News

Wafa Ali

Assistant Professor

Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design, Al Ghurair University, Dubai, UAE

Wafa holds a Bachelor's degree in Interior Design from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She is a design aficionado who is currently a full-time Assistant Professor by day and an Interior Design consultant by night. She aims to promote designing safe spaces via interior design and interventions with her freelance practice. Her research interests revolve around topics such as phygital commercial interior spaces, retrofitting interiors, bio-materials and finishes as well as craft in interior spaces.

When she is not facilitating cognitive development or designing, she is found dabbling in various things such as drawing, amateur photography, gadgets, food and travelling the globe.

Swad Chishtie

Assistant Professor

MA in Design Merchandising and Marketing, Asian Institute of Fashion Design, Karachi, Pakistan
BFD, Asian Institute of Fashion Design, Karachi, Pakistan

Swad Chishtie is a Fashion Designer, Entrepreneur, Visual Merchandiser and an Academic instructor. He graduated from the Asian Institute of Fashion Design in 2007 with Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Design and later completed his Master’s Degree in Design Marketing and Merchandising in 2017. He has been associated with the Fashion Industry/Academics for last 13 years.

To gain hands on experience and become a seasoned fashion designer in the future, Swad started working at a contemporary fashion brand called “Ego”. Throughout his career, Swad has worked at top-tier fashion houses and designers like Amir Andan, Red, Fifth Avenue, Umer Sayeed, just to name a few. He was also selected as a designer for Pakistan’s first Fashion Week in 2008.

Swad joined Asian Institute of Fashion Design in 2009 as an adjunct faculty and later found a new love and passion for teaching, continued as a permanent faculty and progressed to become the head of Fashion Department.

Swad has also been affiliated with corporate project such as designing uniforms for the renowned brands like PIA and PSO. He has been associated with Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture since 2018 as Assistant Professor at the Department of Textile Design in the Fashion Design Program.

Dr. Suneela Ahmed

Associate Professor and Head of Department

Doctor of Philosophy (Urban Design) Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
Masters of Urban Management, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia
B. Arch, IVS, Karachi
PCATP ID: A02227

Suneela Ahmed is an architect, urbanist and an academic. She earned her PhD in 2016 from Oxford Brookes University, UK. Her interests lie in the analyzing the everyday adaptations of architectural and urban spaces at the grass root level by locals of the global south. She also dwells into the mitigation processes through the challenges of globalization, localization and informalization which gives shape to everyday spaces within an urban setting and how these processes form local and global identities. She has written various research papers, book chapters, newspaper articles and presented in conferences around these issues/ themes/ ideas. Her first solo authorship is to be published in October 2022 entitled “Urban Architecture and Local Spaces in Pakistan’ by Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.

Dr. Suneela’s Resume

Mohammad Usman Ansari

Assistant Professor

M.Arch, Tulane University, New Orleans, USA
B.Arch., Tulane University, New Orleans, USA
PMP (Project Management Professional) training and accreditation, PMI, USA
PCATP ID: A03225

Usman has practiced in the fields of urban planning, architecture and interior design in San Francisco at Gensler and at Meinhardt and TAQ Associates Pvt. Ltd. in Karachi. He also holds a Certificate in Education from The Aga Khan University and a Project Management Professional accreditation, from PMI, U.S.A. As an award-winning designer, his practice has led him to work on urban planning, healthcare, residential, institutional, hospitality, retail and recreational projects. He has also played a pivotal role in shaping the IVS Graduate Programme and is a core member of the degree accreditation inspection team for the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners. He has reviewed and inspected architecture programs in Karachi, Lahore and Jamshoro. He has taught architecture thesis at Karachi University and has been a thesis examiner for institutions such as NED-UET in Karachi and BUITEMS in Quetta, Baluchistan.

Alongside practice and the pedagogical query of it, Usman is avidly involved in visual and performing arts through art direction, scriptwriting and painting. In 2019 he channeled these interests into the group show, “dys-CONTENT and its (interior) Civilizations”. Since then, his art has been featured in the international web series “Churails”, and he has worked on commissions for both private collectors and corporate clients alike. His first solo show titled “Unsung” opened in Karachi in the fall of 2021.

Ansari is currently working as a script editor for an international web series for Zee Entertainment Enterprises and has also been a script consultant for the film “Cake”.

Sadia Kausar

Assistant Professor

BFD, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan

Strong education professional graduated from USA and IVS, Sadia Kausar is an expert in the design field. Having more than 15+ years of experience, she has demonstrated a strong history of working in the textile and apparel industry. Highly skilled in surface patterning, Sadia has worked with many local and international brands. Her fine workmanship and creative concepts bring new dimensions to both academia and design, where she is a risk-taker and dives with absolute determination.

Working consistently towards self-development and imparting her past work experiences and new ones amongst her peers and students, the conceptual direction of her work is an appropriate fit for IVS and its interdisciplinary environment.

Subsequent to teaching, Sadia has also dedicated her time in the textile industry through freelance projects, leading design teams, both for local and export markets. She has also visualized lawn collections for fashion design houses, from design to execution for apparel.

Sadia in the past has represented Pakistan at an international platform, while she was an adjunct faculty member at IVS, and also through her freelance projects where she designed home textile products for one of the largest textile trade fair shows.

The experience and exposure acquired through her collaborations and interactions reflect in all of Sadia’s endeavours be it academia or industry.

Swad Chishtie

Assistant Professor

MA in Design Merchandising and Marketing, Asian Institute of Fashion Design, Karachi, Pakistan
BFD, Asian Institute of Fashion Design, Karachi, Pakistan

Swad Chishtie is a Fashion Designer, Entrepreneur, Visual Merchandiser and an Academic instructor. He graduated from the Asian Institute of Fashion Design in 2007 with Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Design and later completed his Master’s Degree in Design Marketing and Merchandising in 2017. He has been associated with the Fashion Industry/Academics for last 13 years.

To gain hands on experience and become a seasoned fashion designer in the future, Swad started working at a contemporary fashion brand called “Ego”. Throughout his career, Swad has worked at top-tier fashion houses and designers like Amir Andan, Red, Fifth Avenue, Umer Sayeed, just to name a few. He was also selected as a designer for Pakistan’s first Fashion Week in 2008.

Swad joined Asian Institute of Fashion Design in 2009 as an adjunct faculty and later found a new love and passion for teaching, continued as a permanent faculty and progressed to become the head of Fashion Department.

Swad has also been affiliated with corporate project such as designing uniforms for the renowned brands like PIA and PSO. He has been associated with Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture since 2018 as Assistant Professor at the Department of Textile Design in the Fashion Design Program.

Alfiya Halai

Assistant Professor and Head of Department

Master of Advertising, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST), Karachi, Pakistan
BDes, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan

Assistant Professor of the Communication Design Department at IVS, Alfiya Halai, supports diversity in pedagogy through her interest in research, strategy, and design development. She strives to bridge academic and commercial design practices through innovative methodologies and collaboration with the industry to provide students with a platform for experiential learning. As a supporter of mindful communication, Alfiya’s career path has centred around meaningful reach. From a student to a professional in advertising, she has consistently strived to critically evaluate the applied strategies of research, concept development, and design. Her re-association with academia has allowed her to promote creative design practices based on critical cultural inquiry. Throughout her career, from the Creative Manager at Adcom Leo Burnett to Head Creative at O2 Communications, and then, Creative Director/ Partner at Hue Creatives Design House, Alfiya has vied to assess the more fulfilling cultural and ethical import of advertising than the contemporary creative manifestations that majorly employ emotional appeals of needs and wants. At IVS, therefore, Alfiya focuses on projecting design as a homogenous force that develops a responsible societal mindset.

Alfiya has served as the General Secretary of the IVS Faculty Council and is a member of the IVS Campus Conduct Committee established under the IVS Policy on Protection Against Harassment And Discrimination.

Haider Ali Naqvi

Assistant Professor

BFA, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan

Haider Ali Naqvi completed his BFA with a distinction from National College of arts Lahore where he was awarded Sir Percy Brown award for excellence in art history. He was also awarded with Imran Mir art prize in 2019.

Haider Ali’s work is informed by the experience of his immediate surroundings, particularly the built environment and how he move through and interact with it. His work often brings together graphite drawings and found objects such as archival documents, photographs and maps to reveal an intersection between architecture, culture, tradition and history.

Since graduation Haider Ali has exhibited in multiple shows nationally and internationally which includes: The Road Less Travelled, Solo show at Cinema 73, Karachi; Reexamine Retrace at AAN Gandhara art space, Karachi; Virtual Reality, online group show collaborated by O art space and art dekho, Singapore; Pretty art for pretty people at Sanat Initiative, Karachi. Open studio at Gasworks, London; Navigating Matter, two person show at Koel gallery, Karachi; Palat ke dekhte hain, Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi; Conurbations, solo show at Old Hum TV Studios, Arts Council, Karachi; Art for Education: Contemporary Artists from Pakistan, Museo Diocesano Carlo Maria Martini, Milan; Augmentation, US Consulate, Karachi; Prologue-Epilogue, Sanat Initiative, Karachi; Karachi Ka Manzarnama, T2F Faraar, Karachi; Five star show, O Art Space Lahore; Microcosm, Gandhara art Gallery Karachi; and Sugarcoated, Hoxton's Basement, London.

Haider Ali has also been awarded with multiple artist residencies including Gasworks international artist residency, London; Single artist residency at Vasl, Karachi; Artist residency at Sanat initiative, Karachi.

Dr. Faiza Mushtaq

Associate Professor

PhD. Sociology, Northwestern University, USA
M.A. Sociology, Northwestern University, USA
B.A. Sociology, McGill University, Canada

Dr. Faiza Mushtaq Associate Professor PhD. Sociology, Northwestern University, USA M.A. Sociology, Northwestern University, USA B.A. Sociology, McGill University, Canada Dr. Faiza Mushtaq is a sociologist with a PhD from Northwestern University. She joined IVS as the Dean and Executive Director in January 2021, continuing her strong track record of academic leadership and excellence in teaching, research and writing.

Dr. Mushtaq has been the Chair of the Social Sciences and Liberal Arts department at the Institution of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, She has also held research and teaching appointments at a number of institutions in the U.S. and Pakistan, including Northwestern University, George Washington University, the Lahore University of Management Sciences, and the Collective for Social Science Research. Her research interests include the sociology of culture, gender, social movements, and qualitative methods. She is currently part of a collaborative ethnographic research project exploring the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on youth well-being, gendered division of labor and family dynamics in Karachi.

Durreshahwar Alvi

Assistant Professor

MSc, UMD, Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
B.Arch. National College of Arts, Lahore, PK
PCATP ID: A03901

Durreshahwar Alvi currently pursues her interest in transdisciplinary knowledge and research to document, understand and bridge the gap between the biosphere and human development. Her area of focus within this is urban land management and development to work towards increasing the biodiversity of cities. Durreshahwar’s other area of interest lies in exploring architecture, and cities, as complex adaptive systems, drawing

understanding from natural living systems.

Durreshahwar’s work has been exhibited internationally as a member of the design team of the National Pavilion of Pakistan at the Biennale Architettura, La Biennale di Venezia, 2018.

Durreshahwar has been teaching at IVS since 2016. Before this, she taught as Adjunct Faculty, while working for Arif Hasan-Architect and Town Planner as an architect and researcher.

Durreshahwar’s Resume

Munawar Ali Syed

Associate Professor

M.A, Art and Design Education, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan
BFA, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan

Munawar Ali Syed is an interdisciplinary artist and art educator who lives and works in Karachi where he teaches as an Associate Professor at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. Munawar has a Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA) major in sculpture from National College of Arts, Lahore in 1999. Later, he completed his Masters in Art education from Beaconhouse National University, Lahore in 2016. Munawar’s work has been shown in various major national and international platforms along with seven solo presentations and several group shows and his works was also included in notable publications. Munawar was also a participating artist in KB17 and KB19. Munawar has also been awarded the SATHA innovation award in 2016 for his contribution in the discipline of public art. He has received ADA National Award 2018/19 for categories of ‘Performance' and ‘Site-Specific’ work. Munawar also got the viewer choice award of the 2019 Sovereign Asian Art prize-Hong Kong.

Currently he teaches drawing in the Foundation Programme at IVS. Previously he taught sculpture, drawing and was a thesis advisor as a visiting and permanent faculty in the Department of Visual Studies – University of Karachi, Textile institute of Pakistan, Karachi School of Arts and Central Institute of Arts and Crafts.

Nomaan Bhatti

Assistant Professor

MA Film Making, Kingston University, London, 2008
Fine Art Diploma, Karachi School of Art, 2002
Advanced 3D Modelling & Animation Diploma, Noor College of Professional Education, Karachi, 1998

With a teaching experience of 5 years in various institutes and professional experience of almost 20 years ranging from Fine Art, Photography, Film to Interior and Fashion, Bhatti brings an extensive multidisciplinary approach to his teaching pedagogy.

A graduate of Fine Arts and Masters in Filmmaking from Kingston University, London, Bhatti along with his critical thinking has been instrumental in devising the curriculum for the new Media Design programme in the Communication Design Department.

His experience in the media which includes set design, scriptwriting, 2D/3D animation, non-linear editing, cinematography, lighting & direction, has been an invaluable asset to the students of the Media Design programme.

His teaching methodology reflects the optimism that he believes in, the belief that students are motivated to learn and master their craft; that the youth have a continuous hunger to improve and be a positive influence on the community.

Bhatti’s work has been part of multiple exhibitions nationally, his photographic work has been published both nationally & internationally.

Sadia Kausar

Assistant Professor

MA in Design Merchandising and Marketing, Asian Institute of Fashion Design, Karachi, Pakistan
BFD, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan

Strong education professional graduated from USA and IVS, Sadia Kausar is an expert in the design field. Having more than 15+ years of experience, she has demonstrated a strong history of working in the textile and apparel industry. Highly skilled in surface patterning, Sadia has worked with many local and international brands. Her fine workmanship and creative concepts bring new dimensions to both academia and design, where she is a risk-taker and dives with absolute determination.

Working consistently towards self-development and imparting her past work experiences and new ones amongst her peers and students, the conceptual direction of her work is an appropriate fit for IVS and its interdisciplinary environment.

Subsequent to teaching, Sadia has also dedicated her time in the textile industry through freelance projects, leading design teams, both for local and export markets. She has also visualized lawn collections for fashion design houses, from design to execution for apparel.

Sadia in the past has represented Pakistan at an international platform, while she was an adjunct faculty member at IVS, and also through her freelance projects where she designed home textile products for one of the largest textile trade fair shows.

The experience and exposure acquired through her collaborations and interactions reflect in all of Sadia’s endeavours be it academia or industry.

Asma Mundrawala

Professor

DPhil, University of Sussex, UK
MA, Art and Performance Theory, Wimbledon School of Art, UK
BFA, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture

Asma Mundrawala’s interdisciplinary practice intersects the visual arts, theatre and performance, and education. Her research interests in popular culture, public spheres, Urdu literature and its performative traits critically inform her creative practice and approach to art education.

Asma is the co-founder and creative director of Zambeel Dramatic Readings. Her current practice renders texts from Urdu literature in a dramatised form to a live audience, creating dynamic collusion between literature and performance. Referencing traditions of storytelling and the contemporary form of the radio play, the works aim to enliven narratives through sound and recitation. She has also initiated and curated the ongoing project Zambeelnaama, a monthly audio channel for Zambeel Dramatic Readings.

Asma’s visual practice has been represented in exhibitions internationally, including the Sharjah Art Foundation, in Sharjah; the Devi Art Foundation in Delhi, India; Project 88 in Mumbai, India; and the Aicon Gallery in New York, USA. Under Zambeel’s banner, she has performed across Pakistan at the Literature and the Children’s Literature Festivals in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad; and internationally for the Devi Art Foundation in Delhi and The Citizen’s Foundation in London. Her academic research has been published in The Routledge Companion to Applied Performance, Volume Two, (Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group); the journal RIDE: Research in Drama Education, (Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, UK); and Mapping South Asia through Contemporary Theatre - Essays on the Theatres of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, (Palgrave Macmillan, UK).

Asma has been teaching at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture since 2010 and is a Professor in the Department of Fine Art.

Links:

Zambeel Dramatic Readings: https://zambeeldramaticreadings.wordpress.com/

Zambeelnaama: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe6NFbeVoSrgC9WerI-yERg

Affan Baghpati

Assistant Professor

MA in Art and Design Studies, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore
BFA, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan

Affan Baghpati is a Karachi based visual artist and art educator. He completed his undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from IVS and has a master’s degree in Art & Design Studies from Beaconhouse National University, Lahore. He is currently a lecturer at the IVS, teaching 3D Design Studio course in the Foundation Programme. Baghpati has showcased his works at Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Delhi, Milan, New York, Philadelphia, Beirut, and Dubai. His works were also a part of the Sindh Art Festival, Karachi Biennale, Lahore Biennale, Beirut Art Fair, and India Art Fair.

For Dubai Expo-2020, Pakistan pavilion curatorial team commissioned him an art installation which will be on display till March 2022. Baghpati received a Merit Scholarship Award from UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institute for South Asia Regional Cooperation. He is also the recipient of the first cycle of the ‘Artist Residency in Museum’ in Karachi, hosted by the State Bank of Pakistan Museum and Art Gallery in 2020. He received the Art Design Architecture Awards (ADA) award for the category of sculpture in 2021.

At IVS, Baghpati’s studio practice revolves around object making and installation art through the canon of old regional design and material culture of but not limited to South Asia.

Mahwish Ghulam Rasool

Assistant Professor

M.Arch, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
B.Arch., NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan

After completing her bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Mahwish started working with the Heritage Foundation to explore her quest for the conservation and adaptive reuse of buildings. Later on, completed her diploma in Project Management in 2013 from NED and worked as a commercial architect for the Habitt Group and Impact Design International. She worked on multiple scale projects from architecture intervention to interior design. Her work trajectory from practice changed in 2012 when she found her inner contentment in academia and started her academic career in fall 2012 from NED University. Developed love for academic writing and since then authored papers for many National and International conferences. To name a few DCA, IRCICA, UIA, IAP, Paris Design Summit and APMS New York.

She started working as a faculty and Head of Department of Interior design at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in 2014 and completed her successful tenure in 2021. Currently she is serving as an Assistant professor and teaches Interior design studios and her core subject Adaptive reuse and Interior Architecture theories. She is currently exploring her passion in education and a journey to enable others to achieve their respective paths. Her recent body of work mainly focuses on the interdisplinary nature of the design both in academia and practice.

She is running a design practice by the Name of M Studio which specializes in Architecture and Interior design which aims to create spaces which respond to its user needs and are sensitive to the context. Her M luxury furniture line is her recent venture which deals with residential furniture, finishes and products.

Ira Kazi

Assistant Professor

M.Arch, Urban and Regional Planning, New York Institute of Technology, USA
B.Arch., Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan
PCATP ID: A03207

Ira Kazi’s practice intersects between urbanism and landscape design. At the core of her work are values of participatory action for community development. Her research seeks to understand design issues and create methodologies for developing and maintaining green open breathable spaces in an otherwise concrete jungle.

As the principal partner at Kazi Landscape Design, Ira has worked on numerous residential and commercial landscape design projects exploring sustainability through parks, schools, residential gardens, restaurants, and urban spaces. Enthusiastic about passing her knowledge, she has taught landscape, urban, and rural environment design to students of various levels at IVS over the past decade.

Ira has also designed Lignum Park, one of the three adjacent parks adopted by IVS. While working in New York for Dadras Architects, she worked on revitalizing various public spaces and streets. Her inclusive design process ensures the participation of neighborhood stakeholders - something she strives to familiarize students within her design studios.

Ira's Resume

Arsalan Nasir

Assistant Professor and Head of Department

MA, Art and Design Studies (SVAD) BNU, Pak BFA (Hons.) Visual Studies, University of Karachi

Living and working in Karachi, Arsalan Nasir is a creative practitioner and art educator. He obtained his Master’s Degree in Art & Design Studies, from Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, in 2017 where he received the UMMESA South Asia Scholarship Award. Nasir specializes in new media forms of art and interactive installations embedding social and environmental critical narratives in his work. Nasir’s earliest introduction to academia was as a teaching assistant to Ms. Salima Hashmi and Malcom Hutchison in the Art Education program at Beaconhouse National University. As a permanent faculty at IVS, Nasir was teaching Basic Design in Foundation Programme since 2020, coordinating with his team to improvise the course during the pandemic to meet the needs of online teaching a studio course. He developed and taught two elective courses at the department of Fine Art to 3rd year students which involved his expertise as a new media artist, working with interactive technologies. Arsalan joined the Dept. of Fine Art as full-time faculty in Spring 2022.

Seher Naveed

Associate Professor

MA, Fine Art, Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, University of the Arts, London, UK
BFA, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan

Seher Naveed was awarded a BFA from the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, Karachi in 2007 and an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London in 2009. Her practice draws inspiration from repetitive geometric patterns found in urban architecture, with her hometown Karachi serving as a source of inspiration and even a direct reference in her work. She is interested in the iconography of urban landscapes and its critical engagement with ideas of formalism, image, and abstraction in painting.

She has exhibited her work in various local and international galleries. Her work titled ‘Tip 1 & Tip 4’ was recently acquired by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, for their permanent collection. She participated in the Murree Museum Artists Residency, the Vasl Taaza Tareen Artists Residency as a writer in residence, Start Jordan, Jordan, as an artist in residence and Sutra residency in Kathmandu, Nepal. In 2015, Seher initiated and curated a research project called ‘Drawing Documents’ which is an on-going series of publications that looks at various drawing practices in Pakistan.

Maham Khurshid

Assistant Professor

MA Architectural Design, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England.
B.Arch., Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan.
PCATP ID: A05842

Maham Khurshid is an architect, designer and research enthusiast. Her writings orchestrate satire as a theatrical commentary on spatial practices while her research and practice expand on the soliloquies of space as an opportunity for collaborative and interdisciplinary discourse.

Her work investigates the politics of power in urban narratives, sieving it through the lens of intersectionality within the domains of privilege and marginalisation. For her master's thesis, supervised by Dr. Emma Cheatle at the Sheffield School of Architecture, she drew from John Hedjuk’s Masques of Medusa as an allegory to represent the urban narrative of ‘the other side of the bridge’ in Karachi to map the socio-political and socio-economic impact of politics of power in the city.

Maham’s intention as an academic is to intertwine design learning with a conceptual and theoretical emblem. As a practising architect, she continues to explore her flair for corporate, retail and residential design in various notable projects across the city.

Maham’s Resume

Qurratulain Poonawala

Assistant Professor

B. Arch, IVS, Pak
PCATP ID: A03515

Qurratulain graduated with a B.Arch from Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture Karachi in 2007. She also holds a Certificate in Retail Design from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London. Her interest in architectural writing led her to extensively contribute to national press and architecture journals. She won the Eighth Annual Prize for Architecture Design Excellence 2006 after which her essay was published in the Almanac of Architecture & Design 2007.

Having setup her own architecture practice fairly early in her career, she has successfully led the design & execution of commercial, corporate, residential & retail projects both locally & internationally. Her design philosophy is to conceptually & visually strategize design to narrative led spatial environments.

A strong advocate for critical design theory & analysis, her theoretical practice draws from representational & indigenous storytelling and regional wisdom of design with a strong interest and ongoing research in adaptive reuse. In pursuit of the same she co-developed a course called Adaptive Reuse & Beyond for the Interior Design Department at IVS.

Qurratulain has represented her practice & the Interior Design Department at various events including Women of the World Festival in 2024 as a panel speaker and as a presenter for ‘Bunder Road Se Kemari’ at Khaliq Dina Hall organized by Numaish Karachi as part of The Reading Room series.

Syed Danish Ahmed

Associate Professor

MFA, Fine Art (Painting), University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
B.A, University of Karachi, Pakistan
Four-year Diploma in Fine Arts – Painting, Karachi School of Art, Karachi, Pakistan

Danish Ahmed is a visual artist who has been associated with academia since the last 25 years. After completing his MFA from UNSW in Australia, he returned to Pakistan and has been contributing to the art & design education in an academic leadership position ever since. Ahmed also taught ‘Drawing & Painting’ to undergraduate students at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW while doing his research for MFA. He is currently working at IVS as an Associate Professor and the Deputy Director – Quality Enhancement Cell. Before coming to IVS, Ahmed taught at Textile Institute of Pakistan for 17 years where he was an Associate Professor and served as the Programme Coordinator for ‘Textile Design Technology’ programme. Has participated in a number of group shows within Pakistan and a solo show in Sydney. Ahmed is currently investigating the boundaries of the genre of painting by exploring the process of digital printing and its fusion with the conventional drawing and painting mediums. Danish Ahmed is also one of the founding members of The Karachi Collective (TKC) an online platform engaging in a discourse on art, design and interdisciplinary humanities. [br]

[br]Throughout his teaching career, his core competency remained drawing and painting. He considers drawing as one of the most spontaneous, organic and truthful processes that helps students to investigate, organize and represent ideas. During his long teaching career, he spearheaded numerous curriculum exercises and developed several courses.

Farah Mahbub

Assistant Professor

BA, University of Karachi, Pakistan

Since 1988, Farah Mahbub has been exhibiting as a visual artist in Pakistan and the international world. Equally adept in analogue printing as she is in the digital darkroom, her work traverses from documentary to digital photo-montage techniques, incorporating layers of light, shade, textures, architecture, natural objects, animals, landscapes and calligraphic text. Her visual-scapes, often unpopulated, are as dense as the multiple meanings they extend to, inspired by philosophical discourse on Sufism; insights garnered from traveling and reflections on nature in the respite of her studio.

She joined the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in 1997 as a faculty member, where she has been ever since. Under her tenure, photography has evolved from a single class into an undergraduate minor spanning the Communication Design and Fine Art and Interior Design departments. For Farah Mahbub, photography allows her to reconcile the rift between mindfulness and expression. Only when ideas and intuitions connect with imagery, can thought and execution become one. From this unity of value, a visual language emerges that speaks from imagination and familiarity; it speaks back to the audience, to the news, to foresight, to philosophy, to awe. As a highly personal form of communication, the image offers an open point of engagement: both the maker and the consumer seek out a confirmation of themselves through the layers of meaning that allow the image to transcend its two-dimensional limitations. Thus, the silence of the photograph cries out; but you are quiet, and so am I.

Seema Nusrat

Associate Professor

MFA, Fine Art and Media Arts, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Canada
BFA, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan

Seema’s work transpires from the energy found in the urban metropolis and her sculptures, drawings and collages indicate her capacity to understand the most unusual materials, which are in cooperated in her oeuvre. Nusrat’s current research references the culture of fortification in Karachi, whereby buildings are secured and protected from potential disruptions and violence. Her work uses this visual representation to consider the increasing politicisation of architecture in our cities in volatile times. Seema Nusrat lives and works in Karachi, Pakistan. Selected exhibitions include Brave new world, Canvas Gallery (2020), Proposals Towards a New Architecture, Gandhara Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan (2017); New Urban Landscapes, Koel Gallery, Karachi (2017); the inaugural Lahore Biennale (2018), Gateway: Structures of Meaning | Architectures of Perception, Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2018), Young Sub-continent Project, Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa, India (2018). Residencies attended, Pioneer Art Residency, Khushab, Pakistan (2018), JSW, Abhisaran SAARC artist residency- Vijyanagar, India (2014), 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial - Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (2009), Gasworks Residency, London, UK (2008) https://www.seemanusrat.com

Anushka Rustomji

Lecturer

BFA, Painting, National College of Arts. Lahore, Pakistan

Anushka Rustomji is an educator and visual artist, based in Karachi. She graduated from the National College of Arts, Lahore with a BFA in 2012 on a merit scholarship. Her practice is influenced by themes of visual history and erasure, in reference to colonization and diasporic communities. Her visual vocabulary is informed by ancient Eastern imagery, practices, texts and traditions. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally.

She has been a participant in practice-based and theoretical workshops, including the 'Curatorial Workshop' conducted by the American Institute of Pakistan Studies and Lahore Biennale Foundation in 2018, 'Introduction to critically reflective practices for Foundation Year Studio Faculty' by Dr. Razia Sadik, in 2017, 'Faculty Mentoring Workshop, 2017' by Vasl Artists’ Collective, conducted by Dr. Iftikhar Dadi, Dr. Kamran Asdar et al in Karachi. She was one of the three member team to formulate and conduct a workshop (in association with The Global Shapers Community) on 'An Introduction to the Art of Story-telling through Art and Design', for residents/ volunteers at the Social Innovation Academy (SINA), Mpigi village, Uganda. She was a participant at the ‘Pilotenkueche artist residency’ in 2015 in Leipzig, Germany.

Rustomji started teaching at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in 2020. She previously taught at the Beaconhouse National University (SVAD), Lahore, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design, Lahore, and Kinnaird College for Women University, Lahore.

Kamran Haider

Lecturer

MBA, West Coast Institute of Management Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
B.Tech, Civil Engineering, Indus University, Karachi, Pakistan
Diploma in Civil Engineering, GCT

Kamran Haider joined teaching after an extensive experience of 10 years in the discipline of Civil Engineering. He worked with reputable companies such as Fida Husein & Associate and Lotia & Lotia as an Associate Engineer. Haider has a Diploma of Associate Engineering from GCT and Bachelor of Technology in Civil Technology from Indus University, Karachi. He also has another Bachelors of Arts degree from Karachi University. Teaching became Kamran Haider’s core profession in 2005 when he joined IVS where he is currently working as a lecturer. Along with a long association with teaching, he also works as a consultant for residential and commercial projects in Karachi.

During all his teaching career, Haider has been associated with teaching mainly ‘Technical Drawing’ courses in the Foundation Programme. He has successfully developed teaching techniques suitable for first year students who are experiencing the art & design studio practice for the first time. His instructional accuracy makes it easier for students to comfortably learn this highly challenging and technically heavy subject. Students from different departments also come to Kamran Haider for consultation related to their architectural drawing solutions.

Faiqa Jalal

Assistant Professor

B.Des, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan

Faiqa Jalal is a Karachi based visual artist and received her BDes from National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore. Previously, she has worked at Interflow Advertising and Orient McCann as a senior designer, developing design strategies for print, TV and radio promotional campaigns for various brands. She is currently a lecturer in the Foundation Programme at IVS. Her research "Communication and Representation in Design", has been published in International Art & Design Conference proceedings hosted by IVS in collaboration with Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA. She has continued working as a freelance designer focusing on branding, which includes print collaterals, website design and social media marketing.

Faiqa's teaching philosophy revolves around facilitating meaningful and practical learning to students through active and experiential teaching in studio practice by creating safe spaces for collaborative and collective learning. Her teaching methodology is student centered and aims to support students as individuals in all facets of their growth and development. As an educator, the empathic aspect to teaching is critical to her that leads to a good working relationship with students. Her methodology reflects upon her teaching experience, creating links with prior knowledge and experiences, creating new curiosities for students.

Javaria M. Rafiq

Assistant Professor

B.Des, University of Karachi, Pakistan

Javaria M. Rafiq is an Assistant Professor currently teaching in the Foundation programme, received her B Design Degree in Communication Design from the Department of Visual Studies, University of Karachi. She started her teaching career at Habib University followed by Karachi School of Art. Currently, she is teaching the Basic Design course in the Foundation Year Programme. She has been a part of the Communication Design Department as an Adjunct faculty teaching Visual Systems. She has worked as a visual artist and assistant project manager in public-space exhibitions and inclusive wall painting projects for ‘I Am Karachi Pakistan’, Naval Academy, and a few projects for NOWPDP for the deaf artists and designers, an initiative for the physically challenged.

For Rafiq, being a communication designer and educator is about more than teaching students how to create interesting stories. It’s about imparting her personal philosophy on design, a process she believes is immersive and collaborative at its core. She also has a fascination with learning about how behaviors shape the human perspective and is interested in exploring how design could play a part in it. Her interest in learning and understanding the skill of learning prompted her to explore the field of education and become an educator.

Over the years, she has developed a keen interest in the area of Interaction Design. She is a member of The Interaction Design Foundation, enrolled in online certification for UX/UI Design. One can view her certifications at www.interactiondesign.org/javaria-m-rafiq

Nurayah Sheikh Nabi

Associate Professor

MA Art Education, School of Visual Arts and Design (SVAD) Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan
BFA Printmaking/Sculpture, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan

Nurayah Sheikh is an art educator and a visual artist. Her pedagogical trajectory closely draws upon her own investigations and relationship with the medium of printmaking. She has taught the subject at IVS since 2005, designed curriculums, led workshops, coordinated national & international educational exchanges, and fundraising projects originating at the IVS Print studio. Research through her visual practice explores the complex multiplicity in avatars associated with the woman. Sheikh has widely shown her work, represented Pakistan on panel discussions, and participated in collaborative research in the context of printmaking. Some notable platforms of engagement; 2021 investigating historical frameworks linking NCA and Slade, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London (PMC), the Karachi Biennale 2019, the Guanlan International Print Biennial and Guanlan Forum at China Printmaking Museum 2019, the KB17, DECK Gallery Singapore 2016, Karachi Literature Festival 2016 and at the Sharjah Museum 2012 “Trajectories”: 19th-21st century; Printmaking from Pakistan and India.

Sheikh is a board member for the gallery ‘O Art space’, Lahore, Workshop coordinator at Koel Gallery, Member of the core committee for ‘Pursukoon Karachi’, and is associated with Karwan-e-Hayat, an organization active in caring for mentally ill indigent patients. Through these platforms she has curated and worked on abundant community-building projects.

She received her BFA with a distinction in Printmaking and Sculpture from the National College of Arts, Lahore, and was awarded a gold medal for academic excellence in MA Art Education at Mariam Dawood School of Visual Art & Design, BNU, Lahore. Her MA research probed Student Assessment Structures within Undergraduate Art schools in Pakistan and focused on the premise and practice of teachers' preferred models of classroom assessment.

Currently Associate Professor and Head of the IVS Foundation Programme, Sheikh looks to strengthen and build upon existing components to align the horizontal and vertical integration within and beyond the scope of the programme. Actively engaged with students and the art ed. community at large through teaching, dialogic sessions, thesis critiques, curation, and coordination of multi-aged workshops, she strives to instil passion towards holistic learning in a critically engaged environment.

Sarfaraz Uddin

Lecturer

B.Des, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan

Sarfarazuddin is originally from Gilgit-Baltistan region and currently works and lives in Karachi. He has a BDes in product design from the National College of Arts, Lahore. Before joining academia, Sarfaraz worked as a product designer in different product development companies including Interwood (Pvt) Limited; where his core responsibility was to develop concepts of new products and design modification of the existing product line. He is currently working at IVS as a lecturer where he teaches Technical Drawing in the Foundation Programme. Sarfaraz also teaches prototyping, model making and industrial drafting in the Industrial Design programme at the department of Visual Studies – University of Karachi. He contributes to the Aga Khan Youth and Sports Board as a member to conduct art & design workshops for youth development programme.

Adeel Uz Zafar

Assistant Professor

BFA, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan

Adeel uz Zafar is a visual artist, independent curator and an art educator. Zafar holds a BFA in painting with a distinction from the National College of Arts, Lahore. Zafar has participated in many national and international exhibitions with eight solo presentations, numerous group shows, art fairs and Biennales including Art Stage Singapore, Art Fair Philippines, Art Dubai, Art Abu Dhabi, Art Basel Hong Kong, Pulse Art Fair New York, India Art Fair and the 2nd Kathmandu International Art Festival. He has been a part of a number of national and international residencies including the Studio R.M Residency-Lahore, Parramatta Artists’ Studios and Cicada Press COFA UNSW-Australia, Creative Fusion International Artists Residency-Cleveland Foundation-USA and at C3A – Center of Contemporary Art, Cordoba-Spain. He is also an appointed nominator from the South East Asian region for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize – Hong Kong since 2019.

Zafar is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture. He teaches and leads the coordination for Drawing courses in the Foundation Programme. He has previously held the post of an Art Instructor at the Karachi Grammar School. Adeel uz Zafar has also been appointed as an examiner and external juror at the NCA, Lahore - Karachi University and the University of Art, Design and Heritages, Jamshoro.

Aliya Yousuf

Assistant Professor

M.A, Art and Design Education, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan
PGD, Photography, IVS, Karachi, PK
BFA, IVS, Karachi, PK

Aliya Yousuf, received her BFA (2003) and Postgraduate Diploma in Photography (2011) from Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. She has also completed her Masters in Art Education from Beaconhouse University in 2020. She has participated in several residencies and her work has been exhibited in group and solo shows in Pakistan, Canada, South Korea and the UK. Primarily practicing as a ceramic sculptor, her work most often finds its basis in harmony with nature, listening to the material speak and letting the words be translated by her fingers into forms that in turn speak to the viewer. Deconstructing and then reconstructing simple familiar forms to challenge traditional views while simultaneously creating tensions through contrasts and ambiguities.

She applies a similar approach to her teaching by taking the ambiguous path of new technological developments in the fields of art making and art objects. Challenging the traditional teaching pedagogies and methodologies with recent shifts in art practices where the boundaries have been blurred between various disciplines of art & design which she tries to address in art education as well. She defines her main aspiration is to prepare the new generation for future responsibilities and success in life, by means of acquisition of the organized bodies of information and prepared forms of skills with comprehensive understanding of art making and application of craft with deep understanding characteristics of materials. She has presented these concerns in her peer reviewed paper - Indian Ocean Craft Triennial : IOTA21, AUSTRALIA.

Currim Tufail Suteria

Assistant Professor

M.Arch, University of Waterloo, Cambridge, Canada
B.Sc. (Architecture), McGill University, Canada

Currim Suteria is an architect and educator based in Karachi, Pakistan. As a practitioner, Currim has been involved in projects of varying scales including residences, high-density low-cost housing, and hospitality in northern Pakistan. Presently he also serves as a design consultant for the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat. He currently teaches in the graduate programme at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and in the Department of Architecture at IVS. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Architecture with a minor in International Development Studies from McGill University, and his Master of Architecture from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Dr. Faiza Mushtaq

Associate Professor

PhD. Sociology, Northwestern University, USA
M.A. Sociology, Northwestern University, USA
B.A. Sociology, McGill University, Canada

Dr. Faiza Mushtaq Associate Professor PhD. Sociology, Northwestern University, USA M.A. Sociology, Northwestern University, USA B.A. Sociology, McGill University, Canada Dr. Faiza Mushtaq is a sociologist with a PhD from Northwestern University. She joined IVS as the Dean and Executive Director in January 2021, continuing her strong track record of academic leadership and excellence in teaching, research and writing.

Dr. Mushtaq has been the Chair of the Social Sciences and Liberal Arts department at the Institution of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, She has also held research and teaching appointments at a number of institutions in the U.S. and Pakistan, including Northwestern University, George Washington University, the Lahore University of Management Sciences, and the Collective for Social Science Research. Her research interests include the sociology of culture, gender, social movements, and qualitative methods. She is currently part of a collaborative ethnographic research project exploring the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on youth well-being, gendered division of labor and family dynamics in Karachi.

Sadia Salim

Professor

EdM, Art and Art Education, Columbia University, New York, USA
BDes, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan

Sadia Salim's multidisciplinary art practice is informed by the narratives of place, lived experiences and everyday objects. While she works in multiple mediums, ceramics remains her forte, and her practice has evolved into an intensive study of materials and techniques associated with the medium. The study and research have become a focus, for the benefit of pedagogy and for the promotion of crafts, especially kashikari, practiced in Sindh and Southern Punjab. As part of her research and creative practice, she has participated in and presented at local and international conferences, residencies, exhibitions, and biennials. Her visual work and writings have been presented in notable publications.

Salim has established the first interdisciplinary graduate programme at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) and was its founding director from 2018-21. She has extensive experience in teaching art and design and previously revamped and led the Department of Ceramics at IVS for five years. She is a founder member of Pursukoon Karachi, a collective that organises artistic events in public spaces.

Salim is a recipient of the coveted Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Award and Fulbright Scholarship. She received a B.Des. from IVS, and an Ed.M. in Art and Art Education from Columbia University, New York.

Exhibitions

Karachi Biennale KB17 and 19.

Lahore Biennale 01.

Global Studios, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool.

Corobrik National Ceramics Exhibition, Johannesburg.

BKK, South Asian women respond to conflict, Leeds City Museum and Gallery.

Inaugural Exhibition, National Art Gallery, Islamabad.

Tale of the Tile, Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi.

Artist in Residence

Künstlerhaus Stadttöpferei Neumunster, Germany.

Ceramic Laboratory, Mark Rothko Centre, Latvia.

Third International Ceramic Symposium, Turkey.

FADA, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Greatmore Studios, South A.

Institute of Ceramic Studies, Japan.

Presentations

Ceramic Education Conference, Izzet Baysal University, Turkey.

Summer Lecture Series, University of the Arts, Philadelphia.

Fuse:Refuse, Alchemy Festival, Royal Albert Hall, London.

District Six Museum, Cape Town.

Website

http://cargocollective.com/sadiasalim

Zarmeene Shah

Associate Professor and Director Graduate Studies

MA, Critical and Curatorial Studies: Modern Art, Columbia University, New York, USA BFA, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan

Zarmeene Shah is an academic, and an independent curator and writer currently based in Karachi, Pakistan. Focusing on global contemporary art with specialist knowledge of the Global South (and Pakistan in particular), Shah’s research-based practice investigates ideas of power and control, geography and territory, rights and access.[br]

[br] With an MA in Critical & Curatorial Studies from Columbia University in 2010, Shah became one of Pakistan’s first professionally qualified curators. Since then she has curated and been involved in the production of several notable and often large-scale exhibitions of contemporary art institutionally and independently, including ‘The Rising Tide: New Directions in Art From Pakistan’ (2010), the 4th Cairo Video Festival (2011), the politically focused ‘Parrhesia’ I & II shows (2011 & 2015), the Karachi Biennale (2017), Althea Thauberger’s ‘Pagal Pagal Pagal Pagal Filmi Dunya’ (2017), and Madiha Aijaz’s ‘Memorial for the Lost Pages’ at CAG Vancouver (2020). [br]

[br] She has previously served as Consultant for South Asian Art for CCA Derry-Londonderry (Northern Ireland), Assistant Director & Curator at the Mohatta Palace Museum (Karachi), and Curator-at-Large of the inaugural Karachi Biennale (KB17). She has also led curatorial workshops and hosted and taken part in numerous talks, conferences and panel discussions. [br]

[br] Shah is considered one of the country’s foremost writers on contemporary art, with a host of contributions in magazines, journals, catalogues, books and monographs. She is currently Associate Professor at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture where she has previously been Head of the Liberal Arts program.[br]

Currim Tufail Suteria

Assistant Professor

M.Arch, University of Waterloo, Cambridge, Canada
B.Sc. (Architecture), McGill University, Canada

Currim Suteria is an architect and educator based in Karachi, Pakistan. As a practitioner, Currim has been involved in projects of varying scales including residences, high-density low-cost housing, and hospitality in northern Pakistan. Presently he also serves as a design consultant for the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat. He currently teaches in the graduate programme at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and in the Department of Architecture at IVS. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Architecture with a minor in International Development Studies from McGill University, and his Master of Architecture from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Degree Show 2024

at IVS Campus

The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) proudly unveils its Degree Show 2024, featuring innovative final projects by over 180 graduating students from its Fine Art, Architecture, Communication Design, Interior Design, Fashion Design, and Textile Design departments.

The exhibition, open to the public until Saturday, December 14th, offers a remarkable journey through creativity, innovation, and purpose.

Among the highlights, Communication Design graduate Nabia Tariq presents her thesis, SafeHer, addressing the challenges women face when commuting in Karachi. The project proposes SafeStops —women-only waiting areas — and an empowering app that provides real-time updates, convenience, and emergency support, reimagining safer public transport experiences for women.

Another Communication Design graduate, Hiba Rehman, introduces Jugnoo, a design-driven initiative dedicated to improving the emotional and psychological well-being of children living with their incarcerated mothers in Central Jail, Karachi. Her project includes trauma-informed spaces equipped with educational resources and a community engagement website encouraging mentorship and donations.

Fine Art graduate Zoraiz Jafri’s project, Silent Symbols and Louder Narratives, investigates how symbols of power, such as branded pens and furniture in government offices, subtly exert authority. His work critiques these elements through their design, placement, and historical context, exploring their impact on identity and societal structures.

Architecture graduate Neha Mansoor draws inspiration from Shah Rasool Colony’s narrow, labyrinth-like streets with her project, Labyrinthine-scapes: Navigating Opportunities for Discovery and Play. Her design creates informal learning and play spaces, integrating art as a tool for empowerment, reflecting the colony’s urban fabric.

Textile Design graduate Mahnoor Mehmoud’s Silhouette in Wax reinterprets Indonesia’s Cap Batik, blending cultural essence with sustainability. Her immersive installation invites viewers to explore this traditional art form through a personal lens.

Fashion Design graduate Reyan Iqbal’s All That Glitters is Gold spotlights the exquisite emeralds of Swat Valley mines. His centerpiece, a breastplate crafted from recycled aluminum, reflects sustainability and innovation while fostering global recognition of local treasures.

Interior Design graduate Sana Waheed’s project, Aakhri Qist, juxtaposes spaces occupied by women in two iconic Pakistani TV dramas, Tanhaiyan (1985) and Humsafar (2011). Her work highlights changes in female characters and their representation across eras.

The Degree Show celebrates the power of art and design to address societal issues, foster creativity, and inspire change.

IVS Film Festival 2024

at IVS Campus

by Dept. of Communication Design

The second edition of the IVS Film Festival commenced on September 6th with a warm welcome address by Dr. Faiza Mushtaq, Dean and Executive Director, followed by opening remarks from Alfiya Halai, Head of the Dept. Of Communication Design at IVS. The festival consisted of a bootcamp, workshops from industry experts, panel discussions with media moguls and a grand awards ceremony.

Day 1

The highlight of the Day 1 was an engaging panel discussion titled Film as a Catalyst for Social Change, featuring distinguished speakers: Umair Nasir (Director, Nayab), Gul Zaib Shakeel (General Manager, SOC Films), Jamal Rahman (Director, Coke Studio), and advertising powerhouse Ali Rez (CCO, Impact BBDO). Moderated by visual artist and illustrator Samya Arif, the conversation explored how films have driven significant social change in Pakistan by sparking difficult yet necessary dialogues.

Ali Rez and Gul Zaib Shakeel shared impactful examples of projects they believe made lasting societal contributions, while Umair Nasir and Gul Zaib emphasized the importance of empathy when addressing real people and current events through film. Jamal Rahman encouraged emerging filmmakers to tell the stories they truly want to share, urging them to master the art of subtext to navigate censorship.

Day 2

Industry leaders came together to discuss the Future of Independent Filmmakers and OTT Platforms. Panelists Hasan Sandhila (Vice President - Digital Division, Jazz), Ateequr Rehman (CEO, GroupM), and Umair Masoom (Managing Director, myco) highlighted key challenges, such as securing funding and navigating the digital media landscape. The talk was moderated by advertising and marketing mogul, Ali Rizvi

Ateequr Rehman emphasized the importance of focusing on what works in the market, noting that family-driven stories and cultural content have the most potential. Hasan Sandhila added that today's generation seeks relatable content, making originality more important than ever.

Umair Masoom addressed the struggle to secure capital but encouraged filmmakers to keep pushing forward despite market limitations.

Day 3

Day 3 of the IVS Film Festival consisted of a powerpacked panel discussion on Heroes and Villains: is there room for Nuanced Characters on Pakistani Film and TV. We were joined by panelists Sarwat Gilani (actor), Bee Gul (writer), Sabeena Farooq (actor) and Nadeem Baig (Director), and Fifi Haroon as the moderator.

Bee Gul explained that negative characters are a lot of fun to write because they are liberated and tend to be more interesting than heroes. Sarwat and Sabeena described which of their characters they believed were heroes. Nadeem Baig shared anecdotes from his TV show, Sinf-e- Ahan, that showed female characters in a new light.

The evening concluded with an awards ceremony and a soulful musical ceremony curated by thesis student Azhar Zaidi and musicians from IVS and NAPA.

Production Design Workshop Review

by Dept. of Interior Design

After the success of last year’s inter-departmental workshop on Production Design, the Department of Interior Design is hosting a second round for the IVS student community. Like last year, this was a 3-week long evening workshop where students from Architecture, Interior Design, Fine Art, Communication Design, Textile Design and Fashion Design worked alongside to build a physical space around a narrative.

They have had to step out of their studios and invest time and energy developing a project that is not credited nor has a grade attached to it. Their sheer interest in this hands-on exercise and the desire to work in an interdisciplinary space is what is driving them. These students have drawn together, built together and dreamt together.

The workshop was led by Production Designer Aarij Hashimi and Assistant Director, Ariaana Khan. The workshop concludes on Friday, the 8th of March. Join us for the final review to be held from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors and moderated discussion panel from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm at the Mir Khalil ur Rahman Studio (Sound Room). The panel will be moderated by Aarij Hashimi and will consist of Ayesha Omar, Deepak Perwani, Nabil Hasan, Saqib Malik and Tanya Mirza.

IVS 30th Convocation

by IVS

The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) held its 30th convocation on Saturday and awarded degrees to over 160 students graduated in various disciplines.

The convocation marked a major milestone for the IVS as it celebrated the accomplishments of its 30th graduating batch, said a press release issued here.

This year’s graduating class consisted of 159 undergraduate students as well as three students from the very first batch of the MPhil in Art and Design programme.

Degrees were conferred upon 20 students from Architecture, 17 from Interior Design, 22 from Fine Art, 53 from Communication Design, 23 from Textile Design and 24 from Fashion Design.

To commemorate the occasion, IVS brought back its founding members, the first members of the Board and faculty, and graduates from its very first batch.

In her welcome address, IVS Executive Director and Dean Dr Faiza Mushtaq mentioned the recognition that IVS alumni had been receiving nationally and internationally.

Keynote speeches were delivered by Noorjehan Bilgrami, a renowned visual artist, designer and one of the founders of IVS; and singer Bilal Maqsood, one of IVS’s most celebrated alumni who graduated as part of the first batch of 1994.

Ms Bilgrami recalled the humble yet hopeful beginnings of IVS when a distinguished group of architects, artists and designers came together to found the city’s first institution dedicated to art and design education. She shared how fellow founding member, Shahid Abdulla, discovered the 100-year-old Nusserwanjee Building that was famously relocated to Clifton and rebuilt brick by brick.

Bilal Maqsood reminisced the day of his graduation 30 years ago. He remembered being overwhelmed by emotions of excitement and anxiety as he waited to be awarded his degree. He shared that despite coming from a family of artists he faced resistance when he decided to leave his education in commerce to join an art school — a story many IVS students will relate to.

Maqsood urged students to prepare for both success and failure while remaining true to themselves. He admitted that an artist’s constant reliance on external validation leads to emotional turmoil, but advised students to remain patient and wait for their creative calling.

The convocation was attended by well-wishers of the institution and families of the graduating class.

Library Dramatic Readings: Grand Finale

by IVS Library

The Marium Abdulla Library held the Grand Finale of the Dramatic Reading Sessions.

The finale was packed with a lot of exciting performances including:

Book Fair
Dastangoi
Poetry
Dramatic Reading
Music
Theatre

Guest Performers:

Kiran Siddiqui is an acting graduate from NAPA (2017) who finds her purpose in telling the stories that matter, stories that help her and the audience move towards the possibility of exploring the complex human mind. Siddiqui has acted in numerous theatre productions at NAPA and the Arts Council and most recently performed as the lead in Khoya Hua Aadmi (NAPA) and an original play written and directed by Farhan Alam, titled Ek Yaad (Pakistan Theatre Festival).

Atif Badar is an extremely versatile and talented artist with a wide range of experience from stage, voice-overs, and mini screen to a film ‘Ramchand Pakistani’. He is an acting coach, storyteller, writer, and dubbing artist too. He’s been associated with IVS as an instructor for the Continuing Education Programme for many years and has performed on campus multiple times.

IVS Film Festival

by the Dept. of Communication Design

IVS Film Festival: Celebrating the Past, Present and Future of Pakistani Filmmakers

The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture to hold a film festival showcasing young talent

The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) hosted a first-of-its-kind educational Film Festival in Pakistan. The objective of the IVS Film Festival (IVSFF) was to inspire, educate and empower the upcoming generation of potential filmmakers by immersing them in the process of moviemaking and exposing them to the inner workings of film production.

IVSFF sought to leverage the new-found momentum in the Pakistani film industry brought on by a new crop of filmmakers eager to explore novel themes and experiment with diverse styles of storytelling. Through the festival, IVS brought together existing members of the film community, film educators, and emerging and aspiring filmmakers to exhibit, share, and exchange ideas and methods of filmmaking.

IVSFF consisted of four main components: an idea-to-screen bootcamp (a 4-day course for A-levels/intermediate students), workshops, film screenings, and panel discussions.

Over 250 short films were submitted by young Pakistani filmmakers and 40 were selected for participation in the festival after a rigorous selection process. From social commentary to dark humor, these short films covered a wide range of genres and told stories that aren’t typically shown in the mainstream media. Film screenings were held for audiences on September 16 and September 17. An esteemed jury made up of filmmakers Mehreen Jabbar, Aisha Gazdar and Syed Hisham Hasan has judged the submissions in various categories. The top films were presented awards and cash prizes at the closing ceremony scheduled on the 17^th of September.

The film workshops provided young artists and film enthusiasts a rare opportunity to learn From the best talent in the field. Led by film industry giants like Rana Kamran, Nabeel Qureshi and Naveed Arshad, these workshops are designed to engage participants with practical exercises and give insights into the technical side of filmmaking. There are workshops on Cinematography, Direction, Production Design, Sound Design, Production of Short Films, Color Grading and Post Production. They ran on the 16^th and 17^th of September.

Each day of the film festival concluded with a riveting panel discussion comprising of industry bigwigs, filmmakers and academicians. Panelists include Oscar and Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Haya Fatima Iqbal, Saim Sadiq (director of Joyland), Gul Zaib Shakeel (co-writer of Lal Kabootar), Iram Parveen Bilal (director of I’ll Meet You There), Fizza Ali Meerza (producer of Na Maloom Afraad), Badar Ikram (producer, HUM Films), Nina Kashif (writer and producer on Tapmad), and Satish Anand (Chairman, Eveready Group of Companies). Arbab Hussain (filmmaker and academic), Khaula Jamil (documentary photojournalist and filmmaker) and Fifi Haroon (producer and journalist) are moderating the panels.

Endless Journey - an Exhibition by Graduates of Mphil in Art & Design

Koel Gallery

IVS Graduate Programme

KOEL Gallery held an exhibition by the first graduates of M.Phil. in Art & Design, IVS, on August 22, 5:00 - 8:00 pm.

And an Artist Talk ‘SADIA SALIM in conversation with Adeela Shah, Babar Sheikh & Quratulain Qamar Choudry’, on Friday, August 25, at 5:00 pm.

Adeela Shah is a visual practitioner and an academician. She is currently teaching at IVS. Her practice-led research examines the complexities of identity-making, which are politicized by nation building and enforced societal narratives that erase many relevant geometries of interconnected relations.

Babar Sheikh works as a multimedia performance artist, musician, and an educator. He recently won the Glass Lion Award for Change at Cannes for one of his film projects. His work delves into the concepts of devotion, tradition, and faith, within the physical and spiritual framework of Karachi's dargahs, khanqahs, and astanas.

Quratulain Qamar Choudry is a multidisciplinary visual artist, photographer, and educator. She was honoured as a Fulbright Global Fellow in 2010. She investigated the idea of Gendered Time, with a particular focus on women’s leisure moments, accountability for lost and wasted time, and feeling of guilt for being unproductive.”

Artist Talk moderator:

Sadia Salim is a visual artist, designer, and educator. She was the founding director of the Graduate Programme, an interdisciplinary study in critical and creative practice, at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.

Alumni Reunion: Gup-shup . Music . Dinner

at IVS Campus

by IVS Management

The alumni returned to the campus that they once knew as their second home. They rekindled old friendships and reconnected with the mentors who set them on their creative paths at a time when pursuing the arts was still considered risky.

Special guests for the evening included Shahid Abdulla, Nighat Mir and Shahab Ghani. The event was attended by IVS alumni who are prominent architects like Noman Faruqi, Anwer Ali Quettawala, Ramiz Baig, and Ahmed Mian. Founder and CEO of Khaadi, Shamoon Sultan and Creative Head Saira Shamoon were also present alongside scores of Khaadi employees — all graduates from IVS. Actors Sarwat Gilani and Zehra Nawab, filmmakers Umer Adil and Babar Sheikh, Sadia Qutubuddin and Zehra Zaidi from the advertising world, and CEO of the IBL Group that includes Habitt, Munis Abdullah, were among those present. As Sarwat Gilani enthused, “It was absolutely amazing to meet everyone, see them doing so well and vibing as one community. This night was epic and we will remember it forever. Thank you Indus Valley School for giving us these wonderful memories so we can cherish the best days of our lives together”.

Bilal Maqsood, a graduate of IVS"s first class (1994) performed his melodious hits for the crowd.

Mehmooda Maqsood

Team Lead

Mehmooda has a bachelor degree in Architecture Design from the National College of Arts Lahore, and a joint M.sc in Regional Planning Development and Management from Technical University of Dortmund, Germany and University of Austral Chile. She has conducted research consulting for the Ministry of Urbanism on Morphological Urban Form in Chile. She has both researched and worked on projects related to socio-spatial community development, with a focus on housing, habitat and habitability in Pakistan, Nepal and Chile. She has participated in conferences that focus on inclusive, transformative and adaptive planning procedures. Mehmooda’s current research involves assessing the quality of life through a quali-quant approach, of migrant populations from various ethnic backgrounds in informal settlements of Karachi, which is part of the larger project Access to Justice & HRs for development and resilience of informal urban communities. She has been published in the academic journal Revista de Urbanismo.

Arif Belgaumi

M. Arch, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
BA, Design of the Environment, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
PCATP ID: A02062

Arif is a practicing architect based in Karachi, Pakistan. After completing his studies, he worked for a number of years in the United States before returning to Pakistan in 1998. His practice, Arif Belgaumi Architects, brings nearly three decades of diverse architectural experience gained in the United States and Pakistan, to a practice grounded in the regional and cultural context of Pakistan. The firm has a diverse portfolio of works consisting of residential, commercial, educational and diplomatic buildings.

Arif has taught, off and on since 1999, as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Architecture at IVS . He has also taught architectural theory at Karachi University. He has an enduring interest in architectural education and professional practice and has served on numerous professional panels, both locally as well as at international forums.

Arif has wide ranging interests which inform his work. He is active in promoting environmental issues and urban design. He has written and spoken on many occasions about the destruction of the natural environment and the need for green and sustainable development in urban areas. Arif has been a pioneer in the promotion of recreational cycling in Karachi and has helped in the recent revival of the sport.

Arif's Resume

Hina Pasha

B. Arch, IVS, Karachi, PAK
PCATP ID: A08392 (T)

Hina Pasha is an architect, with a specific interest in residential planning and interior design. She has been associated with the IVS faculty for over a decade, teaching a wide range of subjects from theories, analysis, to currently, history. She has also taught Design Studio and a course related to energy and environment at Karachi University.

Hina Pasha has been a long-standing advocate of sustainable practices in her field, examining material suitability and formal responsiveness, while investigating indigenous culture, flora, and methods of recycling and reuse.

She is currently also working on a small project in Shigar, GB Province, with an effort to renew and develop older building practices from the region.

Hina Pasha has worked in the underdeveloped areas of the city, while on project with an NGO developing medical facilities.

She has a love for things local, craft-based, and eclectic, and is learning to play the sitar, while raising a family.

Muhammad Daniyal Tariq

B. Arch, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture
PCATP ID: A07899

Mohammad Daniyal Tariq is an architect and computational designer. His work is deeply rooted in exploring the environmental crisis and speculating alternative narratives, often drawing inspiration from science fiction. His experience has inspired him to pursue a design dictated by evidence.

Daniyal’ work is driven by a desire to explore and promote design that is driven by evidence which has led him to integrate Artificial Intelligence and data science into the process. Working towards developing tools and techniques that could help design more sustainably. His other interest lies in investigating system design and architecture for extreme environments.

Daniyal has worked with the Architects studio Tariq hussan for the last 5 years working on mainly low cost housing, high rises and urban planning.

Daniyal's Resume

Exhibition: Evolving Selves

at IVS Gallery

15th Oct - 22nd Oct

With over 20 years of professional experience across Fine Art, Photography, Film, Illustration and Interior Design, Nomaan brings a rich, multi-disciplinary approach to his creative practice. A Fine Arts graduate with a Master's in Filmmaking from Kingston University, London, Nomaan’s expertise spans photography, set design, script writing, 2D/3D animation, editing, cinematography, and direction.

Nomaan’s work reflects his deep understanding of various mediums and his ability to seamlessly blend them, resulting in compelling visual narratives. His work has been part of multiple national exhibitions, and his photography has been published both locally and internationally.

‘Evolving Selves’ delves into the unseen shifts of human behavior, shaped by our social surroundings. Through reflections, layers, and surreal compositions, the series explores the fluidity of identity, group dynamics, and subconscious motivations—drawing from psychoanalytic theory, cultural psychology, and existential philosophy. Each image is a visual dialogue between the masks we wear and the forces that shape who we are.

The show remains open daily until Tuesday October 22nd 2024, from 11am – 7pm (excluding Sunday)

We look forward to seeing you there.

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