Some Notable Alumni

Marvi Mazhar graduated from IVS with a Bachelors in Architecture in 2009. While many opt to take a break after completing a gruelling 5-year programme in architecture, Marvi was just getting started. After graduating from IVS, she pursued diploma courses and a Master’s from international universities to further explore her interests in heritage and preservation.

Upon realizing how little she knew about the city in which she resides, Marvi found herself promenading the streets of Saddar. Fascinated by the colonial architecture present in the old part of town, her curiosity quickly evolved into a passion to preserve the rich culture and heritage of Karachi.

Marvi’s ongoing research focuses on the representation and production of Karachi’s urban coastal periphery and ecology. Her work facilitates dialogue between the evolving footprint of the inner city and the new parts of town through personal archives and visual ethnography. Through her research, she seeks to gain a better understanding of the legalities of amenity plots, heritage properties, and urban parts of the city.  

Marvi credits IVS for sparking her interest in heritage sites and culture.

“IVSAA played a very important role in building the idea of regionality in my professional practice. It gave me the opportunity to think local and contextual. Professors who shared experiences from personal practice made architecture understanding a balance between theoretical and practical systems,” she says.

“History is an important subject in the making of any city or region. Without historical context, critique and analysis cannot take place. To recognize development as part of modern systems, one has to embrace and celebrate heritage in the form of a protection plan. This is of course beyond just built heritage, this also means considering indigenous living systems. Once that understanding is respected, then design decisions are not self-centred but in return, it benefits communal living.”

“I owe it to some professors who shared a lot of incredible professional experiences that helped shape my understanding of the city.”

Marvi has also served as Director at PeaceNiche (T2F) and cofounded The Architectural Design Research Lab (ADRL) at IVS which is a research laboratory devoted to projects within architecture and urban design. In 2016, she founded Pakistan Chowk Community Centre and was the Project Manager of the National History Museum (Lahore, Pakistan), conceptualized by The Citizens Archive of Pakistan.

Shamoon Sultan is the jewel to IVS’s crown; his success story is perhaps the most inspiring of all our graduates. What began as a small boutique in Zamzama quickly blossomed into the international retail fashion house we know as Khaadi.

In just 20 years Khaadi has established itself as a corporate icon within the retail industry. It now has 52 stores across 17 cities in Pakistan, 22 outlets in the UK and a few more in the UAE. Its biggest outlet outside of Pakistan is located in Mirdiff City Center, Dubai.

Khaadi has transformed Pakistani fashion in a way that no other brand has done before. Before its launch, the ready-to-wear market was virtually nonexistent in Pakistan. Shamoon’s idea of offering value-for-money clothing that was rooted in tradition and accessible to all completely changed the way the fashion retail industry functions in the country. 

 Shamoon joined IVS in 1993 after being rejected on his first try. Though he always knew he wanted to pursue Textile Design in university, he didn’t take his classes very seriously at the beginning.

“I was almost kicked out in the second year by Noorjehan Bilgrami for my poor attitude. That was the turning point for me. As the years progressed, I started looking at my classes as building blocks. I met Shehnaz Ismail around the same time, she was a big influence in my life as a student.

Shamoon calls himself a proud patriot and is devoted to preserving Pakistan’s older crafts; Khaadi is shaped around his fascination with the old craft of handwoven khaddar and his desire to create a retail brand for it, seamlessly merging tradition with modernity. Khaadi later expanded to include menswear, children’s clothing, and a home line boasting its signature bright colours and ethnic patterns

 “I developed an interest for heritage and culture through our study trips to various parts of Sindh. That’s also when I began visiting India. Those trips planted the seeds of Khaadi in my head,” says Shamoon.

 “If you visit the Khaadi offices, you’ll see that the vibe is very similar to IVS. That respect for culture and heritage is very evident. I find myself drawn to IVS graduates because we’ve all been trained the same way and share similar values. We’ve got around 185 IVS graduates working with us in some capacity. The majority of them come from the Textile Design Department, but we also have some from Communication Design as well as Fine Art,” claims Shamoon.

 According to him, IVS is the reason he’s so detail-oriented and particular about design.

“I’m extremely picky about what I want and don’t settle for anything else. I think all of that comes from my training at IVS and the professors who taught us to look at everything critically.”

Renowned actor Sarwat Gilani graduated from IVS with a major in Graphic Design and a minor in Filmmaking. She was offered a role in a theatre play when a group of prominent television personalities visited the campus in search of talent and noticed her infectious energy as she worked on her thesis. It wasn’t long before Sarwat made her acting debut in 2005.

Sarwat’s innate ability as an actress, her versatility and talent have defined her career. She has appeared in many commendable television plays, telefilms, theatre plays and movies. She was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress at 2015 Lux Style Awards for the film Jawani Phir Nahi Aani. She won acclaim for her role in Churails, a groundbreaking web series in 2020 that was praised for its nuanced portrayals of diverse women who challenge the status quo in society.

Sarwat was part of the first batch of filmmaking students at the university, here’s what she says about her time as a filmmaking student at IVS.

“The years I spent at IVS were some of the best years of my life because it taught us how to be. It pushed us to be good artists as well as good human beings.

I did a Minor in Filmmaking. Because we were the first batch of students in the program, we played multiple roles. The tasks were designed to help us realize the importance of every job and the responsibilities that each individual undertakes on a set. Lastly, IVS taught me how to observe. To be a good actor, you need to be a good observer.”

Sarwat recalls how IVS instilled a sense of responsibility in her back when she was a student.

“We used to sell the arts and crafts we made in the little shop we had. The whole idea behind that was to share our work and use it to contribute to other people’s lives. We quickly realized that we have to elevate everyone together. It’s not enough to focus on individual goals, you need to think bigger and be conscious of the community.

This sense of responsibility has stayed with me; it’s played a role in me being an ambassador for the Special Olympics and Indus Hospital and the motivational speeches I give at various events.” 

Adeela Suleman is a distinguished artist of Pakistan. Her work has extensively appeared in exhibitions nationally and worldwide, including Phantoms of Asia at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, the 2013 Asian Art Biennial at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, Hanging Fire – Contemporary Art from Pakistan at The Asia Society, New York; Gallery Rohtas 2, Lahore; Canvas Gallery, Karachi; Aicon Gallery, New York; and, the International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Bologna, Italy, the Singapore Biennale (2016), Sea Triennial, Jakarta (2013), Asia Triennial II, Manchester (2011), Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale (2002) and the Karachi Biennale (2017, 2019).

Reviews and features of her work have appeared in the New York Times and Artforum, among other publications.

Adeela’s journey with IVS has been a long and exciting one. She continued to work closely with the mentors she met at the university even after graduation and eventually returned as an Associate Professor and remained the Head of the Fine Art Department for ten years. She is currently the Director of Vasl Artists’ Association in Karachi.

“After graduation, I got an opportunity to work at the Fukuoka Biennale but I didn’t have the space for a studio ... Even after graduation, my mentors at IVS ensured I had the resources I needed to pursue my ventures, and I was given a space at the university to work.”

“The institution has become a knowledge hub for art education in the city. You don’t need to be enrolled as a full-time student to learn art from IVS; you can visit its thesis shows and exhibitions, or take up its short courses and diplomas. IVS has successfully created multiple avenues for people to gain exposure to the world of art.”

Celebrated musician Bilal Maqsood was part of IVS’s first graduating class before his band Strings rose to fame in the early 2000s with tunes that won international acclaim. Strings went onto become one of Pakistan’s most recognized bands, with a remarkable 30-year run, selling 25 million albums worldwide.

Bilal was a co-producer and director of Coke Studio from 2014 to 2017, alongside his bandmate Faisal Kapadia. He’s also directed music videos for his band and other artists.

Bilal has always been an artist. His paintings were featured at 15-An IVS Alumni Collective, an exhibition that marked 15 years of the IVS Alumni Association.

“It was the list of the Founders and faculty that caught my attention. The idea of big names like Meher Afroz, Akeel Bilgrami, Shahid Abdullah, Akbar Naqvi, all coming together for this art school was astounding, and that’s when I decided that was going to quit BCom and apply to IVS.” says Bilal.

“The biggest takeaway from IVS for me was that there is always something to learn. Realizing that I know nothing and that there’s so much out there for me to learn, it was incredibly disarming and humbling; my attitude completely changed. IVS fostered a learning culture. We didn’t just learn from our teachers, but also our peers. There was always healthy competition, but we all had an eagerness to learn from those around us—and that’s something that has stayed with me to this day.”

Architecture graduates from IVS have left and will continue to leave a lasting impact in the country. Saifullah Sami is one of our most-recognized architects, best known for his phenomenal work on the Habib University campus for which he received the Merit Award for Excellence in Planning by Society for College and University Planning, USA.

After completing his Bachelors and Masters from a prestigious business school in Karachi, Saifullah decided to go back to university to finally pursue his passion for architecture. Once he received his degree, Saifullah earned a Fullbright scholarship to do his Masters at Yale University.

“I always wanted to be an architect. I think it was just an interest in making things with my hands and how spaces are made or the way the light comes into a room.

I applied to IVS because it was and is still the best school for architecture in Pakistan. It has the right balance of art and the technical side of architecture. My fondest memories at the university are of professors who shared stories of their experiences with the architects they’ve met and the buildings they’d seen from all over the world. They’d actually visited the buildings we’d only seen in our books. I was mesmerized by their stories. I found them incredibly inspiring, “says Saifullah.

Since returning to Karachi, Saifullah has had the honor of working for notable architecture firms and taken on prominent commercial including some of the country’s leading institutions such as Habib University, Karachi University, and University of Management and Technology.

“When I was at Ahed Associates, I worked as the Principal Architect; we designed the Habib University campus in Karachi. The feeling of seeing something built that I have designed is beyond words really. When I’m designing on paper or on screen, there’s a different scale to it. When the things are actually built and the human senses are engaged, that’s when the power of architecture really becomes clear,” says Saifullah.

Recalling his time at IVS and the role the university played in his journey as an architect, Saif said,

“I remember our professors being very insightful critics of the work that we did and really pushed us hard to put out the best work possible. We would end up producing models that we didn’t think we’re capable of.“

“IVS played a very deep and defining role in my career. The idea of experiencing architecture as opposed to just viewing it, is something that has stuck with me even today. I realized there was more to architecture than just façade making; it was really the internal experience that had to be designed. This was a revolutionary concept for Pakistan.

There are only a handful of universities in Pakistan that offer a Bachelors in Architecture; the Dept. Of Architecture at IVS stands out amongst them because of how the programme is structured.

Our professors urged us to focus on the experiential side of architecture, so the way that you move through a space, the way the natural light comes in, a breeze flows, a view opens up—the way a person feels when they’re inside.”

“Aside from that, IVS taught me to learn from the architects of the past, a concept we refer to as ‘precedent study’ in our field. I’ve studied buildings from all over the world, and I draw from those precedents. We were also told to attach context to buildings, it’s important for me that a certain building looks like where it comes from."

If you’re familiar with the art and theatre scene in Pakistan, you’ve definitely heard Asma Mundrawala’s name. Asma is a celebrated visual artist and theatre practitioner who graduated with a BFA from IVS in 1995, completed an MA in Art and Performance Theory from the Wimbledon School of Art (2002) and a DPhil from the University of Sussex in 2010. Her love of theatre led her to co-found Zambeel Dramatic Readings, a group that performs dramatic readings of Urdu and English text in front of live audiences.

Asma is great example of an IVS alumni doing their part in keeping the arts alive in Pakistan. When asked why she picked the a young institution in Karachi over other options to pursue her education, Asma said,

“I came to IVS as a mature student and had already been practicing and teaching art prior to my decision to enroll as a student. I had the opportunity to observe how the first year of the school evolved, through friends who were studying and teaching there.

By the end of the first year of the school, I was sure that I wanted to study in the institution and advance my knowledge and exposure by working with art practitioners who made up the faculty of the Foundation year, and later the Fine Art department.”

The knowledge and values instilled in IVS students during their time at the university stay with them long after they graduate; Asma’s experience was no different.

“The faculty in the Foundation year programme and the Fine Art department not only steered the courses, but also were leading artists in the city and country. Working with them closely and engaging in the creative process with them inspired years of creativity even after I graduated. They laid the foundation for a creative thought process that still informs my practice.”

Even 25 years after graduating, Asma’s relationship with IVS remains stronger than ever. She’s continued to teach in the Dept. of Fine Art and is a frequent contributor to lecture series’ organized by the Graduate Programme at the university.

“The IVS students work in an atmosphere of creative energy and acquire life-long skills to solve problems and challenges ingeniously. Some of the finest artists, designers, architects, and professionals in related fields have emerged from IVS over its short history.

Being situated in Karachi is itself a contributing factor towards the dynamism at IVS. The school reflects the pace, the approach towards thinking, the diversity and the very manic energy of the city. Even today, the school is constantly evolving, shifting, changing, with the times, always in motion, and never static.”

Ahmed Mian graduated from IVS with a Bachelors in Architecture in 1996, and then completed a Masters in Interior Design from the Pratt Institute in 2003. He has accumulated over 20 years of experience at multiple companies and firms, until founding his own practice, called Studio Subtractive in 2011.

Studio Subtractive is an interdisciplinary studio that provides architecture, interior, environment, industrial design and LEED consultancy services. The primary aim of Ahmed Mian and his practice is to incorporate sustainable features into an environment.

Ahmed Mian is an LEED AP, and a member of PCATP, IAP and has also previously been a member of AIA (American Institute of Architects) and IDSA (Industrial Design Society of America). As an architect with a vision to promote sustainable design, he is a leader in creating quality and creative designs that incorporate local contexts, and sustainable and befitting global standards for the 21st century and beyond.

His projects include residential designs, workplace designs (Al Karam Building, Valustrat, Izhar Construction), restaurant designs (E-Street Mews, Coterotie, Bonsai), and retail and commercial designs, all of which incorporate unique styling, comfortable environments, and sustainable designs into them, and are visible landmarks in the urban landscape. Ahmed’s team at Studio Subtractive also designed the Agile Workspace at the Unilever HQ in Karachi.

Instagram: @studiosubtractive

Moyena Niazi is a graduate from the first batch of IVS, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelors in Architecture, and also holds a M.Sc. in Sustainable Buildings and Environments, Sustainability Studies from Newcastle University. Moyena has over 20 years of experience in the field of sustainable architecture with different companies, with the most recent at Co-Design, which she founded in 2021.

Her focus is on sustainable design, which is reflected in her thesis at Newcastle was on passive methods to achieve thermal comfort, for which she looked at the energy consumption and needs of households in rural Punjab. As a member of the IAP, she has worked on the regularization of and the uplifting of eleven squatter settlements in Cantonment Board Clifton. She was a part of the restoration of Khaliqdina Hall, an important landmark of Karachi’s pre-independence past, when she was a part of ARCOP Associates.

Moyena and her firm, Co-Design, concentrate on innovation and experimentation, in an attempt to reframe the “standard practice” of architecture. The firm’s guiding principle is that architecture created with a collaborative design thinking process can be more kinetic, minimal and more efficient with collective research and effort, and can transform space and materials with a refreshing aesthetic. This principle is reflected Co-Design’s projects such as District 19, Glass Oasis, Ambiance Art Hotel, 2 Guys 1 Grll, amongst others. These designs occupy a significant position in Karachi’s landscape, largely due to their unique and attractive designs, and the sustainable way they have been created in.

Moyena has also taught at IVS, and has served on multiple governing committees in the school, including the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee, contributing to create better academic experiences to members of her alma mater.

Instagram: @codesign.pk

Babar Sheikh graduated from IVS with a Bachelor in Communication Design in 1999 and has made a name for himself in the world of, filmmaking, music, advertising, and academia. When graduating from IVS, Babar received a distinction for his thesis, which was in itself the breaking stereotypes of the traditional communication design thesis.

After graduating, he ventured into gone on into multiple fields, becoming a master of all of them. Over the years, alongside film, Babar has actively worked with various nonmainstream musical projects both locally and internationally. He has his own alternative folk-rock band, Chand Tara Orchestra, which fuses traditional Sufi poetry with a post-rock style. As a fresh graduate, he worked as an art director at Asiatic, after which he went on to work for Rohail Hyatt at Pyramid Productions, realizing his true calling was with the motion picture format. In the early 2000s, Babar established his own production house called Diagram where he wrote, produced, and directed genre-defining music videos such as Ali Haider’s single Jadu, Mauj’s Paheliyan and Khushfehmi and Strings’ Sohniye. From there, he ventured towards creating ad films, corporate films, documentaries, and short films, which are noted for their unique style of cinematography and aesthetics. With grants from the Goethe Institut and DEFA, he embraced opportunities to collaborate with filmmakers, musicians, and animators in Europe, bringing fresh new ideas to Pakistan. Babar also performs as an artist exploring the fringes of film and experimental sound with his installation work.

He has also supported local initiatives for multiple social causes – such as the Lahooti Melo, which seeks to promote local indigenous culture and music; Paanch – The Mixtape, a national collaborative music endeavor that brings together rising alternative singers and bands, EBM’s ‘School Girls Newscasters’ campaign, showing girls learning to read and becoming news anchors, a campaign which won the Glass: Lion for Change award at the Cannes Lions Film Festival amongst various other international awards.

Babar has been in the process of making a film with renowned Pakistani writer Bee Gul and producer Naveed Arshad, which has been in the works for two years now and has been highly anticipated in cultural circles across Pakistan. In 2022 he produced Pakistan’s first crime, action, and revenge thriller ‘Carma’ as well as the short film ‘Tum | Hum | Woh’. 

Instagram: @babarsheikhdiagram

Anwar Ali Quettawala graduated from IVS in 1995 with a Bachelors in Architecture, and soon began work at Arshad Shahid Abdulla, one of Pakistan’s leading architectural firms.

In 2001, Anwar established his own practice, Surround Architects, with Farhana Abdullah. Leading Surround Architects, Anwar’s projects include retail spaces, corporate office spaces, and residential projects. Some of their leading projects have been the corporate spaces at Dolmen Mall’s Harbour Front and Executive Towers, for companies like HBL Pakistan, Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan, and Nestle Pakistan amongst others.

Instagram: @surround_architects

Samya Arif graduated from IVS with a Bachelors in Communication Design in 2010, and is an integral part of the rising community of contemporary visual artists based in Karachi. She also learnt Digital Illustration from the BTK Summer School at the University of Art & Design BTK in Berlin. Professionally known as OCEÁ, her work has been recognized both within Pakistan and across the world.

Her diverse portfolio includes creating visuals for publications, book covers, editorials, and film posters. Additionally, she has also been an active designer and DJ in Karachi’s budding underground electronic and indie music scene. She has conducted multiple workshops and conferences across the world, and has also curated projects such Music to My Eyes, which looks at historical Pakistani album art. She has also set up her own exhibitions in cities such as Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Houston, London, Mumbai, Hasselt, Sharjah, and Santiago de Compostela.

Samya Arif has also collaborated on a variety of projects such as the Mumbai-based Taxi Fabric, for which her designs were featured in the music video of British band Coldplay. She has worked with a list of clients which include Penguin Books, HarperCollins, Al Jazeera, the British Council, the US Embassy in Nepal, NPR, and Google. She also teaches at her alma mater as an Adjunct Faculty Professor for the Illustration Major of the Communication Design Department, sharing her experiences with students eager to contribute to the growing art scene of which she is a part.

Instagram: @samyaarif

Irtiqa Hassan graduated from IVS in 2014 with a Bachelors in Interior Design, and began working immediately with Arshad Shahid Abdulla, one of Pakistan’s most prestigious architectural firms, as an Interior Architect, gaining experience as a designer, and learnt how to create and execute projects. She also co-founded Social Nut, where she used an artistic approach, coupled with her training in interior design, to create, manage, and execute dream events.

In 2015, she established Irtiqa Hassan Interiors, where she serves as Director and CEO. As head of IHI, she has worked on interior design and architecture for projects in Pakistan and in the United Arab Emirates. Her projects include residences at Dubai Hills, interiors at Emaar Karachi, the creation of Saylani IT Park, and numerous other residential and commercial projects in Karachi and Dubai such as luxury showrooms and restaurants.

Instagram: @irtiqahassaninc

Nida Azwer graduated from IVS with a Bachelors in Textile Design in 2005, and one month after her graduation, founded her eponymous label, Nida Azwer Atelier. She incorporated local styles and artisan crafts into her work, creating a unique brand for her label, one which makes extensive use of traditional methods such as tukri ka kaam, rilli, kantha, zardozi, and miniature embroidery.

Nida Azwer Atelier has quickly become one of Pakistan’s most recognized fashion labels, largely due to its use and promotion of local crafts, especially Sindhi weaving traditions. Her label has gained fame across the world, with exhibitions being held overseas in Dubai, London, and the like. Nida Azwer herself has been nominated for multiple prestigious awards such as Lux Style Award for Best Emerging Talent in 2008, and Best Fashion Designer Pret in 2015. She also won Best Designer Award at the Nesvita Women of Strength Awards in 2009.

Instagram: @nidaazweratelier

Sania Maskatiya graduated from IVS in 2010 with a Bachelors in Textile Design. Under her own eponymous label, Sania Maskatiya, with her business partner Umair Tabani, has become one of the biggest names in Pakistan’s fashion industry.

Her brand has become synonymous with versatile, specialized prints, textile design based on pure fabrics, unique colours, and fine craftsmanship. It employs some of the best textile designers in the country, creating all of its products in-house through meticulous processes of printing, stitching, and embroidery. Sania’s runway shows have become some of the most anticipated runway shows not just in Pakistan, but even outside the country, such as in India, Europe, and North America.

Her brand has showcased at local events such as the PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week, the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, and Hum Showcase. It has also showcased abroad, at the Lakme Fashion Week in India, the Swarovski Sparkling Couture Infinity Exhibit in Dubai, and the New York Fashion Week Showcase, becoming an ambassador of Pakistan’s fashion industry worldwide.

Instagram: @saniamaskatiya

Sadiq Shah graduated from IVS in 2011 with a Bachelors in Communication Design, and is a member of 2am Design House. The firm tries to take a creative and fresh approach in the field of design, working on projects that are unique and not monotonous, or part of the old standard way of doing things.

Keeping up with 2am’s aims, Sadiq Shah has targeted a niche for himself, in food photography. With his talent and training in using cameras, and finding the right angles and lighting for shoots, he has become one of the few major food photographers in the country, influencing the decisions of most people in the country on what to eat, and where to eat it from.

Sadiq hopes to open up Pakistan’s first, advanced product and food photography studio, one that is futuristic and can handle both local and international clients, promoting food and its diversity across the world.

Instagram: @sadiq_shah

Zehra Zaidi graduated from IVS in 2000 with a Bachelors in Communication Design, and has over 20 years of experience as a Creative Director. Her aim is to translate business objectives into success through creative strategies which involve creative strategy, advertising, integrated marketing, creative direction and content, TV and digital communication, and Design.

Her earlier experience was accumulated at Lowe & Rauf, IAL Saatchi & Saatchi, and Adcom Leo Burnett, after which she joined Ogilvy Pakistan in 2014. She is Executive Creative Director on Coca-Cola Brands, and also Group Executive Creative Director for Ogilvy Pakistan, and in her role there has launch market leader brands to success, from inception to brand architecture to creative implementation.

Zehra has been nominated for and won various awards for her prominent career. She was nominated for Ponds Miracle Woman 2016 and for 30for30 Women in Leadership in 2019. She has won four Effie awards in various categories for Coca-Cola Pakistan in 2019, and has won innumerable awards at PAS for categories such as Top Brand, Campaign of the Year, etc., since 2012. She has also been teaching advertising, and has been mentoring women in advertising, preparing them for the field and for any challenges they may encounter.

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 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.

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

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.

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”. 

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 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.

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 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 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 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

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. 

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.

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.

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 

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. 

Tazeen Hussain is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Communication Design at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. She has also served as visiting faculty in the departments of Visual Studies at Karachi University and Media Sciences at Szabist.

As a researcher, Hussain has presented her work at national and international conferences, and published internationally as well. 

Her current interests include the re-examination of design education, its conception and evolution in Pakistan, whilst exploring its possibilities as an active contributor to the socio-cultural and political landscape. Towards this, she has designed and initiated a programme titled Critical Design Education and Practice funded by US State Mission Pakistan through the University Partnerships Grants Programs 2020-2023. 

She also serves on the Board of Studies for Szabist and Shaheed Allah Buksh Soomro University of Art, Design and Heritages, Jamshoro, Sindh

Hussain has been volunteering her services to archive creative practices in Pakistan, promote social entrepreneurship and sustainable development, using design in education and non-educational contexts. 

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

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.

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. 

Syed Zain Hasan holds a bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture and Design from England. Since his return to Pakistan in 2015, he’s worked with DAZ studios and YOCA parallel to his own design practice. His work experience has an interdisciplinary approach enveloping all sectors within the design industry ranging from Architecture / Interior design and Product Design. He spent 5 years in the industry practising his skills on multiple typologies ranging from Residential to Healthcare projects before joining IVS as a Lecturer.

Zain is also an active faculty member for the Continuing Education Programme (CEP) at IVS and has been involved in curriculum development for Advance Diploma in Interior Design.He makes a point to assist the association of interior designers in Pakistan while holding the position of Secretary at Pakistan Institute of Interior Designers (PIID). This includes the revival and awareness of the association and the significance of the maturing discipline in Pakistan.

As an Interior Architect his interest and research in design is derived from the enhancement of technology and the response it develops for the ever-evolving industry.

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 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

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.

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’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 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. 

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 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

Natasha Mukarram is a resident of Karachi and has received her Bachelors of Interior Design from IVS. Previously, having taught Basic Design at her alma mater, for the Foundation Programme, she also taught studio courses for 2nd and 3rd year Interior Design. In Karachi, Natasha has worked on a number of turnkey residential and commercial spaces as an interior designer and a creative head for multiple projects and has showcased visual work for multiple art exhibits,  Apart from interior design, Natasha is a professional makeup artist and also creative director of her own brand ‘Creatives & Such’.

At IVS, Natasha has been teaching for more than 7 years. Currently, as Assistant Professor, she teaches 3D Design for Foundation Programme, which encompasses introductions & explorations of form, structure & space. In addition to her teaching practice, Natasha has been involved with the development of novel assignment briefs to constantly re-frame and re-think the curriculum for 3D design and its practices. She has also been a participant of a number of certificate courses that have explored curriculum building, rethinking pedagogical approach to art & design and visual narratives.

Zohaib Zuby has an interdisciplinary background in philosophy and architecture. Having graduated as an architect, he worked as a Social Activist for two years after founding Uraan, a youth movement. He later specialized in Wittgenstein Studies when completing his post-graduate study in Muslim Cultures, from the Aga Khan University, ISMC from London. Since his return, he has developed curricula on philosophy and humanities subjects within various levels of education. He has pioneered philosophy for children (P4C) in Pakistan at The Learning Tree School and continues to teach philosophical programs at various institutions, including Islamic Reformism since 1857; Neoliberalism, Globalization, and Post-Coloniality.

Zohaib’s research and practice currently centers around Affordable Housing, focusing on customized interventions to assist the low income, and has most recently completed Wallah’s House and Fauzia’s House in Karachi, Pakistan.

He has also co-founded and launched a meditation and mindfulness platform, Be-khudi, which is the first to produce Urdu and English guided meditations; and is working on the design of an MBSR program for low-income schools in Pakistan, with the support of the John Fell Funded Grant.

Zohaib is on a sabbatical from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023.

Zohaib's Resume

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. 

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 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, 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 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 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'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 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 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.

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.

We’re hosting a talk titled “Imagining Forward” led by Ellen W. Kaplan, Professor Emerita of Theatre at Smith College. Ellen’s a US-based, Senior Fulbright Specialist, and a respected actor, playwright, and writer.

She brings decades of experience in exploring the intersections of performance, creativity, and how theatre can be an agent for healing. Collaborating with local artists and activists in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, she facilitated transformative theatrical experiences that confronted pressing social issues.

We invite all students, alumni, faculty and staff to attend the talk, especially those who love theatre. THE TALK IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

The Cult Club hosted a Q&A session with the cast of Taxali Gate and gained insight on making high-quality films with an ensemble cast on a tight budget.

The Foundation Programme hosted the first LB talk this Spring. The LB is a series of thoughtfully curated conversations in an informal setting. Eibne Sajjad and his two children Naiel and Sasha will be in conversation with each other. Through dialogue and knowledge-sharing, the speakers and listeners will have an opportunity to reflect on their own concepts, methods, and practical experiences in the context of sustainability.        

IVS hosted a Red Bull: Off the Roof concert featuring Bayaan, and Hassaan & Roshan. IVS was Red Bull's first stop in Karachi as it tours campuses across the country. 

The concert was opened to the public and was attended by 1600 people.

A big thank you to Team Wakhri for taking the time out to come on campus and speaking to students and faculty about their film and the process of making it. 

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.

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: 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.

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

The Marium Abdulla Library held Part 1 of its Dramatic Reading Series featuring Zarqa Naz as the Guest Reader. 

IVS hosted Open Day 2023 for prospective students and their friends and families. 

The event was about creating games from anything (literally anything)! It can be a card game or it can be a board game, it can even be a cleaning game. There were no rules whatsoever, except for one: No programming and no arts were involved. Participants used their imagination and objects required to make a game, develop a set of rules/gameplay and make sure it is fun to play.

The opening night of: Kaghazi Kashtiyan (paper boats): The Pakistani Bengali Story, on Thursday 18th May from 5pm at IVS, with a special performance at 6.45pm from the Khel Gymnastics National Champions. =

The show opened a window to the experiences of the Pakistani Bengali community living in Karachi. It is part of the Partition of Identity project, a cross university collaboration between University College London, UK and LUMS.

IVS was  a Project Partner in the study.

Session 2 of the Building Foundations series by the Foundation Programme took place on 11 May 2023 at 4PM at Mir Khalil ur Rahman Studio.

We screened the award-winning work of Ali Rez, Babar Sheikh (CD alumnus), and Atiya Zaidi. They shared the  the creative process behind their innovative ad campaign and got an inside look at the techniques and technologies used to bring the film to life.

Bio of Panelist:

Ali Rez
Chief Creative Officer
Impact BBDO Group MENAP

Ranked among the Top 5 Creative leaders in the world, and named Creative Person of the Year by Campaign magazine twice, Ali Rez is the most awarded creative in the Middle East with more than 750 international awards, which include Grands Prix, Golds, and several other metals across Cannes Lions, Clios, D&AD, Effie, One Show, Dubai Lynx, Spikes and many more. In a 20-year career spanning across USA, MENA, and APAC, Rez has handled global clients such as the 150-billion-dollar ChevronTexaco brand, PepsiCo, Mars, Adobe, and Visa. Rez currently is the Chief Creative Officer at BBDO for Middle East Africa and Pakistan, where his work has been instrumental in helping BBDO be named the No.2 Creative Agency in the World.


Atiya Zaidi
Managing Director and Creative Executive Director BBDO Pakistan

Atiya has two decades of experience in the advertising industry, working on various local and international brands. She is the first Pakistani woman to be selected for Cannes Lions ‘See It Be It’ program, D&AD’s Rare Creative program, and the Pitch magazines’ 100 Superwomen list (2019).

Babar Sheikh
Babar Sheikh is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, ad film director, musician, and audio-visual installation artist. A graduate of IVS, he works comprehensively to develop film education in the country. He is based in Karachi and has directed and produced numerous commercials, music videos, genre-defying documentaries, and short films.

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 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.

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. While working in New York for Dadras Architects, she worked on revitalizing various public spaces and streets. 

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 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.

Zohaib Zuby has an interdisciplinary background in philosophy and architecture. He later specialized in Wittgenstein Studies when completing his post-graduate study in Muslim Cultures, from the Aga Khan University, ISMC from London. He has pioneered philosophy for children (P4C) in Pakistan at The Learning Tree School and continues to teach philosophical programs at various institutions, including Islamic Reformism since 1857; Neoliberalism, Globalization, and Post-Coloniality. Zohaib’s research and practice currently centers around Affordable Housing, focusing on customized interventions to assist the low income, and has most recently completed Wallah’s House and Fauzia’s House in Karachi, Pakistan.

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

Mujahid's Resume

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

Barera’s Resume