective analysis and creative impulse. It involves performance, sound and visual arts. By extensive research into the academic structures and the professional practice that follows, this project investigates new and creative methodologies that re-structure the current academic process. By observing the fast paced transformation in the recent past that has re-organized our cities, this initiative is inspired by the new socio-spatial configurations that await the caretaker in order to democratically reclaim the space. Experimental cooperation across disciplinary boundaries exemplified in this project seeks to address the educational skills needed to tackle the critical environmental and humanitarian challenges. The immediate goal of the AFD is to collaboratively engage with the community under study in order to analyse the context and multiple ways of reconciliation.
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The visiting school further composes a trans-disciplinary curriculum for higher education, presenting a workable and academically feasible design for shared knowledge building under the AFD visiting school auspices. 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. The ten-day intensive includes workshops, think tank, field exercises and seminars that will eventually produce a publication and an exhibition. In 2014, the school was based on the Attabad Lake disaster in Northern Pakistan. In 2015, the area visited is Neelum Valley that lies on the Line of Control.
By Zahra Hussain
Zahra Hussain Director LVS
Creative Research Methods Audio Visual Cultures Built Environment An architect, theater practitioner and culture observer; 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 counterinsurgency” which examines the ways in which Pakistani Urban spaces have rapidly transformed due to geopolitical conditions and various natural and man-made disasters. Currently, Zahra is actively working towards making the LVS a dynamic interdisciplinary platform for debates on crises and conflict responses.
LVS WORKSHOPS & SESSIONS CONVENERS PROFILE
Nikos Salingaros Built Environment Nikos Salingaros is professor of Mathematics at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The author of more than seventy scientific publications, he served as associate editor for two journals, and refereed for fourteen others. Dr. Salingaros is considered an authority on how complexity underlies architecture and urbanism. He is a member of three architecture/ urbanist editorial boards. His work is respected as defining a new direction for the field, supporting the monumental contributions of Christopher Alexander, and also providing support for traditional architecture and urbanism as exemplified by the work of Leon Krier and many others. He is thus seen by many as forging a crucial connection between innovative ideas for a new architecture, and the timeless content of traditional architectures.
Mohammad Arshad Mountain Conservation (session) Mohammad Arshad did his MSc in Mountain conservation from Punjab University. He is currently employed by Himalayan Wildlife Foundation and is actively working in Neelum Valley for setting up Brown Bear reserves and other sites that have been declared as National Parks. For the LVS, Arshad will discuss the importance of Mountain Conservation, its relation to the environment and the current threats poised to it.
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.
Neelam Raina Craft Making for a global market Dr Neelam Raina is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Art & Design at Middlesex University, UK. Raina’s research explores the links between culture, conflict, poverty and development. Her doctoral research analyzed this from the perspective of Muslim women in post-conflict Kashmir and the role crafts plays in generating income for them. Dr Neelam simultaneously continues to work in Kashmir with women’s crafts groups, exploring the impact of skill based training on their income and in the long run on the quality of their lives. This work also feeds into development thinking with regards to post-disaster construction as well as the role that design plays in development. Her research interest lies within the understanding of the potential role of design in economic development of conflict areas, with a special focus on women.
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 MFA2008.
Abdullah Aslam Core team LVS
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 is responsible for the LVS Outreach Program and is faclitating the workshops to enrich the conceptual concerns and also as a potential tutor for the projects.
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LVS WORKSHOPS & SESSIONS BRIEFS
An effort to unlatch from the prevalent global narrative of development, Laajverd Visiting School aims to understand the regional patterns of growth and progress. Through our workshops, we will see the different strands of regional composition of life and try to map trajectories that can help us understand the structure of these societies and to help retain their regional quality.
Built Environment: Form Language & traditional living patterns
Creative Research Methods
By Nikos Salingaros & Zahra Hussain
It is important to decolonize our way of carrying out field research in regional areas. This workshop is developed at the intersections of research strategies and techniques used in the disciplines of art and social sciences in order to overlap these for effective outcomes. It not only highlights methodologies but also puts forth the basics of semiotics in terms of deconstructing images, conversations and local practices.
This workshop aims to highlight the significance of traditional living patterns through a unique study of pattern language and how it is connected to architecture. This method of research gives an insight into how social structures are embedded in architectural forms. It is a strong tool for analysis and can be adopted for various researches that deal with human systems and their environment.
Audio Visual Cultures: Indigenous practices that help conserve natural resources By Zahra Hussain & Fatima Hussain The depletion of natural resources has far reaching consequences if sustainable environmental management are not revived or exercised by rural and urban settlements. Situated in the South of Asia, Pakistan’s major issues consist of deforestation, waste management systems and clean water availability. The sustainable environmental management needs to be contextualized in light of the local indigenous knowledge systems, as the western scientific model, which is predominant in such literature, is not always fit for this region. The local realities and situations are quite regional when it comes to indigenous management of natural resources. This workshop aims to map out traditional and indigenous practices of Neelam Valley inhabitants that help preserve natural resources and the current threats to it in order to see effective ways of preserving these practices for the challenging future.
By Zahra Hussain
Eco Tourism By Aftab Rana
Ecotourism is a form of responsible travel that takes place in and around natural areas and intends to contribute to conservation and enhance the livelihoods of the local people. Flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions in ecotourism. Ecotourism is often invoked as a way to serve both conservation ends and support local livelihoods and promote economic development. The concept of ecotourism has been pursued since the 80s as a model for responsible travel to vulnerable natural areas to benefit local people and contribute to conservation goals. An important element of ecotourism is the intention to foster appreciation for natural and cultural heritage among hosts and visitors through interpretation. This workshop provides knowledge and skills to understand the real concept of ecotourism and important elements of any ecotourism product. We will also try to explore the possibilities to apply the concept of ecotourism in Neelum Valley which is now under the increasing pressure of uncontrolled and unplanned tourism growth.
Craft making for a Global Market: Karigari aur Rozgaar
Mountain Conservation Session
By Dr Neelam Raina
In Musk Deer National Park, population of indigenous people is increasing rapidly due to lack of sustained indigenous practices. As a result resources are going to be scare that creates environmental security that may also lead to create conflict in the valley.This session will introduce you to the current state of natural environment in Neelum Valley and the threats posed to it. It will also focus on the work of HWF (Himalayan Wildlife Foundation) in this region.
This workshop allows participants to understand basic concepts of design and apply skills in developing a design range that is relevant to a globalized craft market. The workshop will provide skills and knowledge about design through conversations and visual communication, allowing participants to engage with the creative process and understand what it means to make things. Here designing with the craftsperson is key to understanding action research as opposed to designing for the craftsperson.
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By Mohammad Arshad
- CRM, Creative Research Methods workshop assignment required the participants to jot down their research strategy for the proposed projects. This helped participants orient their interests. - AVC required participants to work in groups for preparing field research forms, each group focused on investigating the how cultural practices affect or interact with natural resources. This assignment helped participants to interact and exchange their research strategies. This research was carried out in Taobat, Kel and Aran Kel. - BE workshop-required participants to develop a research form for carrying our field research in order to investigate the pattern language. Once the four groups had developed their research categories, these were consolidated into one form to be shared by all the participants. This helped develop a comprehensive and well-rounded research base. This research was carried out in Taobat, Kel and Aran Kel. - EC required participants to list down possible ecotourism initiatives that can be taken in the valley keeping in view the strengths and weaknesses. This culminated into a session where participants filled out forms and discussed possible initiatives with the workshop convener. - KAR session invited the local craftswomen to be part of this session, all the corse material and recorded lecture was translated for them on spot. The workshop required students to carry out a very detailed ethnographic survey that focused on culture and crafts with the local women present. - The session on Mountain Conservation was very informative and gave participants an insight into the wild life, natural habitats and natural resources that are threatened by various practices. This included information about the Musk Deer National Park and other worthwhile initiatives taken by HWF (Himalayan Wildlife Foundation).
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FIELD NOTES The first day in Kel gave two workshops to help participants formulate their research methodology and to introduce them to the various aspects of Audio-Visual Cultures, which would help them critically analyze their subject, environment and situation in order to encourage numena based arguments. The Creative Research methods workshop introduced participants to the various methods of research and their intersection with creativity, imagination and art. It also laid great stress upon the ethics of carrying out research in the field. All the assignments had a field research component that required students to actively carry out research in the field i.e. Kel, Taobat and Aran Kel. LVS provided notebooks and maps to the participants so they could orient themselves. Listening to the workshop
Ethusiastic participants working hard at late hours
Group discussing and presenting the work
In Taobat, the workshop on Pattern Language gave participants a good start on categorizing their interests and questions. Groups of participants with one local each provided with the support of HWF went into the 4 villages, Taobat, Taobat 1, Taobat 2 and Taobat Bala. This research encompassed questions about lifestyle patterns in summer and winters, occupation, culture, traditions, religion, conflict and economics.
Setting off for research
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LVS bag come in handy
Preparing final field research form before we go out for field research
The participants were also taken to the Trout fish-breeding farm where they got to see the fish and feed them as well. Trout fish is endangered in this region hence the locals are not allowed to use a net for fishing. We were also briefed about the nature friendly initiatives taken by the Army such as planting fruit trees, checking illegal hunting and fishing. On the way back from Taobat, we also visited a small museum kept by a local in one of the bazaars. The Director LVS (Zahra Hussain) discussed the uplifting of museum with the owner and promised to redesign, curate and add knowledge to this repository by the mid of September 2015. Plans are to engage local crafts men for preparing wooden platforms for display.
Participants enjoying the scenic views while visiting Trout Fish Farm
Feeding fish at the trout fish breeding farm
Carrying out research on Pattern Language of the indigenous community
Engaging with locals in their homes and on the streets
Breifing by the Army on our way back from Taobat
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Our next research site was Aran Kel, which was a 2.5 hours trek up on a mountain in Kel. The research here was carried out in 3-4 hours where participants visited local houses and engaged with the elders of the community, as they seem to be the most authentic source of indigenous knowledge. Local vegetable Karum, makai roti and desi butter lunch was set up on top of an old indigenous house, which gave a beautiful view of Aran Kel. After lunch the participants wrapped up their research and invited a local craft-girl to join in for a workshop in Kel the next day. On our way back from Aran Kel, we witnessed a local man using net to catch trout fish in full view of police chowki at the bridge connecting Aran Kel and Kel.
Trekking up and down to Aran KEL
Listening to stories by the old man in Aran Kel
Asking question from the oldest man in Aran Kel (apx 100 yrs of age)
Jasim Abdullah & Fuaad Firoze engaging with locals for research
Faryal & Zahra invite Bilqees for a workshop on Karigari aur Rozgaar
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Kel was our basecamp and the morning Army drills kept us well aware of the presence of LOC (Line of Control). Participants would use the mornings for lectures and afternoons for research since the locals were found at home in the afternoon as they use the mornings for outdoor chores such as cutting wood and grass. Kari Gari and Rozgar workshop was held in Kel, where we were also briefed about the BISP project and activities in Kel. The participants visited the Lui Pattu Center in Kel, which is being run by Punjab Small industries AJK program. Here we saw that Local girls were being trained by a Swati craftsperson who taught them how to make Swati shawls on looms. The thread is imported from China while the design is Swati. The LVS sessions had much to discuss regarding this practice and have proposed some strategies as well. The next visit was to BISP (Benazir Income Support Program) center, which was in a bad state, strategies have been proposed for reviving this center as well. We also visited a local woodcraft shop where the locals are dependent upon a person who comes from Muzaffarabad to print designs for the locals to cut out. LVS tutor also discussed alternate products as woodcrafts that bypasses the print man from this process and makes the locals self-sufficient. A few of the LVS participants (Bushra Jamil, Huma Tassawar, Faryal Arif & Quratulain) were encouraged to run a design workshop for local girls at Lui Pattu center where they were given the basic ideas of design, motif and color palette.
A local woman tells her story
At the Lui Pattu training center At the local woodcraft shop
Engaging, conversing and eating with the local women
During the time in Kel, LVS team (Abdullah Aslam & Zahra Hussain) noticed an abundance of garbage on the streets of Kel Bazaar. Abdullah Aslam discussed to arrange Cleanliness Drive. With the help and support of HWF, LVS team prepared a mascot, gathered plastic gloves and garbage bags and distributed these to school children and set out to clean the 4km long strip of Kel Bazaar. The mascot was well played by Fuaad Firoz who caught the attention and interest of children throughout the cleanliness drive. Sarmad provided children with polythene hand gloves and trash bags to collect the garbage. This activity got the interest of many locals who joined this cleanliness drive. The shopkeepers were advised to vocally discourage littering and take care of cleanliness outside their shops. The SHO of Shardah Police was also present on this occasion and appreciated the activity. At the end of the cleanliness drive, the head of Anjuman-e-Tajiraan announced that baskets will placed in the bazaar and in front of the shops. Since tourism is new to this area compared to other tourist spots in Pakistan, the LVS core team (Zahra Hussain & Abdullah Aslam) also proposed to give locals a sense of Tour Guiding. Three young men signed up for this activity, who were given basic theater training for clarity of speech, hand movements and facial expressions by participants (Danial Khyzer & Ayesha Kamal) of LVS who had prior training in theater at the NCA. They were also advised on developing an interesting route and to incorporate accurate knowledge about, herbs, trees and local folklores for the tourists. The LVS team will follow up on this activity within 6 weeks time to finalize tours for these three men.
Abdullah (LVS) & Arshad (HWF) brief the students for Cleanliness Drive
Three locals being trained as Tour Guides by Danial Khyzer & Ayesha Kamal Students of Kel school march
Sarmad hands over plastic gloves
LVS Director adressing the public on cleanliness.
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Bushra Jamil presenting her project”re-imagining kashmir” to the locals people
Examining embroidery done as an experiment with local women
The participants actively carried out research on their individual projects in the last three days. This research was presented to local people representing AJKRSP, BISP, HWF, Anjumane-Tajeraan and Dr Younis and an academician from Mirpur University. The work was much appreciated and they have requested detailed reports from the LVS. Last night at the LVS was filled with fun and games. Fuaad Firoz, one of the participants agreed to make biryani for everyone, which turned out to be delicious. This was followed by a special request to Bushra Jamil to make Sawaiyaan, which were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.
PROJECTS BY LVS 2015 1. Indigenous Practices and Patterns Catalog (IPPC) By Zahra Hussain Research Assistants: Daniyal Khyzer, Sarmad bin Shafiq, Faryal Arif, Jasim Abdullah & Tahir Pervaiz
Local people listening to the presentations by participants
The workshops on Audio Visual Culture and Built Environment focused on documenting practices and patterns of indigenous people in order to archive them and to build a knowledge repository for future development in the area. The catalog will act as a knowledge base for anyone who wishes to intervene in the area with regard to architecture, tourism or cultural development. 2. Passive Solar House (Neelam House) By Daniyal Khyzer The vernacular architecture of Azad Kashmir is a historical asset of the region and because of awareness of the people toward new materials and techniques the vernacular architecture of Kashmir is also transforming. After understanding the local pattern language and just making minute changes in the interior of the houses, I s uggest that locals can facilitate a family of tourists and earn a reasonable amount of money, which help them to meet daily life needs.
Danial Khyzer presenting his work
3. Re-thinking women empowerment By Huma Tassawar This project engages with the craft and culture with regards to women empowerment in Kel. Through the field visits of vocational training centers and engaging with local women, one can easily question the gap between women and empowerment through skill. If the method or curriculum of teaching skills at the vocational centers can be revisited, perhaps we can empower the women. Adnan Anwar presenting his group’s work
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4. Doga and Doda (Local games to relive folklores) By Yumna Sadiq and Batool Ali The objective of the project was to bring about a positive change in the lives of the children living in Kel. This one activity where we were involved was to encourage children into designing a creative activity that became part of their everyday life. The children improvised a game they played called ‘Doga’ which they named afresh as ‘Doda’. This approach was found to be useful since the children now felt that they could bring about a change in the way they do things and think. 5. Redesigning the spatial dimensions of Kel Bazaar By Summaiyah Arshad Area of Interest: Ecotourism My project explores ways in which the main commercial area of the Neelum Valley’s gateway to the many beautiful tourist sites and rich cultures in the valley (Kel Bazaar) can be upgraded and enhanced in order to experience the KEL bazaar as both a tourist attraction and a home for the local community. I would like to propose cost effective and easy to implement thereby enabling the very aware and eager locals of the area to rebuild their home to their advantage. 6. Eco-tourism, culture and development policy By Adnan Anwar, Ayesha Kamaal and Mishkat Khetran Tourism is 3rd most profitable industry in the world. Countries are working thoroughly to develop tourism along with preservation of environment and resisting affects of tourism. Development is also a major factor that is affecting the culture and tourism of the region, the impacts of development are both positive and negative, also culture is a major element for the growth of tourism industry in the region. The project deals with designing a policy, which benefits environment, preserves culture for the hosts and creates entertainment for tourists.
Shams-uz-Zaman sharing knowlege with LVS participants
Jasim Abdullah and Ayesha Kamaal discuss the role of wind and fire
7. Re-imagining Kashmir By Bushra Jamil The primary idea behind this project is actively engage women in expressing their thoughts. This project uses visual communication as a method of engaging with the local women by encouraging them to express their views and feelings regarding their life in Kashmir, on the LOC and the occupied Kashmir by making them draw it out on paper and then using their skill of embroidery. 8. Strengthening economy through craft development By Qurat-ul-ain This project suggests various ways by which craft in Kashmir can be developed to strengthen the economy of this area. It also discusses promotion of the traditional Crafts specially to empower local entrepreneurs through skill development in numerous arts & crafts relating to the cultural heritage.
Huma Tassawar
Mishkat Khetran
09. Common enclosures, stitching possibilities & environment friendly design By Fuaad Firoze & Zil-e-Huma This project aims at incorporating environmental dimension into planning and development activities at Kel, AJK. It looks at the adaptive re-use of existing infrastructure, utilizing existing assets, preserving open and public spaces and to use the land responsibly. This project will take form of a policy report, which will be presented, to the locals of Kel, AJK.
Tahir Pervaiz receiving his LVS certificate from Zahra Hussain
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SUPPORTERS LVS 2015
National College of Arts
Board of Architectural Education
Himalayan Wildlife Foundation
Institute of Architects, Pakistan
END NOTE Laajverd Visiting School 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
A PROJECT OF LAAJVERD The organization Laajverd (since 2007) is directly related to and dealing with cultural development in conflict and disaster zones. Laajverd has been experimenting with cultural creative communication strategies in order to engage with the communities undergoing conflict; the activities and outcomes are also based on creative output. Laajverd works with youth, women and communities at large. The projects are creative in nature and are driven by rigourous research and critical analysis.