Habib University’s Centre of Media and Design, in collaboration with the magazine ADA (Architecture, Design, and Art), hosted a day-long symposium titled ‘Curating Culture: Perspectives on Architecture, Design, and Art’. The event brought together a local and international spectrum of visionaries, each of whom worked through their own regional lens with an eye for transnational understanding and collaboration. The conversations explored creative practices in the postcolonial landscape, the blurring line between studio and street, and the increasingly interdisciplinary approach undertaken today, coming together to explore the synergy of architecture, design and art that permeates our cities, lives, and histories.
Introducing the ADA, Habib University’s Professor of Practice and director of the Centre for Media and Design Saima Zaidi, invited the chief editor of the premier magazine, a creative force behind the ADA Awards 2019. The symposium, which was open to public, was organized around three sessions, ‘Creative Processes, Interdisciplinary Practices, and Practices from the Region’- attended by the creative fraternity, community members, academics, and students.
The first session featured three notable speakers: Writer, Artist and former minister Javed Jabbar (Pakistan), Architecture, Urban and Regional Planner Zahra Taraneh Yalda (Iran), and Religious Buildings Winner, Archmarathon awards 2015 Gonca Pasolar (Turkey) with Shahid Sayeed Khan (Chair of Architecture, ADA Awards 2019) as the moderator. Jabbar, with 15 books to his credit, and diverse experience in writing, film-making, and public affairs, remarked on how “today, for the first time in human history with technology supplementing the creative process, it helps create a better, sharper pigment in creativity, which was not previously possible.
The second session showcased presentations by Dr Davide Tomasso Ferrando (Italy), Dr Hervé Matine (France), and Sajida Vandal (Pakistan) with Saima Zaidi as the moderator of the panel discussion. Both Dr Ferrando and Dr Matine spoke on how social issues can be highlighted and spoken about through art. Dr Ferrando spoke on how “one of the main powers of architecture is the ability to make people see common spaces from another eye”, which was agreed upon by Dr Matine who spoke of his project ‘Posters for Tomorrow’ stating, “You don’t need to be a great designer to make a poster. You have to have a great idea and the motivation.”
The Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Culture and Art in Lahore Sajida Vandal, highlighted the importance of local languages and education in Pakistan post the colonial period in the following comments- Language is and should be a central concern of a country where multiple regional and mother languages exist. It is a colonial legacy; to the level that we left the understanding that language is the vehicle of culture, a culture we are going to lose if we don’t address this issue.
Joumana Ibrahim (Lebanon), Dr. Savita Apte (Singapore), and Salima Hashmi (Pakistan) took to the stage for the third and final session of the day. Joumana, who is a teacher at the Lebanon American University, spoke about how visual design and research can be used to explore those parts of society on which there is limited data.
As Pakistan’s first Liberal Arts and Sciences institution, Habib University is dedicated to teaching an innovative and comprehensive liberal core curriculum to all students that has been developed together with academics of leading partner universities across the world. The speakers of the symposium spoke mainly of using their expertise and using their voices, art, and ability to bring people together for the betterment of their societies- a mission close to the heart of Habib University.
Published in Daily Times, January 20th 2019.