A fantastical image in Pakistan of two buses suspended in a rainbow mid-air
Pakistan + ©

Omar Gilani

How can a younger generation engage with cultural heritage? Register to join the online webinar discussion hosted by British Council and Prince Claus Fund, on current and future models for cultural heritage engagement. 

Wednesday 12 August 2020
UK (11am), Netherlands (12pm), Bangladesh (4.00pm), India (3.30pm), Nepal (3.45pm), and Pakistan (3.00pm).

To coincide with the publication of Review:Contemporary Take, Beyond Cultural Heritage, we invite those who are interested in cultural heritage in South Asia and globally to attend this online discussion and learn more about projects supported by the programme. 

Hosted by Sanne Letschert from the Prince Claus Fund, the panel will include:

  • Kadambari Sahu, co-designer of the olfactory art installation Sniffing Out the Differences! in India;
  • Prasiit Sthapit, producer for the music archive project Fuzzscape in Nepal;
  • Yasmeen Lari, Founder and Director of the Pakistan Heritage Foundation, Pakistan;
  • and Junhi Han, Chief of Culture Section, UNESCO New Delhi.

After the panel discussion there will be a Q&A with the audience.

About the Review

In collaboration with the Prince Claus Fund, Contemporary Take, Beyond Cultural Heritage supported the creation of a series of new artistic works created by artists, cultural practitioners and organisations in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The projects selected through an open call supported young people to engage with diverse cultural heritage through contemporary artistic and new media interventions.

At a time of deep reflection concerning the decolonisation of culture, and the systemic inequalities and violences of history and modern development which in many countries have led to the disappearance of vital living heritages that have evolved over centuries, Contemporary Take, Beyond Cultural Heritage offers a positive reflection and a renewed understanding of cultural heritage and our collective responsibilities in ensuring its future.

Through essays, interviews, images, reflections and graphics, the Review explores how creative minds are reimagining South Asian cultural heritage. Contributors include the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy from Pakistan and the acclaimed Nepali writer Kanak Mani Dixit. 

Read the full review as an online magazine on Issuu.

'Any discussion of the future is incomplete without a consideration of the past… As we try and chart a path into an unknown future, we should make sure not to leave our heritage behind, but to carry it forward with us in a manner that is compatible with the future we envision, and honours the rich cultural traditions from which that future emerged as well.'

Omar Gilani, artist of Pakistan + 

Projects included:

Disappearing Roots

A project by emerging documentary photographer Samsul Alam Helal, challenged the way indigenous Bangladeshi history is portrayed in mainstream media. 

Oral History Project

This project by Drik Picture Library aimed to revive the vernacular history of mofussil (small town) photography in Bangladesh. 

Bambaiyya VR

This project by ArchitVaze, Salil Parekh, Jyoti Narayan, Alap Parikh and Tejas Nair created a virtual reality journey through Mumbai’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Culture Connectors

An interactive educational programme developed by Flow Education and Cultur Consultants Pvt. Ltd, in which audiences explored the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Qutb Complex in New Delhi through virtual reality technology.

iDiscover Ahmedabad

An app made by International Center for Innovative Developments (ICID) and Urban Discovery, consisting of illustrated maps of two neighbourhoods of the old city of Ahmedabad, India.  

Here-In-Time

A treasure-hunt styled trivia game, developed by Akshita Mehta of the National Institute of Design in India, which used augmented reality to explore the Qutb Complex in New Delhi. 

The Museum of Food: A Living Heritage

A communal pop-up kitchen, organized by artist collective Revue (Sreejata Roy, Mrityunjay Chatterjee) along with young researcher Nian Paul, based in the multi-ethnic neighbourhood of Khirki-Hauzrani, New Delhi

Re-Aligning Goan Heritage through Mixed Reality

A year-long project by The Greenhouse, which used virtual and augmented reality to explore different facets of Goan heritage. 

Sniffing out the differences!

An experimental art installation by visual artist and designer Charuvi Agrawal, and designer and engineer Kadambari Sahu exploring the olfactory heritage of South Asia. 

Fuzzscape

A project initiated by Rajan Shrestha, Nhooja Ratna Tuladhar and Fuzz Factory Productions, in which young musicians and filmmakers travelled to three marginal districts of Nepal to collaboratively make musical heritage relevant to younger generations. 

Culture Connect

A photography and virtual reality project by The Little Art, which enabled youth to use existing cultural heritage spaces of Lahore artistically and recreationally via workshops, tours and on-site interventions. 

Imagine

An installation project by Syed Mazhar Zaidi, in which historically and culturally iconic images of Pakistan were translated into movable set pieces that could be manipulated and reinterpreted by audience members. 

Pakistan +

A mixed media project by visual artist Omar Gilani in which digital illustrations, animation videos, ambient sounds, 3D installations and virtual reality displays were used to showcase Pakistan in a futuristic science fiction and fantasy setting.

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