Purani Jeans - 2020
Design Intervention: opportunities to reduce the environmental impact
Denim as a fabric was invented with the intention of durability and longevity. With the recent trend of Fast Fashion, short term use of textile products has had a shockingly adverse impact on the environment. The short term, “wear and discard” consumption of jeans nowadays negates the idea of what it originally intended to achieve: long term usage. All in all, producing a single pair of jeans requires an immense amount of water, cotton, and energy which results in creating vast amounts of pollution and dries up the natural resources of our planet. Fast Fashion also changes an important tenet of Eastern culture. Consumerism has replaced an essentially Eastern household practice: the hand-me-down tradition which succeeded in reclaiming clothes in its own way. A pair of jeans was not disposable but long lasting; it was a collectively owned item carried down from brother to brother, sister to sister. |
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To counter these rising concerns regarding sustainability of wearable textiles, design intervention and value addition can pose as solutions. As teachers and students in the creative field whose everyday setting is the classroom, it is now imperative that we integrate both practices in order to begin the discourse about the world outside our windows. This project is an ongoing attempt to not only address the problems of sustainability through creative pedagogy but also to bring forth modern teaching/learning approaches. As a small scale project, the primary aim of “Purani Jeans” (old jeans) is to introduce new ways of thinking and doing for existing and future designers.
Botanic Mural - 2019
“Thus we cover the universe with drawing we have lived. These drawings need not to be exact. They need only to be totalized on the mode of our inner space.” Gaston Bachelard
Drawing is one of the major forms of expression within visual arts & design. It is generally concerned with the marking of lines and areas of tone onto paper/other material, where the subjective representation of the visual world is expressed upon a plane surface by the practitioner. Drawing is often exploratory, therefore the aim of this project was to engage students in considerable emphasis on botanic observation, problem-solving and composition making on a very large scale.
Another important component of this project was to bridge the gap between the realistic world and stylized object making. The uniqueness of the process arises from the labor intensive engagement with various mediums and materials – it is a depiction of the practitioner’s self-expression and signature style alongside the representation of what they seek to draw.
Another important component of this project was to bridge the gap between the realistic world and stylized object making. The uniqueness of the process arises from the labor intensive engagement with various mediums and materials – it is a depiction of the practitioner’s self-expression and signature style alongside the representation of what they seek to draw.
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Drawing Students of 2nd Year - Textile Institute of Pakistan. Medium: Pen & Inks with Golden Pigment on Brown Boxboard Sheet. Areesha Nauroz Ali Panjwani, Zakia Mahjabi, Ammara Mahmood, Iqra Asghar, Muniza Kanwal, Sakina Hussain, Iqra Moghal, Tehreem Zaidi, Rania Qureshi, Ayesha Ishtiq, Noor Fatima, Rafay Ahmed, Fizzah Abbas, Naqeeba Shamsuddin, Innara Amin, Nida Mir, Humera Junejo, Ovais Kamran, Ayesha Nadeem, Nawal Khan, Fatima Masood Sandhu, Mahnoor Siddiqui, Zainab Mukarram, Fatima Sarwar, Ummehani Quettawala, Huda Jumani, Maham Pervaiz, Adan Shahid Arain, Aleeha Memon, Zuma Zehra Jafri, Daman Azeemi, Fiza Khan, Salma Iftikhar, Mahnoor Akhoond, Muhammad Zeerak Khan Afridi, Zaeema Zaheer Ali, Humd Shaikh, Yusra, Aniqa Muhammad Irshad Kunda, Ayeza Irshad. |
Youth for Sustainable Living - Goethe Institut
A few years ago, only summer seasons witnessed water shortage in Karachi but now, the citizens have to face water-related crisis in all seasons. This mega city requires more than 1,000 million gallons of water per day for fulfilling the water needs. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Karachi’s population has grown to 14.91 million. There is need to raise water capacity of the city[1]. Water is a basic necessity of life but unfortunately, people from many areas of this city don’t have access to it, and some areas are facing severe shortage of it.
The aim of this workshop will be dealing with the water situation of Karachi, No one can better relate to this concern better than The Karachites themselves. By utilizing the creative potential of youth during the span of three days’ workshop the plan is to create the awareness among the diverse group of students. Not only create an awareness but to also inspire them is such creative way that they will pass on that skill as well as word to their peers. The intention is also to educate them about the problems underprivileged population of this mega city is facing.
The aim of this workshop will be dealing with the water situation of Karachi, No one can better relate to this concern better than The Karachites themselves. By utilizing the creative potential of youth during the span of three days’ workshop the plan is to create the awareness among the diverse group of students. Not only create an awareness but to also inspire them is such creative way that they will pass on that skill as well as word to their peers. The intention is also to educate them about the problems underprivileged population of this mega city is facing.
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Alternative Photography - 2019
Botanic Cyanotype
Also known as Blueprint, a 170 year old photographic printing process that produces prints in a distinctive dark greenish-blue. The word cyan comes from the Greek, meaning “dark blue substance.” The process was invented by Sir John Herschel, a brilliant astronomer and scientist, in 1842. However, Herschel did not use cyanotype for photography, but for reproducing notes. It was a family friend, the botanist Anna Atkins, who used the cyanotype printing process in 1843 to create an album of algae specimens. Compared to other photographic printing processes, cyanotype is easy and inexpensive. Ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide are combined, and exposure to UV light. The cyanotype process was also used to create copies of technical and architectural plans, and these copies are still called blueprints.
These botanic blueprints are made to celebrate the natural species of plants that are found in the gardens of Textile Institute of Pakistan. Environments endowed with natural beauty play a major role in inspiring the minds of design students and help boost their creativity. Keeping this idea in mind, the design students of 3rd year experienced firsthand an old alternative technique to understand the fundamental rules of photography.
Conducted by: Asst. Prof. Arsalan Nasir Hussain with design students of 3rd year, TIP. Medium: Solution of Ferric Ammonium Citrate and Potassium Ferricyanide, on Archival Paper Made by: Aimen Eijaz, Safa Ashfaq, Mahnoor Musarrat, Amna Nayab, Mahnoor Rasikh, Ghazia Sultana, Eraj Siddiqui, Neha Fasih, Palwasha, Mahnoor Ali, Marium Khan, Saba Khan, Raheela Soomro, Haya Arsalan Khan, Ajmiri Saman, Muhammad Raheel, Shamim Javeed Ali, Syeda Shahzanan, Muhammad Hassan Zahid, Sarah Fasih, Hira Kumbo, Rukhsar Khan, Munaza Aslam, Ghania Akber, Komal Ismail, Ayesha Akram, Noman, Ahmun Muhammad Rafique, Samina Amir, Muhammad Talha Malik, Raehemah Ansari, Taha Asif Shaikh, Rimsha Akhtar, Lubaba Munawar, Javeria Afzal, Raya Agha, Amir Ahmed Ansari, Shazia Zubair, Usha Nathani, Safir Naqvi. |
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Earth Day, Every Day - 2017
Beaconhouse school, Part of Regional Green Dialogues, VASL Artist Association Residency.
The concept of Social Sculpture was initiated in the 1970’s by German artist, Joseph Beuys. He established a very broad and political understanding of art. Art, in his regard should not be reduced to material artefacts that form a visible final “product” and be exhibited in galleries and museums. Through this idea of social sculpture, this project looks at Sea View beach as a focal point where we can witness the densest crowds, with people coming from all over the country. I see people who come to witness the mesmerizing face of Mother Nature and the coast becomes a thin borderline between nature and the man made. However if one goes to the sea of Karachi, there isn’t just realization of the beautiful seascape - there is also the recognition of the immense sacrifices nature has to make to accommodate all the inhabitants of this huge city. We have continuously been dumping the waste of this city into the sea, which has created tragic consequences in the form of death and destruction of the species that live in the ocean.
In this project I was interested in creating a happy yet disturbing picture in a surrealistic visual at the beach site. Working with both organic and inorganic materials to dig deeper into this concern, I see the possibility to use the shore of the beach as my canvas and people as potential creative individuals who can start a dialogue for awareness about ecological concerns and our behavior towards it.
In this project I was interested in creating a happy yet disturbing picture in a surrealistic visual at the beach site. Working with both organic and inorganic materials to dig deeper into this concern, I see the possibility to use the shore of the beach as my canvas and people as potential creative individuals who can start a dialogue for awareness about ecological concerns and our behavior towards it.
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Shades of Green - 2017
Indigenous Responses, Artist in residency Program
Shades of Green is a project undertaken by the children of Elixir School, focused on significant ideas like diversity, community service, and social awareness. With 14th August around the corner, the project had patriotic undertones. Two colors (yellow and blue) were provided to the children, out of which they created shades of green of their own preference. The variety of shades of the national color that resulted represent and acknowledge the beautifully diverse cultures and castes that belong to Pakistan. The children painted the unique shades they created onto the building blocks that were retrieved from the rubble found outside to create a monument.
Beyond social awareness, the theme of owning the spaces around us was also instilled in the minds of the children by encouraging them to take charge and improve the dismal condition of the sewerage trench that lay in front of the school premises. The work was a collaboration of more than a hundred children working together to improve the public space and transforming it through problem-solving art. The practical education the children received introduced them to concepts like diversity, teamwork, and social awareness that could not be communicated well only through theoretical teaching.
The completed project was installed in the newly cleaned and fixed space outside the school in order to ensure that the school activity could interact with the general public, thereby enhancing the idea of social awareness, just in time for Independence Day.
Beyond social awareness, the theme of owning the spaces around us was also instilled in the minds of the children by encouraging them to take charge and improve the dismal condition of the sewerage trench that lay in front of the school premises. The work was a collaboration of more than a hundred children working together to improve the public space and transforming it through problem-solving art. The practical education the children received introduced them to concepts like diversity, teamwork, and social awareness that could not be communicated well only through theoretical teaching.
The completed project was installed in the newly cleaned and fixed space outside the school in order to ensure that the school activity could interact with the general public, thereby enhancing the idea of social awareness, just in time for Independence Day.