Reviving the city of lights: Reimagining Karachi highlights the city’s crumbling heritage

Initiative launches two compilations of essays, photographs about the metropolis.

KARACHI: In an attempt to breathe life into the city and highlight its architectural heritage, Reimagining Karachi, an initiative by SEED Ventures, has launched two compilations of essays and photographs about the metropolis — 'Reimagining Karachi: Perspectives' and 'Reimagining Karachi: Memories'.

"The books include simple musings about the perspectives and memories of Karachi by young contributors," explained social entrepreneur Sadaf Mahmood, speaking at the book launch organised in collaboration with the 'I Am Karachi' consortium at the Marriott Hotel on Monday. "They are not compilations of essays by veteran writers but instead an amalgamation of works by many of Karachi's amateur writers and photographers, sent to us in response to a call for submissions."



Mahmood also put the spotlight on the workers who painstakingly built the city's heritage sites. "It comes as no surprise that we have put in great effort to create awareness about Karachi's architectural heritage through these books," she remarked. "But our efforts pale in front of the efforts of the workers who put their blood and sweat into the buildings that we call our heritage."

Meanwhile, 'I Am Karachi' campaign manager Wajiha Naqvi said that by joining hands with Reimagining Karachi, the consortium hoped to take forward its efforts to reclaim the city's public spaces. "This collaboration will allow both the organisations to help save Karachi's crumbling heritage," she believed, adding that the perspectives given in the books could help build a more peaceful and tolerant city.

"With Reimagining Karachi, our desire was to create a momentum that would not only instil a sense of pride and belonging among people from all segments of society but also encourage them to stand together to preserve our heritage," Faraz Khan, the co-founder of the initiative and chief executive officer of SEED Ventures, told The Express Tribune.

"Our vision and intent was to create a platform to bring together individuals and organisations with maximum community engagement," added SEED Ventures director Khusro Ansari. "These books are a step towards fulfilling that mission."

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2015.