OUR TEAM
Habib Afsar is a Pakistani-Swiss artist and social animator with an international background in health and development. His interests are therefore broad and cover areas like cultural exchange, public spaces and community art, peace building, community development and arts-based research. His work is resource oriented, i.e. it is geared towards facilitating people to identify and utilise their internal and external resources. Currently he runs the Center for Arts-based Methodologies which focus on the use of the artistic processes towards holistic wellbeing. His artist vision and mission is “to create safe spaces where beauty is celebrated”- and beauty is not always beautiful!
Imran Nafees Siddiqui is a Development professional, trainer, and researcher with an education background in Social Sciences and communications, Imran's association with a variety of organizations and projects is based on the basic premise of Design Thinking, Research base project and organizational development through creative and innovative approaches. He is also a seasoned performance artist and photographer. He has pioneered initiative for development and empowerment through research, training, organization & project development, training programs, Implementation plans and strategy , books and creative ventures by virtue of which he has channelized the resources and the 'need to empowerment' of masses in under-developed areas of the country.
Beenish Sarfaraz is a faculty member at Design & Film Department at Visual Studies, Karachi University. At the Centre for Arts-based Methodologies & Wellbeing, she’s curating creative productions and community-building through cultural interventions and digital programming.
In love with nature, Beenish plans to move away to the mountains where she’ll spend her days singing to her cow and create many moments of joy & art!
Najam Hassan is a Mass Communication graduate with a major in film and production from NUST Islamabad. Najam’s expertise lies in documentary style storytelling. He is interested in social and cultural issues faced by youth in South Asian countries like Pakistan and particularly related to identity politics and power dynamics. Currently he works as a Videographer at the Centre for Arts-based Methodologies and Wellbeing and uses all his free-time playing with his new drone camera and capturing bird-eye views of whatever he is interested in on ground.
Luluwa Lokhandwala is a Communication Designer and an Artist. She is a research-based artist and an illustrator by profession. She has been a participant at the Pakistan Pavilion at Venice Biennale (2021) and Sheherezade: The Walled City Anthology (2019), Vasl Artist's Association. She currently works at CFAW as a Designer and Artist, and studies at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts. Her work engages with contemporary, experimental art practices, but it is rooted within research and traditional art practices. Her method involves diving into academic research while also allowing space to immerse in traditional art and craftsmanship practices.
Shabbir Mohammed is a writer and a visual artist with a degree in Communication and Design. He is a multimedia artist who works in video, photography, animation and illustration to tell stories. His written works have been published in the Arzu Anthology which was released and published at the Karachi Literature Festival. Shabbir is also fascinated with the hidden fantastical stories hidden everywhere in Karachi and is working on a speculative fiction project called Khayali Karachi.
People we are grateful to
Our digital wing especially Kamran Aslam, Shah Haroon, Usman Farooq & Zohaib Khan who helped us in putting together a very experimental code for a very experimental digital project. Though we failed the first few attempts, we learned a great deal. Mostly, about patience & facing challenges like a team.
More about our Interns; the cohort of Quirky ™️ Interns that made Mai Karachi possible.
Interns — Batch of 2022
Arishah Wadani is a founder of "For The Menstruator - Pakistan". It is a Youth-led organisation that aims to promote menstrual equity by designing reusable sanitary napkins for underprivileged communities and creating awareness of Menstrual Hygiene Management. She is currently, serving as an Event Management (Outreach & Space Design Intern) at the Center for Arts-Based Methodologies and Wellbeing.
Arishah got featured on the.ismaili website for the recognition of the overall services and work she does at FTM-Pakistan.
Find her at:
I am Fahad Ahmed, a computer science student. I believe in data and vibes, and I haven't watched Game of Thrones :)
Mehroz Mehboob is an Aircraft Engineering student whose passion resonates with music, movies, and cars. Moreover, he loves mimicry and currently working as a web developer at the Center of Arts-based Methodologies and Well-being.
Hello 👋 I'm Anas, and I like film, literature and indie games. I'd love to write more one day. I am fascinated by poetry and rhythm.
Naila Naz is an avid reader, writer and street photographer. Currently, she is a student of BS English Literature and Linguistics. She enjoys listening to other people's stories and wants to explore Karachi from different lenses.
Her Instagram is https://instagram.com/naila__nn?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
I am an art student currently, interested in the materiality of the spaces I inhabit
Find her at https://www.behance.net/tareenmaham
I'm Maliha Hasan, a media major undergrad in their junior year. I love literature, arts and cats, and you'll either see me reading or writing poetry.
Hi, My name is Hussain Abbas, and I am currently studying Film Making and Film Production. My interests are football and films. I love horses.
Contributor list:
Aamena Shafi. Aarti Lila Ram. Abdullah Siddiqui. Aisha Habib. Ali Mohsin. Ali Sher Durrani. Amal Hashim. Anamta Ghur. Arooma Naqvi. Fiha Barkat Ali. Hunza Irfan. Ifrah Faheem. Jabeen Qadri. Kaleem Ullah Bashir. Kashmala Tahir. Khadija Imran. Kinza Irfan. Luluwa Lokhandhwala. Maria Samiwala. Munazza Aftab. Nida Ali Hameed. Nida Khan. Pireh Moosa. S.M. Rizwanullah. Salma Habib. Shehram Mokhtar. Wara Irfan. Yumnah Rehman. Ambreen. Arbab Khan. Arsalan Ahmed. Aseela Abdullah. Bibi Zohra. Faizan Ali. Fazib Faqeer M. Habib. Humayun. Khadija Abbas. Kulsoom M. Fahim Mehrunnisa. Namrata. Naurooz Ghani. Parveen Naz. Rafiya. Sadia. Saniya. Sarfaraz. Shah Mehran. Sheryar Khan. Syeda Zameeniza. Noor Sabah. Shabbir Ahmed. Usman Ahmed Zaidi. Norbet Ayub. Najam ul Hassan. Mahnoor Arshad. Aqsa Baig. Narjis Khan. Abdullah. Moin ul Haq. Aziz ul Haq. Muhammad ullah. M Mushtaq. Abdul Rehman. Jahseen. Kareem. Aziz. Shehzad. Rashid Latif. Rizwan. Mohd Yonus. Umer Farooq. Mohammad Ramzan. Zara Abbas. Shaheera Khan. Raheel Lakhani. Noor Latif. Ingo Giezendanner. Assam Altaf. Syed Zaun Buldari. Iqra Manzoor. Ghaffar Jiskani. Zahra Zaidi. Ahmer. Farah Deeba. Saif Ali. Insharah. Umrah. Sidra. Amna. Waleed. Iqra Manzoor. Yahda Ishari. Khuda Dad. Arunima. Burkha. Mehr. Shaista Naz. Fiza Raleel. Inshra. Syed Zain Bukhri. Hafsa Shams. Wish Warda. Amna Shams. Warda. M. Khizar. Elaf Farooq. Zeesha Khan. Sertaj Khan. Esha Arif. Laiba Naeem. Shiza Rashid. Laila Jamal. Syed Hamna. Javeria Yousuf. Shaheera Shahzad. Hafsa Faheem. Gautam. Ritka Baboo. Hira Noor M. Nadir. Abdul Sami. M. Uzair. Shah Jahan. Syed Faiz Bukhari. Huma Naz. Sahiba Naz. Rukhsaar. Yaseen Khan. Areej Khan. Erum Shahzadi. Laiba Noor. Umer.