LAHORE: The two-day 7th International THAAP Conference titled ‘People and the City’ kicked off on Friday. The conference has been organised by THAAP in collaboration with Government College University (GCU) and Information Technology University (ITU) together with the support of Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Society for Cultural Education. The inauguration of the conference was well attended by writers, scholars, historians, economists, sociologists, artists, town planners, designers, architects and delegates from Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Iran, Nepal, USA, UK and various cities of Pakistan. The inaugural session of the conference began with the welcome address of THAAP CEO Prof Sajida Haider Vandal. She explained that THAAP is a not-for-profit registered organisation, founded in 2006, which organises talks, seminars and colloquiums that lead to a conference at the end of each year. She added that from conferences on ‘Historiography of Architecture’ in 2010, ‘Portrait of Lahore’ in 2011, ‘Life in Small Towns’ in 2012, ‘Cultural Roots of Art & Architecture of the Punjab’ in 2013, ‘Culture, Art & Architecture of the Marginalized & the Poor’ in 2014, ‘People’s History of Pakistan’ in 2015 to ‘People and the City’ this year, THAAP has played a pivotal role in improving the state of education along with promoting socioeconomic and cultural development in Pakistan. She thanked the guests for their active participation in the conference, adding that THAAP is an open forum with a number of activities taking place under its umbrella. THAAP Conference Convener Prof Pervaiz Vandal was the keynote speaker of the event and explained the conference’s theme in detail. He said, “Without people, a city or town would be a soulless mass of debris. People make a city happen; they bring it forth, give it character, endow it with art and culture, fulfill aspirations and suffer frustrations. City changes with its people.” He said that huge metropolises – mega cities – carry social turmoil in their wake. Nevertheless, he added, agglomeration of humans, from small town to the large metropolis, is an opportunity, a necessary step towards the future – it is entirely up to us to think about and design a better future. Government College University VC Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah was the chief guest of the event. He congratulated THAAP on consistently organising successful conferences since 2010. This brought the inaugural session to its conclusion. The first session after tea break was chaired by human rights activist I A Rehman. The first paper of the conference was presented by Michal Glikson, a PhD candidate at School of Art, College of Arts and Social Sciences at The Australian National University, Canberra. Her paper titled ‘Art and Immersion: Notes from a Painter (Re)imagining the City’ explored how art reflected the experiences of travelling in its form and content, whilst yielding insights into the relationships between people and places in different environments across Australia, India and Pakistan. It also offered insight into immersive methods helpful in resistance of totalizing touristic representation of cities. Rehana Lafont, an author, translator, traveller and entrepreneur, presented the seconf paper of the day titled ‘Seventeen Years in Lahore: A Frenchman’s Life in the Punjabi Capital’. The paper discussed Lahore’s day-to-day life in different contexts by taking into account the experiences of various French officials. The third paper was presented by Dr Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria, an assistant professor of Anthropology at Brandeis University, USA. His paper on ‘Cycle Sheher: Gender, Freedom and the Bicycle in India’ explored the existing trends of cycling in the urban culture of Mumbai. It also explored the alternative role of cycling in globalising cities as well as its role in the political structure and mobilisation across cities. The fourth paper of the day on ‘Retreating Akhara Culture in Expanding Metropolitan’ was presented by Umair Ghani, a freelance photographer, and AmnaYaseen, a photographer and painter currently pursuing her MPhil in art history. Their paper discussed the rapid decline in appreciation for traditional physical exertions as a result of urbanism in Punjab. The second session was chaired by Prof Dr Anis Siddiqui, an architect and educationist. Prof Dr Shuxi Yin, a professor of sociology at Hefei University in China, presented the fifth paper on ‘Spirituality in Beijing and Shanghai’. The paper examined the dynamics of spirituality among the middle classes in Beijing and Shanghai, the two biggest cities of China with distinct regulatory environments, historical and social backgrounds.