Mariam Saleem Farooqi

Mariam Saleem Farooqi

Mariam Saleem Farooqi is a Heritage and Culture Management Specialist from Pakistan. She specializes in improving safeguarding practices for intangible cultural heritage, integrating cultural knowledge into classrooms and museums, community engagement for heritage protection, and disaster risk management for heritage. She has worked with the UNESCO Field Office in Islamabad, and her professional experience includes research work with the British Council, curatorial work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and field archaeology at the World Heritage Site of Aphrodisias in Turkey. A Fulbright alumna, she holds a Master’s degree in the history of Art & Archaeology from New York University, along with a Bachelor’s degree in Humanities from the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

2:00 PM -3:00 PM Baithak

Sunday 2nd Feb

Women as Guardians of Living Heritage With Mariam Saleem Farooqi

Location: Back Gallery The period between 2007 – 2015 was a time of deteriorating security across Pakistan, including major urban centers. As terrorist attacks increased in frequency, the urban landscape changed in response. Walls rose higher, barbed wires got sharper, and public activities such as concerts and festivals began to shrink away. Culture became the collateral damage in this war. In this baithak, we will explore the impact of this loss on women. Women who are creative professionals, as well as women who are consumers and connoisseurs of culture. In our conversation, we will unpack what impact it had on youth to have lost access to public cultural activities, and what women did at the time (and after) to rebuild and regain safe spaces for creative and artistic expression. We will share stories of perseverance and resilience, which highlight the significance of art, culture, and living heritage for a healthy, thriving society, and the role women have played in safeguarding cultural memory and living heritage.