WOW Workshops
Aamna Saleem
Aamna Saleem
Aamna Saleem
Aamna Saleem
Aamna Saleem is an astronomer who has a postgraduate diploma in Quantitative Life Sciences from the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, and is the founder of Cosmic Perspective, Pakistan's first astronomy education and entertainment social enterprise. She was awarded the first ever grant in Pakistan from the International Astronomical Union's Office of Astronomy for Development to conduct a project called "Development through Astronomy in Pakistan [DAP]" in 2019. The goals of DAP are to provide quality STEM education, reduce gender inequality, raise awareness about the environmental crises, and promote peace and equality in Pakistan. In her free time, she enjoys reading fiction and dabbles in the culinary arts. She will be conducting a workshop on the Stellar Life Cycle, the Periodic Table of Elements, and Resource Scarcity and a lunar observation at WOW Pakistan 2023.
Lala Rukh
Lala Rukh
Lala Rukh
Lala Rukh
Lala Rukh is a social entrepreneur and a science communicator. She is the Founder and CEO of Science Fuse, a social enterprise that works to enhance scientific literacy by curating informal science educational resources & engagements for children, teachers, schools & communities from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds across Pakistan. Science Fuse is inspiring children, especially girls from diverse backgrounds to pursue STEM education and careers. Lalah has been working within science communication for the last eleven years, including at the prestigious Science Museum in London and earlier at Forskerfabrikken - a leading social enterprise working to promote STEM education in Norway. She is also a Malala Fund Education Champion 2020, A Pakistan Acumen Fellow 2018, and an Ashoka Changemaker-exchange fellow 2019.
Kiran Fulton
KIRAN FULTON
Kiran Fulton
KIRAN FULTON
Strategic communications professional with over 20 + years of experience in television management and programming. Kiran's workshop is a response to a demand by young professionals and creatives on how to navigate the increasingly digital-first and video-first space online and how to create content using just their phones. Kiran has been a mentor with WOW and received great feedback from the students she worked with.
Maryam Munir
Maryam Munir
Maryam Munir
Maryam Munir
Maryam Munir is a Licenced Professional Councel(LPC) and founder of a non profit organization called TPEP (The Parent Empowerment Plan). She runs multiple programs for parenting and her aim is to educate parents about respectful parenting. With the lens of the most cutting edge research about neuroscience.
Amtul Baweja
Amtul Baweja
Amtul Baweja
Amtul Baweja
Amtul is an Actor, improvisor, Theatre artist and social activist. She has a huge following and can not only draw a crowd but keep it entertained and well informed
Abida Mukhtar
Abida Mukhtar
Abida Mukhtar
Abida Mukhtar
Abida Mukhtar is the Founder and CEO of Inspiring Women, a network that engages and empowers young girls and women in all aspects of their life. Through various initiatives, including workshops and programs, Inspiring Women equips women and young girls with the confidence and skill set they need to pursue their dreams. Ms. Mukhtar is a financial consultant by profession, and brings with her, 12 years of experience in corporate turnaround and restructuring. She has exposure in various sectors – ranging from financial services, retail, healthcare, public sector and agribusiness. Currently, Ms. Mukhtar is the Chief Financial Officer of Super Bird (Pvt) Limited and the Chief Executive Officer at Dar-Es-Salaam Textiles Mills Limited in Lahore. Ms. Mukhtar earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics with honours from Smith College, USA and a Master’s degree in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics, UK.
Rahma Muhammad Mian
Rahma Muhammad Mian
Rahma Muhammad Mian
Rahma Muhammad Mian
Rahma Muhammad Mian: is a somatic therapist and yoga teacher. Rahma’s trauma and chronic pain informed body and breathwork practice is grounded in her Vipassana and Metta practice. Beginning in 2015, she has sat Vipassana retreats in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Burma and US, learning from monastics and teachers rooted in the Theravadan tradition. She is trained in Ihsaas, a trauma-informed, somatic healing programme designed primarily for Muslim women as well as western trauma and somatic focused trainings like integrated rest (iRest) and core awareness with Liz Koch. Rahma is trained in Hatha yoga (RYT-200) from South India and also practices Qi Gong and Reiki.
An active part of the local wellness and Vipassana community, Rahma is one of the co-founders of Karachi Sangha, and the annual Karachi Wellness Festival.
Maheen Mohammed
Maheen Mohammed
Maheen Mohammed
Maheen Mohammed
one of the pioneers of teaching secular mindfulness practices in Pakistan. She has been offering retreats, circles, and courses focusing on mindfulness, self-compassion, and connection since 2013. Maheen is passionate about guiding and accompanying people as they learn to meet themselves and their experiences with kindness and curiosity. She remains committed to her own personal mindfulness and self-compassion practices, and considers herself to be a life-long learner. Maheen is also one of the co-founders of the Karachi Sangha and the annual Karachi Wellness Festival. Maheen is a Trained Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) Teacher, a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher after completing the two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP) with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, and a Certified Mindfulness Teacher - Professional Level (IMTA CMT-P) through the International Mindfulness Teachers Association
Dr. Haiqa Nasir
Dr. Haiqa Nasir
Dr. Haiqa Nasir
Dr. Haiqa Nasir
Dr. Haiqa Nasir is a Dental Surgeon by profession, who has been branching out
into her hobbies in between professional studies and clinical jobs. She is an MMA
enthusiast, training in Taekwondo since the age of 14, kickboxing and grappling
since 2018. A feminist learning to incorporate her passion and her profession into
uplifting the women around her and empowering them to explore their
potentials. She conducts Self-Defense workshops that address not only the
physical factors of dangerous situations that women and girls might face but
majorly, the psychological aspects of such scenarios and how to read the
non-physical markers in one's environment.
In 2020 she worked with the Safer Society for Children, in the capacity of Expert
Trainer, to execute training workshops on prevention and awareness of Child
Sexual Abuse in Kasur. She has continued to incorporate the training skills from
the project into her workshops and their curriculum design.
She designs her own Self-Defense workshops and has worked with and conducted
workshops on various public/private platforms such as Olomopolo Media,
Parwaaz by Akhuwat Foundation, DoctHERS.pk, British Council's Women of The
World Festival, Pakistan Strength and Conditioning Association, GiZ, EFU, Shell,
Soorty and many more.
WOW Bites
Hina Baloch
Hina Balouch
Hina Baloch
Hina Balouch
Researcher, Writer, and Political Organizer,
She is politically active and organizing in Shia, Baloch, and Transgender communities since 2010, she has worked in left-leaning and feminist activist spaces in the past, and she is a member of Karachi Bachao Tehreek, which is an evolving & growing movement of demolition affected people & their allies in Karachi. She has worked with various rights organizations in the past including HRCP and is currently working at a transgender community-based organization as a Field Supervisor at Gender Interactive Alliance under the UNDP HIV Prevention Project, and she is also authoring a book on post-partition evolution of Khawajasira Culture in Pakistan.
Kalpana Devi
Kalpana Devi
Kalpana Devi
Kalpana Devi
She is the first Hindu female Additional Advocate General Sindh, she has been elected as the first ever lady Chairman of Hindu-Panchayat in the SubContinent. She is still a Legal Adviser of Hindu Panchanyat Districts Larkana, Qambar Shahdakot as well as she is Legal Adviser Gomi Bai Ladies Club Larkana. Her life story itself is an inspiration for many women. She is a phenomenal writer, poet and a columnist.
Aqsa Tariq
Aqsa Tariq
Aqsa Tariq
Aqsa Tariq
Aqsa Tariq is the Deputy CEO at NCC-RP Group, where she has served as Editorial Head for the Smart Pakistan Insights Network/IDG Wakhan brands, completing 12 years at the company. Under her work sphere is not only engineering local content care for international brands such as CW, CIO, DEMO but also a focus on the trajectory for upcoming new media engines in other subject areas. In 2022, Aqsa Tariq founded GrowElle Labs, a social enterprise startup focusing on showcasing and building communities working with women in STEAM. The startup graduated from the National Incubation Center Karachi in 2022, having won the inaugural Built By Her grant by U.S. Consulate Karachi & Asia Foundation. as well as having secured two other grant projects by the Arts Council of Pakistan, and Lincoln Corners Pakistan & PACC where the team has just recently concluded a project CraftPreneurship in Hyderabad. The enterprise seeks to highlight Pakistani women working in STEAM around the world and in Pakistan, while also providing skills based training to females in marginalized communities.
Nida Butt
Nida Butt
Nida Butt
Nida Butt
Nida Butt is an award winning Theater Director, Producer and Arts Manager. She earned her degree in law, specialising in human rights law. She later received a three year certification as an Arts Manager at the prestigious John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. She set up Made for Stage Productions in 2007– a theater company, and in 2011 co founded the MAD School – a non for profit arts organization aimed at fostering and developing the local arts community. Made for Stage Productions first commercial production CHICAGO got the ball rolling for theater in 2008,and played a significant roel in reviving theater in Karachi. To date her productions have been enjoyed by tens of thousands and have played in Lahore and Karachi. MAD School remains another feather in her cap, as it has realized several notable projects such as Karachi Mubarak & I am Karachi Music Festival, free arts education programs such as Music on Campus & Karachi Stars, Pakistans first acoustic orchestra, Braadri Broadcast and several other performing arts related projects.. Butt has been awarded several awards throughout her career, including the Women of strength award and the Trailblazer award. She is also one of the founding members of the I Am Karachi organization.
Amra Alam
Amra Alam
Amra Alam
Amra Alam
Amra Alam is a celebrated author of over 80 books for children. Her story book “Jhakkad” has been published in 12 different regional languages in the Indian subcontinent. She was also part of Oxfam’s anti-honor killing campaign in 2008, where she wrote stories based on real life accounts of affected families from Quetta. Working with UNICEF, She developed and authored Pakistans’ first “speaking” book for children. The book is used to inform parents and children about the importance of Polio Vaccines. Amra received the Anita Ghulamali Award for Best Story from UNESCO and ITA in 2014. Along with her story writing Amra has penned a number of popular theatre and TV plays
Sitwat Rizvi
Sitwat Rizvi
Sitwat Rizvi
Sitwat Rizvi
As someone who has always been a creative at heart, Sitwat has many milestones under her belt. From being one of Pakistan’s first female wedding photographers to leading the design team at her own interior design and construction firm, to now being the head and heart behind The Commons Karachi - a unique events space that creates safe community experiences for mostly women-led ventures.
Sitwat is also a mom, an avid follower of true crime docs and a sugar fiend.
Laila Raza
Laila Raza
Laila Raza
Laila Raza
Laila Raza is a Karachi-based educationist, and political activist. Besides having a flourishing career as an educationist, Laila is also associated with a political organization supporting the struggle against land displacement. Combining both of these avenues, she has scripted several street theaters highlighting issues like ‘Sexual harassment on campus, ‘Gender Inequality, and many more. Laila recently worked with a team of French journalists from ARTE TV on a project ‘Karachi’s forgotten, mad women’ highlighting the struggles of abandoned women. She has written several articles on women’s issues, education, and art. Her work is published on various platforms, including Express Tribune and Sisterhood, an award-winning digital magazine for women.
Maliha Zia Lari
Maliha Zia Lari
Maliha Zia Lari
Maliha Zia Lari
Maliha Zia is a feminist lawyer and women’s rights activist, researcher and trainer in Pakistan. She holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from School of Oriental and African Studies, London and practiced as an Advocate in Islamabad and Karachi. She currently holds the position of Associate Director at the Legal Aid Society.
Her work focuses on the use of law and the justice sector in enforcing and protecting human rights and in eliminating violence against women and girls. Her work over the last decade has specifically focused on sexual violence and the law through research, training, policy development and legal reform
Muna Khan
Muna Khan
Muna Khan
Muna Khan
Muna Khan is a Lecturer of news writing and reporting. She has worked in print and online journalism since 1995 in Pakistan, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates. She started at Newsline magazine in Karachi. Muna has worked at Dawn, both as an editor of the weekly Review Magazine and later as an editorial writer at Vietnam News in Hanoi, also worked as an editor of Al Arabiya English in Dubai and was a part of the launch team of The Express Tribune newspaper. Recently she worked as an editor at Newsweek Middle East in Dubai. Muna graduated with a Master's in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in June 2017.
Dr. Sara Saeed Khurram
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Dr.Sara Saeed Khurram is a digital healthcare Leader, Influencer and Innovator with the vision to democratise healthcare to all using the power of Deep Tech and the founder of Sehat Kahani. Sehat Kahani—which translates to “story of health” in Urdu—is a social enterprise that helps women doctors provide affordable health care to underserved communities across Pakistan. The company runs small clinics where a visit is much like any other trip to the doctor’s office—except the doctor communicates via a computer screen. Through online consultations, video conferences and information sharing, low-income patients gain access to high-quality care and nurses are on hand to record medical history and perform simple examinations. It’s cutting-edge health care delivered through the power of technology. Today, Sehat Kahani is Pakistan’s largest telehealth company, with 14 centres serving more than 40,000 patients.
WOW Performances & Pop-Ups
Shae Gill
Shae Gill
Shae Gill
Shae Gill
Anushae Babar Gill is popularly known as Shae Gill, is a Pakistani singer and cover-artist, mostly known for her Punjabi duet song "Pasoori" with Ali Sethi. Which has become a popular song in Pakistan and India, her song had accumulated over 103 million views on YouTube and 2.3 million likes so far. She's the perfect choice to open WOW 2023. She and Atif Aslam have done a song together awareness raising and the pandemic and the necessity to get vaccinated.
Zara Madani
Zara Madani
Zara Madani
Zara Madani
Zara Madani has been working with marginalised communities - from the blind girls of Ida Rieu and training Afghan refugee girls and working with a music teacher - and is the only female artist to do so. She has been instrumental (geddit?) in paving a way for voices that do not generally make it to the mainstream.
Gillian Rhodes
Gillian Rhodes
Gillian Rhodes
Gillian Rhodes
Gillian Rhodes is a contemporary dancer who has lived in Pakistan for a number of years. She has the aesthetic sensibility of what would work for a Pakistani audience as well as the international training to create something that moves between contemporary and cultural.
Waleed Sajid
Waleed Sajid
Waleed Sajid
Waleed Sajid
This performance art piece has been created by Walid Sajid. They are best known for 4/4 , ‘I’m here for you’ a site specific ice sculpture and 70/72. Their works are a critical critique on the status quo. It is an exploration of men and women have a dynamic relationship but we need to see each other as allies to build community and continuity. Otherwise we are constantly in a state of flux, rather than building we are breaking. This piece is done by Walid Sajid and Aisha Suria.
Aisha Suria
Aisha Suria
Aisha Suria
Aisha Suria
This performance art piece has been created by Walid Sajid. They are best known for 4/4 , ‘I’m here for you’ a site specific ice sculpture and 70/72. Their works are a critical critique on the status quo. It is an exploration of men and women have a dynamic relationship but we need to see each other as allies to build community and continuity. Otherwise we are constantly in a state of flux, rather than building we are breaking. This piece is done by Walid Sajid and Aisha Suria
Sarmad Khoosat
Sarmad Khoosat
Sarmad Khoosat
Sarmad Khoosat
Sarmad Khoosat is not just a world renowned director but also a champion of women’s stories as showcased by his most recent film 'Kamli' and Joyland. He is a prominent ally and has been a part of WOW Pakistan earlier as well.
Nimra Bucha
Nimra Bucha
Nimra Bucha
Nimra Bucha
Nimra is deeply invested in stories and how they are told, she is a Pakistani actress who has recently gotten the international acclaim she deserves with her role in MS. Marvel is a Pakistani Actress par excellence, her work in Manto as well as Kamli and Churails.
Adnan Jahangir
Adnan Jahangir
Adnan Jahangir
Adnan Jahangir
This is Dance performance put together by Adnan Jahangir. The dance consists mainly of women and narrative elements are strongly guided by Samia Mumtaz’s vision. The Ral Mil aspect of community fit in well with Adnans ongoing work of decolonizing the narrative and stigma around dance, specially the blending of classical dance with contemporary narratives.
Samia Mumtaz a dancer, actor and creative works with Adnan and is also a strong activist of the holistic and feminine aspects of going green.
Samiya Mumtaz
Samia Mumtaz
Samiya Mumtaz
Samia Mumtaz
Samia Mumtaz a dancer, actor and creative works with Adnan and is also a strong activist of the holistic and feminine aspects of going green.
Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan
Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan
Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan
Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan
Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan is a Pakistani khwajasira rights activist, performance artist, and global policy practitioner with a strong interest in post-coloniality, indigenous wisdom, and the intersections of class, race, gender and sexuality. She Instagrams at @unrelentlesslyyours and Tweets at @TMItalks
Naseebo Lal
Naseebo Lal
Naseebo Lal
Naseebo Lal
Naseebo Lal is a Pakistani folk singer who sings primarily in Saraiki, Punjabi, Urdu and Marwari languages. She performed in traditional Pakistani stage shows. She has led the revival of interest in Punjabi folk tunes after performing in COKE studio 14. Within Pakistan the interest for folk content in Local languages has been spearheaded by Naseebo for Punjabi Language.
Muhammad Ahsan
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Muhammad Ahsan aka Lala has been playing music for the last 13 years. He is an active contributer to the Lahore music scene, he was part of the bands like Road Side Bride, Drain, Xarb, Mousiqa and now a permanent member of the band Badnaam. He graduated from NCA in 2013 since than he is producing music and working as a music teacher at Beconhouse Newlands.
Faiqa
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Faiqa
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I have been DJing for the past four years. My journey as a professional DJ began in Karachi in the year 2019 and since then I got more involved in the electronic music culture. Deep House/Minimal House/Melodic house, Ro-Minimal, and Dub techno are my go-to genres when I’m on the deck. My motive is to introduce these unconventional melodies to music junkies in Pakistan. Faiqa Siddiqui while playing her tunes is packed with the right amount of grooviness and energy. Additionally, I am a healthcare professional working in the Public health sector.
Zoya
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Zoya
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Zoya is a young film maker who was also on the team of ‘Joyland’, Pakistans winner at ‘Cannes Uncertain Regard’ As well as Kamli. She has worked with vetrans of the industry as well as on newer productions. Zoya Hassan is a Lahore based filmmaker. Extremely passionate about storytelling, she graduated with a distinction in filmmaking from the University of Karachi in 2018 and since then has worked on multiple feature films. She has a special interest in how space and audio contribute to the story experience. In this the audio components of the stories as well as flood warnings are played in a specially designed space. The spaces in this installation give a different aspect to how the stories are felt, related to and heard. The stories are in different languages as well as different points of view of those who have experienced the devastation of the floods.
Maha Hasan
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Maha Hasan is an Environmental Engineer from NUST with a passion for the performing arts. Trained as an actor from NAPA, Maha has been fortunate to work on a variety of theatre and screen projects, including a titular role in "Antigone" directed by Khalid Ahmed, "Churails" by Asim Abbasi and "Faraar" by Mehreen Jabbar. Alongside her artistic pursuits, Maha also has an interest in Eastern classical music and is currently pursuing vocal training. She aims to continue her artistic journey and explore the art of storytelling in many different capacities.
Horeya Asmat
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Horeya Asmat has earned fame and appreciation by becoming the first female dhol player at the age of 22 years old and student of Gunga Sain and Mithu Sain. She settled a trend in Pakistan for females to play dhol. A sufi female dholi took her art from Darbar of Baba Shah jamal to international stage.
WOW Panels
Quratuain Wazir
Quratuain Wazir
Quratuain Wazir
Quratuain Wazir
Her videos and pictures of getting the neighborhood to evacuate are making the rounds on social media. ADC Wazir visited homes to persuade residents to leave their homes with their families. Last week, it was feared that Nowshera city might experience flooding. Thus, preventative precautions were taken to save the populace. During this process, Qurut-ul-Ain Wazir caught the attention of netizens; pictures and images of her supervising relief work emerged on social media. She addressed the people of Nowshera from the mosque, asking them to evacuate their homes with their families. Wazir is hailed as the face of the civil bureaucracy of Pakistan and the symbol of women’s empowerment
Ayesha Amin
Ayesha Amin
Ayesha Amin
Ayesha Amin
Ayesha Amin is an award winning social entrepreneur and a gender justice activist with over ten years of experience of working with national and international organizations and forums in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), Menstrual Health, and Gender Based Violence. She is the Founder of ‘Baithak - Challenging Taboos’ that works for women’s access to their sexual and reproductive health and rights in rural Pakistan. Baithak uses innovative ways to educate young girls and women on reproductive health. Through its various projects, Baithak has impacted over 200,000 girls and women and trained over 500 young community activists and Lady Health Workers across Pakistan. Baithak’s recent initiative is Gul which is an Artificial Intelligence powered voice assistant in local languages to educate young men and women on reproductive health.
Hira Wajahat
Hira Wajahat
Hira Wajahat
Hira Wajahat
Hira has had the opportunity to work with an array of local and international organisations across various industries: energy, FMCGs, pharma, agribusiness, healthcare, education, media & NGOs/NPOs. Her simultaneous exposure to corporate, government, education and development sectors has led her to believe in the importance of systems thinking and benefits of partnerships for value addition. Hira is also engaged with training and acceleration support for impact businesses. Some of the programs facilitated by Hira include ClimateLaunchpad Pakistan (a global green business ideas competition), Women in Sustainable Entrepreneurship (WiSE), Innovate Energy and Climb Accelerator Pakistan. Hira has also delivered training on impact entrepreneurship and business modelling for organisations such as National Incubation Center (Islamabad), National Incubation Center, Karachi (NICK), i2i, Individualland and Accelerate Prosperity, Pakistan.
Dr. Fazilda Nabeel
Fazilda Nabeel
Dr. Fazilda Nabeel
Fazilda Nabeel
Fazilda has served on the Committee for Water Resource Management Law and Justice Commission, Surpreme Court of Pakistan in 2018. She was also selected as a Lead Pakistan Fellow on Transboundary Water Resources South Asia (2014) and underwent training at the Water Diplomacy Workshop Harvard Law School. Fazilda has consulted for the STEPS Centre at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) UK, UNDP Pakistan, Punjab Government and Lead Pakistan on a breadth of policy areas including groundwater governance, hydro-diplomacy on the Indus and on the Kabul River Basin.
Mahreen Khan
Mehreen Khan
Mahreen Khan
Mehreen Khan
Mehreen Khan studied law at Cambridge, public administration at Harvard; she was a legal and economic policy adviser with the United Nations in Kosovo; and now hosts BBC’s Question Time Pakistan, a 50 minute weekly discussion programme.
Noor Manviwalla
Noor Mandviwala
Noor Manviwalla
Noor Mandviwala
A well-known and highly respected hair and beauty salon in the industry. With a passion for the beauty industry and a commitment to providing the highest quality of services, Noor has built a reputation as a successful and talented businesswoman. With years of experience in the hair and beauty industry, she has honed her skills and developed a keen eye for style and fashion. Her expertise in hair care and beauty treatments has made Toni and Guy salon a go-to destination for individuals seeking to look their best
Arooj Ismail
Arooj Ismail
Arooj Ismail
Arooj Ismail
Arooj Ismail is founder of Ghar Par because she knows the value of salon services that are delivered right at your doorstep. She has extensive experience in the health, wellness, and fitness industriesz. Throughout her career, she has established herself as a strong entrepreneur with a keen eye for fulfilling a need and solving problems. An experienced marketer and crisis manager, Arooj is well-equipped to handle any challenge that comes her way
Angie Marshall
Angie Marshall
Angie Marshall
Angie Marshall
Angie Marshall - CHI Stylist/Educator (Pakistan), Image Consultant, Makeup Artist - Angie Marshall is a multi-talented beauty professional known for her confidence and exceptional skills in interpersonal relationships, visualization, and conceptualization. With a self-motivated personality and proven leadership abilities, she has a natural flair for aesthetics and beauty. As a grooming expert and professional office etiquette trainer, Angie has a deep understanding of what it takes to look and feel confident and polished. Her versatility as a beauty professional is evident in her wide range of specialties, including bridal and model makeup, permanent makeup, hair cuts, styles, color, skin care, and image consultancy. Additionally, she is well-known for her stage, ramp, commercial, and media makeup skills, and her expertise in providing professional and engaging presentations and demonstrations for different brands
Natasha Ali Lakhani
Natasha Ali Lakhani
Natasha Ali Lakhani
Natasha Ali Lakhani
Encouraged and inspired by her glamorous grandmother & South Asia icon Madam Noor Jehan’s distinctive beauty, glamorous style, and larger-than-life aura, Natasha developed a fascination for transformations through makeup, clothes, and styling from a very early age. She went on to pursue her passion on a professional level by completing an extensive professional makeup course from the prestigious JEMMA KIDD MAKEUP SCHOOL in London. Having trained under renowned Makeup Artist, David Horne (previous head of MAC UK and Germany & trainer for Illamasqua), Natasha was able to fine-tune her skills and eye to understand the art of make-up at a much deeper level.
Tanzeela Hashwani
Tanzila Hashwani
Tanzeela Hashwani
Tanzila Hashwani
A highly experienced beauty professional who has made a name for herself in the industry as both a Loreal trainer and salon owner. With extensive knowledge and expertise in hair care and beauty treatments, she is considered a trusted and sought-after trainer by beauty professionals around the world. As a Loreal trainer, Tanzila shares her knowledge and skills with others in the industry, helping them to improve their own services and grow their businesses. As the owner of a successful salon, she has demonstrated her business acumen and her commitment to providing the highest quality of services to her clients.
Haya Fatima Iqbal
Haya Fatima Iqbal
Haya Fatima Iqbal
Haya Fatima Iqbal
Haya Fatima Iqbal is an Academy and two-time Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. She directs, produces, and lenses films across Pakistan. Haya is a Global Media Makers Fellow, an Acumen fellow and a Fulbright alum. She holds a Masters in News & Documentary from New York University. Haya is an Assistant Professor of Practice at Habib University, and also trains people in storytelling and filmmaking internationally. Haya is the Co-Founder of the Documentary Association of Pakistan (DAP), an initiative to make the documentary medium more accessible to people all over Pakistan.
Fatimah Sattar
Fatimah Sattar
Fatimah Sattar
Fatimah Sattar
Fatimah Sattar is a filmmaker from Pakistan who aspires to create stories that are set against her local background with truth. She has written the screenplay of the film Kamli (2022). She has also worked as a colorist for TV and for films such as Zindagi Tamasha. Her other works include short films, Kiran and Masad.
Nirmal Bano
Nirmal Bano
Nirmal Bano
Nirmal Bano
Nirmal Bano - screenwriter. Have written three films. Taught screenwriting and film theory at NCA.
Tazeen Bari
Tazeen Bari
Tazeen Bari
Tazeen Bari
Tazeen Bari is a documentary filmmaker who has been directing and producing documentaries in Pakistan for over 10 years. Her documentaries include “The Valleys Our Ancestors Chose” , “Letters From Death Row” acquired by Al Jazeera for Witness, “Vote for X”, “Qandeel” released by Guardian documentaries and an episode for the Emmy Nominated Vice series WOMAN with Gloria Steinem. Tazeen is the co-founder of the Documentary Association of Pakistan and is also currently developing her first fiction feature.
Hyra Basit
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Hyra Basit is the Program Manager for Digital Rights Foundation's Cyber Harassment Helpline. She has a BSc in Political Science from LUMS and an MS in Media and Production from Indiana University. Hyra previously helped initiate the Helpline project, and is also interested in creating social change through film.
Anusheh Naveed Ashraf
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A Fulbright scholar, Anusheh holds an MPA in Economic and Political Development, with a specialization in Technology, Media and Communications, from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). She has been working within the innovation and entrepreneurship space for the past several years and has a strong skill set within research, product innovation and strategy. She has previously worked as the Head of Digitization, Research and Strategy at U Microfinance, Head of Insights & Accelerator Lead at Invest2Innovate and at UNDP’s Innovation Facility in New York. Part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers network and an Acumen Fellow, she has worked in challenging environments and used to wearing many hats.
Dr. Saiqa Imtiaz Asif
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Prof. Dr Saiqa Imtiaz Asif is the Vice Chancellor of The Government Sadiq College Women University Bahawalpur striving for gender equity, equitable access to higher education and promotion of research. Prof. Asif has the singular honour of being the first and so far only Vice Chancellor from South Punjab. She earned her degrees from the University of Edinburgh and Lancaster University UK. With her belief in continuous education and professional development,
Prof. Asif is currently enrolled in 18 months course on Higher Education Women Leadership Development with Michigan State University.
Prof. Asif is involved in teacher education and conducts workshops organized by the HEC, PHEC, ACU, British Council and USIS. Revitalization of Endangered Languages is an area close to her heart and she has worked with International Foundation of Endangered Languages in this field. Prof. Asif has published extensively on Sociolinguistics, English Literature and ELT in leading national and international journals and has presented papers in several international conferences held in the UK, USA, Tajikistan, Malaysia, Sweden, China, Japan, Egypt, New Zealand and Singapore.
Prof. Asif has been the recipient of many prestigious awards and scholarships which include ODA scholarship for master studies, Commonwealth scholarship for PhD studies, Commonwealth fellowship for post-doctoral research, Fulbright pre-doctoral scholarship, and Star Woman of the Year award in the field of Education.
Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan
Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan
Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan
Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan
Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan is a Pakistani khwajasira rights activist, performance artist, and global policy practitioner with a strong interest in post-coloniality, indigenous wisdom, and the intersections of class, race, gender and sexuality. She Instagrams at @unrelentlesslyyours and Tweets at @TMItalks
Mehlab Jameel
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Mehlab Jameel is a Lahore-based researcher and community educator working to promote and protect the human rights of minorities in Pakistan. She has worked on issues of gender justice in public policy for the past six years. Her research focus is positioned at the intersection of feminist and queer theory and she takes a keen interest in cultural politics of gender and sexuality in postcolonial contexts. She has also co-led various advocacy ventures for developing gender-sensitive policies in Pakistan, including co-drafting and lobbying the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 and provincial policies on the rights of transgender people in Pakistan. Although her work regularly involves building the capacity of human rights activists and organizations on issues of gender and sexuality, gender-based violence and gender-sensitive human rights reporting, her core passion remains working with grassroots groups on issues of sustainable movement building.
Shahzadi Rai
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Shahzadi Rai is a Trans Rights Activist based in Karachi, Rai is currently working as a Field Supervisor of UNDP's HIV Prevention Programme & Violence Case Manager at a transgender community based organization Gender Interactive Alliance and Miss. Rai is also the organizer of Aurat March Karachi & a founding member of Sindh Moorat March (Pakistan's first trans pride march)
Reem Sharif
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Reem Sharif is a Transgender Rights Expert at the Ministry of Human Rights, a Gender Expert, a Trainer, a Motivational Speaker, a member of the National Youth Council under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and laureate of the Youth Excellence Award conferred by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, she was titled as Transgender Woman Trailblazer at the Presidency, and she is Pakistan's first transgender police staff. Reem is also a trained classical Kathak Dancer and performs to express regarding issues of transgender persons.
Sister Julie
Sister Julie
Sister Julie
Sister Julie
Sister Julie, Principal of St Joseph's College - She joined the Catholic congregation. After completing her induction, she joined St. Joseph’s school as a class 4 teacher. Sister Julie served as head mistress of middle school for 3 years, and then as the principal of the senior school for 11 years. She took the initiative to educate street children in afternoon school. Sister Julie's passionately worked with children so that they become someone. The school that started out with 5 children had 180 children by the time she left. She has also worked with orphans and visits the prison too
Ronilla Singh
Ronilla Singh
Ronilla Singh
Ronilla Singh
Experienced Principal with a demonstrated history of working in the Education Management industry. Skilled in Academies, Administration, Day Care, Management, and Training. Strong education professional with a Master's degree focused in History from St. Stephen's College, Delhi. Founder of SOUL
Farieha Aziz
Farieha Aziz
Farieha Aziz
Farieha Aziz
Farieha Aziz is a Karachi-based, APNS-awardwinning journalist. She is a co-founder and Director at Bolo Bhi. She has a masters in English literature. She worked with Newsline from July 2007-January 2012 and taught literature to grades 9-12. She served as an amicus curiae in a case filed in the Lahore High Court in 2013, challenging the ban on YouTube, and is currently a petitioner on behalf of Bolo Bhi in a case filed in the Islamabad High Court challenging government's censorship on the Internet and the powers of the regulator. When she is not raging over Internet censorship or poor Internet connectivity, she chooses to turn to cricket, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and qawwalis for sanity.
Ameera Khawaja
Ameera Khawaja
Ameera Khawaja
Ameera Khawaja
15 years old and a student of Bayview Academey. Along with being a History enthusiast I bake and play Volleyball in my free time
Haajrah Baksh
Haajrah Baksh
Haajrah Baksh
Haajrah Baksh
15 years old and a student at bay view academy and debating along with MUNNING remain as my treasure hobbies
Anaya Shafiq
Anaya Shafiq
Anaya Shafiq
Anaya Shafiq
She is a student at Bayview Academy 10th grade, she's 14 years old and her favourite hobby is learning about global affairs in MUN.
Fawaz Elahi
Fawaz Elahi
Fawaz Elahi
Fawaz Elahi
Hardworking and diligent senior student of Bay View Academy.Keen interest in public speaking and debates, always open to new ideas and viewpoints
Hiba Khan
Hiba Khan
Hiba Khan
Hiba Khan
A certified NLP Master Coach who has been working with teenagers for the past 10 years. She has been associated with schools like Nixor and Bay View Academy and finds immense joy in facilitating her students in identifying their key strengths and offering support while they achieve their goals.
WOW Films and Q & A
Sheema Kermani
Sheema Kermani
Sheema Kermani
Sheema Kermani
Pakistani dancer and social activist. She is the founder of Tehrik-e-Niswan Cultural Action Group (Women's Movement).She is also an exponent of Bharatanatyam dance.She is also a renowned classical dancer, choreographer, dance guru, theatre practitioner, performer, director, producer, and TV actor based in Karachi, Pakistan. She advocates on culture, women's rights and peace issues. Her pioneering contribution to the promotion of culture and theatrical performances in Pakistan since 1978 have led to international acclaim.
Taimur Rahim
Taimur Rahim
Taimur Rahim
Taimur Rahim
Taimur Rahim: is a Director and Producer from Pakistan. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Film and Television from Concordia University in Montreal and later finished a Master’s degree in Film and Digital Image at the
University of Sydney. Taimur’s work includes producing and directing television programs in Pakistan, Australia and the UAE. ‘With Bells on Her Feet’ is his first independently produced documentary.
Ahmen Khawaja
Ahmen Khawaja
Ahmen Khawaja
Ahmen Khawaja
Ahmen Khawaja is a British-Pakistani filmmaker. Following her passion for storytelling and film, she went to work in Broadcast journalism and documentary filmmaking after obtaining her MA in International Journalism in 2013. She has worked for the BBC as a digital journalist for almost a decade. In 2022, her idea for a documentary was short-listed for a mentorship grant by academy-award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy in partnership with the Scottish Documentary Institute. She directed her first documentary, ‘My mother’s daughter’ in 2022.
Mariam Khan
Mariam Khan
Mariam Khan
Mariam Khan
Mariam Khan is a multimedia journalist and producer. She directed her first documentary We Deserve Better in 2020, about New York City’s public housing residents facing systemic racism. The film was screened at multiple festivals in the USA and received a first time filmmaker award. Mariam has also worked as a researcher and producer for numerous acclaimed podcasts (The Rumor, Spinsters, American Prodigy). She recently directed her second documentary, My Mother’s Daughter. She is a Master’s graduate of Columbia Journalism School
Seema Iqbal
Seema Iqbal
Seema Iqbal
Seema Iqbal
I'm Seema Iqbal, an independent film maker and storyteller from Gilgit Baltistan based in the Hunza valley. I graduated in Mass communication at Karakoram International university Gilgit. Furthermore, I'm more interested in film making and documentary production than journalism.I am madly passionate about film making. I have worked on multiple short films as director, cinematographer and editor. Among these short films, I've won 3 film-making awards. I won my first award from Purazam Pakistan where we got the third position in the student category. In the documentary we showed the struggles of a female student in covid. Moreover, the second win was at the Bam -e -duinya film festival in best woman in film category and reconnect film award 2022. To add more, most recently, I've won award from Hunting Patakha pictures grant with collaboration with British council & Scottish documentary institute. Furthermore I've also worked as a correspondent at maati TV from Gilgit Baltistan. Apart from this, my photographed pictures are selected for the world democracy movement. I feel honoured to have worked with people like Sharmeen Obaid chinoy and other great people. It's has been a great journey where I have grown as a person and I've come so far from where I was. All these years of film making have completely transformed my life.
Sehrish Kanwal Khan
Sehrish Kanwal Khan
Sehrish Kanwal Khan
Sehrish Kanwal Khan
I'm sehrish kanwal a solo girl working as citizen journalist and a film maker for last 4 years with my studies in the same field media and communication studies at Karakoram international university Gilgit during this period I worked with different radio channels, web channels, newspapers, magazines and some TV channel as an anchor, compare, drama artist, news caster and Reporter I completed my BS honors degree this year with gold medal. Basically I belongs to district Ghizer Gilgit_Baltistan. The area of my interest is community journalism and environmental journalism I do work on stories which are uncovered by mainstream media the area of my focus is information dark and marginalized communities also working on misinformation and disinformation now. Last year I won citizen journalist award 2022 by media matter for democracy.
Kamila Habib
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Kamila Habib is the co-founder of My Bookshelf, an online library that delivers books all over Pakistan. She is a regular contributor to Dawn Newspaper and co-host of 'The Tea with My Bookshelf', a literary talk show.
WOW Junior - OLO Tatolo
Agha Haider
Agha Haider
Agha Haider
Agha Haider
Agha Haider is a teacher and creative professional. He is the co-founder of Urdu Music channel for kids ‘Music Chacha’. He has also multiple theatre productions for children as well composed songs for the above.
Aamna Saleem
Aamna Saleem
Aamna Saleem
Aamna Saleem
Aamna Saleem is an astronomer who has a postgraduate diploma in Quantitative Life Sciences from the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, and is the founder of Cosmic Perspective, Pakistan's first astronomy education and entertainment social enterprise. She was awarded the first ever grant in Pakistan from the International Astronomical Union's Office of Astronomy for Development to conduct a project called "Development through Astronomy in Pakistan [DAP]" in 2019. The goals of DAP are to provide quality STEM education, reduce gender inequality, raise awareness about the environmental crises, and promote peace and equality in Pakistan. In her free time, she enjoys reading fiction and dabbles in the culinary arts. She will be conducting a workshop on the Stellar Life Cycle, the Periodic Table of Elements, and Resource Scarcity and a lunar observation at WOW Pakistan 2023.
Sarwat Gilani
Sarwat Gilani
Sarwat Gilani
Sarwat Gilani
Sarwat Gilani has worked in numerous television plays, web series, films and graced Pakistani screens for almost two decades. She is also an artist and has participated in various international art exhibitions as an advocate of women’s rights and speaks against child abuse at different platforms nationwide. She is an ambassador for many causes like Special Olympics Pakistan, Indus Hospital health network and UN polio drive. She is a proud owner of her new business venture named Art House, an inclusive after school space for children that encourages creative learning through a variety of programs and activities for differently abled, less privileged and main stream children.
Recently Sarwat’s film Joy Land was selected as an official entry at the Cannes Film Festival 2022 and again her short film ‘Noor’ has been nominated as the Best Health Care Film at the Cannes World Film 2023.
Lala Rukh
Lala Rukh
Lala Rukh
Lala Rukh
Lala Rukh is a social entrepreneur and a science communicator. She is the Founder and CEO of Science Fuse, a social enterprise that works to enhance scientific literacy by curating informal science educational resources & engagements for children, teachers, schools & communities from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds across Pakistan. Science Fuse is inspiring children, especially girls from diverse backgrounds to pursue STEM education and careers. Lalah has been working within science communication for the last eleven years, including at the prestigious Science Museum in London and earlier at Forskerfabrikken - a leading social enterprise working to promote STEM education in Norway. She is also a Malala Fund Education Champion 2020, A Pakistan Acumen Fellow 2018, and an Ashoka Changemaker-exchange fellow 2019.
WOW Baithak
Tabinda Sarosh
Tabinda Sarosh
Tabinda Sarosh
Tabinda Sarosh
Driven by a vision for an equal and just world, Tabinda trained as a clinician and embraced public health and women's rights work as a critical lever towards this goal. She has designed, managed, and overseen initiatives to amplify the voices of women, girls, and communities to exercise their rights and access high-quality services. She has led local, regional and global teams to deliver evidence-informed systems strengthening programs for scale, institutionalizing policy reforms, and creating sustainable public and private partnerships.
She proudly serves as the President of Pathfinder, South Asia, and MENA, overseeing a diverse portfolio of programs focusing on women's health and empowerment and building resilience for climate change.
Madiha Latif
Madiha Latif
Madiha Latif
Madiha Latif
Serving as the Chief of Staff for SA MENA region, Madiha began her journey with Pathfinder beginning 2019, when she joined the country office as Program Manager Beyond Bias. Since her time at Pathfinder, Madiha has led program diversification, playing a key role in business development, program management, and supporting organizational development. With over 8 years of experience, Madiha has led projects that look at intersectional issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and gender. She has contributed to women’s rights legislation, worked with the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women’s and collaborated with Women’s Action Forum, Dastageer, and Aurat Foundation in assisting acid survivors to access justice. For this work, she was awarded the Gender Ambassador Award in 2016 by The Asia Foundation. Additionally, Latif has been nominated for the 120 under 40 Next Generation Leaders in Family Planning for her advocacy and research in FP practices in Pakistan.
Nazish Shekha
Nazish Shekha
Nazish Shekha
Nazish Shekha
Nazish has been with CERB since 2017 and currently heads the research helm of CERB. Her role is to ensure CERB has access to evidence-based research related to responsible business on the private sector. Nazish has an MSc in Poverty Reduction: Policy and Practice (Specialising in Natural Resource Management) from SOAS, University of London and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Sciences from King’s College London. Nazish has previously worked both in the private and development sector, including establishing a Karachi centric skill based volunteering programme and has taught subjects related to environment and sustainable development as adjunct faculty at NED, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and SZABIST
Sameen Akhund
Sameen Akhund
Sameen Akhund
Sameen Akhund
Dure Sameen Akhund has joined our Research team as a Research Associate. She has done her MSc in Sustainable Development (specialization in Gender and Social Inequality) from SOAS, University of London and her Bsc (Hons) from LUMS in Social Sciences, giving her a deep understanding of sustainable development ideas, institutions, policies and networks. As a result of her education and diverse work experience which ranges from the banking sector to education and entrepreneurship, she possesses the necessary critical thinking skills required to help for-profit organizations adopt business strategies and activities that meet the challenging needs stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future. Sameen brings a broader understanding of the environmental, economic and social issues impacting modern businesses and can help assist companies to better manage their risks and opportunities that both market and non-market conditions create. Sameen has previously worked as a Banker, a Gender Consultant and has also taught in the graduate programme at SZABIST University.
Rajaa Bokhari
Rajaa Bokhari
Rajaa Bokhari
Rajaa Bokhari
Rajaa leads CERB’s initiatives for inclusive development, focusing on improving gender parity in the private sector of Pakistan, as well as creating livelihoods through decent workplaces with secure employment, safety protocols, and a diverse workforce. Prior to CERB, Rajaa was a Project Engineer in the field of Robotics and Wireless Communication; besides working on implementation projects, she also led process improvement and employee development programs. In 2019, she came onboard as a Research Assistant for KULNA, a UAE-based initiative by Zayed University to create a sustainable food cycle suitable for the country’s desert climate. Additionally, she volunteered her time as a Community Organizer in Dubai, collaborating with nonprofits to create free educational and mental health programs for Pakistani community schools. She holds a BSc. In Electrical Engineering from the American University of Sharjah
Safia Hussain
Safia Hussain
Safia Hussain
Safia Hussain
Safia Hussain has joined the team at CERB as a Programme Coordinator for Sustainability and Climate Change. She holds an MA in Politics, Governance and Public Policy from the University of Sheffield, and a BSc. (Hons) in Social Development and Policy from Habib University. Safia has worked on projects related to youth entrepreneurship and education as well as sustainable development. Moreover, she also studied Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley where she focused on the relationship between social work and various government policies, particularly those that relate to gentrification, drug abuse and policing in various societies. Safia is a strong advocate for women's education and runs an initiative called 'Hadaf.' In her free time, Safia enjoys reading with a cup of coffee or catching up with friends.
Fireside Chat
Jibran Nasir
Jibran Nasir
Jibran Nasir
Jibran Nasir
Standing for what you believe in can have unseen consequences. Men have the opportunity to be strong allies for women by not only supporting gender equity and rights, but publicly and consistently advocating for it. However, while it is widely acknowledged that patriarchy hurts women and girls, also damages men and boys - not just when they are allies but across the board. How can young men navigate this minefield? What does it mean to be a male ally today? Jibran Nasir in conversation with Palvasha Shahab .
Palvasha Shahab
Palvasha Shahab
Palvasha Shahab
Palvasha Shahab
Palvasha Shahab is an Advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan. She is a social justice lawyer, researcher and lecturer, particularly interested in discourses on gender, labour and citizenship. who teaches history and politics at the Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts. She is the former Executive Director of Pakistan Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights and the Legal Aid Foundation for Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault.
Wow Participate
Amtul Baweja
Amtul Baweja
Amtul Baweja
Amtul Baweja
Amtul is an Actor, improvisor, Theatre artist and social activist. She has a huge following and can not only draw a crowd but keep it entertained and well informed
Wow Art Exhibition
Sarah Rajper
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Sarah Rajper is a visual artist, curator and graphic designer based in Islamabad. She received a Bachelor’s of Design (with Honors) in Visual Communication Design from National College of Arts in 2020, minoring in curation and painting. She has exhibited her work physically in Islamabad as well as virtually in online shows. She has worked in various fields, including curation and exhibition management, art direction, mural design, music artwork design, graphic design, editorial illustration and human rights activism. She was one of the curators for Lahore Digital Arts Festival 2021 and is a creative producer and curator for the festival in 2023. Her art, design and curation work include projects with UNDP, National Assembly of Pakistan, Embassy of France in Pakistan, National Commission for Human Rights Pakistan and The Juggernaut.
Bushra Saleem
Multidisciplinary Artist
Bushra Saleem
Multidisciplinary Artist
Bushra Saleem did her B.Arch from Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and is currently doing her MA in Design from Goldsmiths, University of London. Her practice includes research, illustration and animation. Since 2020 she has worked with playground at Habib University on a gender and mobility research called Her City and Her Stories, along with illustrating for the Digital Rights Foundation and owning a small business called Noontime Stories, to name a few.
Duaa Khan Kundi
Visual Artist
Duaa Khan Kundi
Visual Artist
Duaa Khan Kundi is a visual artist from Lahore, Pakistan, who through her works explores themes of nostalgia, hope and the unknown. Her work is at times accompanied by or based on poems she writes herself that follow the same themes.
Emil Hasnain
Multidisciplinary Artist
Emil Hasnain
Multidisciplinary Artist