Artistic Research Residency 2023-24
RePlay: Reveries of
an Urban Dreamland
About the Artistic Research Residency
How can we design strategies for human and non-human interactions that would help us reshape our cities into a much more sustainable engine of survival, rather than the socially-constricting, energy-intensive, and life-shortening beast that they are right now?
Karachi—a complex city that is already being disproportionately affected by climate change—presents an ideal context to explore this question. The artistic research residency, RePlay: Reveries of an Urban Dreamland, invited six resident researchers through an open call to research, design, and develop novel interfaces for interactions between citizens and their non-human co-inhabitants in urban environments.
Projects
Collateral Damage
by Arsalan Nasir
How can our interactions with games and plants reveal new insights about human behaviour on the streets of Karachi? The project uses plants as game controllers and the imagery of the video game Street Fighter to explore the relationship between humans and non-humans in conflict situations. The experience allows players to encounter new connections between human choices, competition, survival, and the irreversible consequences of our actions in public spaces.
Novel Pedagogies
by Suneela Ahmed
What if the mangrove forest reclaimed its space? Novel Pedagogies is a participatory community art project that features a series of workshops with the children of Salehabad, an indigenous fishing community near Karachi to explore novel ways of relating to mangrove reserves and each other. As a unique and urgent educational resource, the resulting pedagogic methodologies are developed as an interactive publication and a website to share the learnings from the interactions between the children of Salehabad and their encounters with the mangrove reserves of Karachi.
Extinction
by Afreen Seher & Vajdaan Shah
What does it mean to live as a non-human entity amidst the urban sprawl? Extinction uses performance-based strategies to explore the complex bond between human and non-human experiences. By stepping into the roles of birds, dogs, trees, and goats, the performers immerse themselves in public spaces across Karachi, from bustling butcher shops and pet markets to Seaview Beach to understand how non-human beings adapt to urban environments, facing challenges such as dog culling, habitat loss, and human encroachment.
Khayali Karachi
by Anita Zehra & Shabbir Mohammed
How does wonder transform our interactions with the non-human world around us? At Karachi’s Seaview beach, a space brewing with the strange and the curious, the ocean waves lap and play with people’s feet while baby bubbler crabs bounce around the sand. Through a series of interactive sessions, a toolkit is developed to wonder and reimagine our relationship with the city, other non-human species, and each other.
Artistic Research Residency Podcast Series
This 9-part podcast series brings together the experiences of resident researchers and our guest speakers, including architects, designers, scholars, and activists from across the globe and Karachi to discuss novel interfaces for human and nonhuman interactions developed during the residency. Together, the podcast guests look back at the residents’ research and creative encounters through playful forms of participatory behaviors and engagement strategies.
In each episode, residency curator Taqi Shaheen, along with artistic director Usman Haque and design advisor Ling Tan, discuss legal, cultural, social, and political frameworks for human and non-human interactions with the resident artists and guest speakers through the lens of innovative projects developed during the residency.
Listen to Podcast Episodes
Subscribe
EP 01 | Collateral Damage
In this episode, resident artist Arsalan Nasir shares his project, Collateral Damage, and explores the relationship between humans and non-humans using plants as game controllers in conflict situations. Joining in conversation are senior architect and researcher Arif Hasan, and lawyer and activist Abira Ashfaq on participatory governance, the destruction of Karachi’s last surviving river and indigenous communities of Malir, and forced evictions of farmers.
Watch on Youtube with Captions
EP 02 | Novel Pedagogies
In this episode, resident artist Suneela Ahmed discusses her project to explore participatory engagement models through a series of workshops with the children of Salehabad, an indigenous fishing community near Karachi. Joining in conversation are artist and curator, Noorjehan Bilgrami and environmental scholar, Dr. Shahid Amjad converse on the urgency of educational tools in reconnecting with coastal communities and their natural surroundings.
Watch on Youtube with Captions
EP 03 | Extinction
In this episode, resident artists Afreen Seher and Vajdaan Shah share their experiences of stepping into the roles of birds, dogs, trees, and goats and how they immerse themselves in public spaces across Karachi to explore the complex bond between humans and non-human experiences. Joining in conversation are scholars Dr. Shahida Wizarat and gardener, Tofiq Pasha Mooraj reflect on the politics of consumption and food production.
Watch on Youtube with Captions
EP 04 | Khayali Karachi
In this episode, resident artists Anita Zehra and Shabbir Mohammed discuss how the act of wonder transforms our interactions with the non-human world around us. Khayali Karachi toolkit, developed during the residency, invites us to reimagine our relationship with the city, other non-human species, and each other. Joining the conversation, filmmaker and co-founder of PAWS, Maher Omar, and founder of Clifton Urban Forest, Shahzad Qureshi discuss ecological tidiness disorder and creating welcoming environments for humans and non-humans.
Watch on Youtube with Captions
Resident Artists
Anita Zehra
Shabbir Mohammed
Arsalan Nasir
Suneela Ahmed
Afreen Seher
Vajdaan Shah
Guest Speakers
Abira Ashfaq
Lawyer & Activist
Alexandra Deschamps- Sonsino
Designer
An-Ting
Theatre Artist & Composer
Arif Hasan
Architect & researcher
Hira Sheikh
Scholar, artist & architect
Léopold Lambert
Editor-in-Chief, Funambulist
Marcus Foth
Scholar
Mahera Omar
Filmmaker, Co-founder PAWS
Noorjehan Bilgrami
Artist, designer and curator
Shahzad Qureshi
Founder, Clifton Urban Forest
Dr. Shahida Wizarat
Scholar
Dr. Shahid Amjad
Scholar
Tofiq Pasha Mooraj
Gardener
Artistic Research Residency Roundtable
– Arif Hasan, architect & researcher
On November 20, 2023, the artistic research residency roundtable showcased innovative interfaces developed by the resident researchers. Attended by guest speakers and the public, the roundtable introduced the works and interfaces proposing new modes of interaction, encouraging playful and participatory engagement between humans and non-human entities, and highlighting their significance in urban survival strategies.
Guest Speakers: Arif Hasan (Architect, social researcher), Abira Ashfaq (Lawyer & activist), Noorjehan Bilgrami (Artist, designer & Curator), Dr. Shahida Wizarat (Scholar), Dr. Shahid Amjad (Scholar, Ex-DG, Institute of Oceanography), Shahzad Qureshi (Founder, Karachi Urban Forest), Tofiq Pasha Mooraj (Gardener) & Mahera Omar (Filmmaker, Co-founder PAWS)
Team
Taqi Shaheen
Curator
Usman Haque
Artistic Director
Ling Tan
Design Advisor
Credits
Conceived & Designed by: Taqi Shaheen, Usman Haque and Ling Tan
Research Residents: Anita Zehra & Shabir Mohammed, Arsalan Nasir, Suneela Ahmed, Afreen Seher & Vajdaan Shah
Guest Speakers: Abira Ashfaq, An-Ting, Arif Hasan, Hira Sheikh, Léopold Lambert, Mahera Omar, Marcus Foth, Noorjehan Bilgrami, Dr. Shahid Amjad, Dr. Shahida Wizarat, Shahzad Qureshi & Tofiq Pasha Mooraj
Original Music: UAH
Typography: Shakir Khan
Videography: Eman Munir
Additional Videography & Photography: Suleman Khan, Zaid Khalid & Vikash Kumar
Research & Coordination: Saima Siddique
Graphics & Post Production: Eman Munir & Vikash Kumar
Web Development: Tariq Majeed
Roundtable Event Support: Kazim Askari, Egalitarians Society & Muhammad Zubair (College of Economics and Social Development)
Project Support: Novel Pedagogies: Rutaba Syed, Alishba Sohail, Bhawna Lohana, Gulraiz Askari, Maria Iqbal (Centre for Arts Based Methodologies Wellbeing (CFAW); Illustrations and UI/UX Design: Fatima Azeem, Haani Razvi – Collateral Damage (Mobile Cart): Azizullah – Extinction (Public Interventions Performances): Ashmal Lalwani, Hareem Sultana and Wali Muhammad
Institutional Partners: Institute of Business Management(Karachi), Umbrellium(London) & British Council
Acknowledgements
We extend our deepest gratitude to Talib S. Karim, Ejaz Wasay, and Nabhan Karim for supporting the research initiatives at the Department of Media Studies at the College of Economics and Social Development, IoBM; our guest speakers from Karachi and around the world for their time, feedback, and insightful conversations; Dr. Syed Fayaz Ahmed for sharing experiences and learnings from his hometown, Swat; Sara Khan Pathan for her sharp insights; Laila Jamil and Fatima Mullick at the British Council for their generous support and facilitation during the residency.
About Us
The artistic research residency is a collaboration between the Institute of Business Management and Umbrellium, generously supported by the British Council to create novel interfaces for human and non-human interactions in urban environments.
