Category: Blog

The Mughal Empire holds a great significance in Pakistan, being the last Islamic Dynasty to rule this part of Asia before the British occupation in the 19th century. Unfortunately, much of what was created in this era was undermined as part of the British Divide and Rule policy, and this ridicule has been internalized and preserved in how Pakistan remembers its history today.

It is this very lack of historical “ownership” that affects our post-colonial psyche. Forever feeling overshadowed by their shiny neighbours, constantly embarrassed to be Muslim, Pakistan lives its life like a surly teenager who refuses to take a haircut because they’re afraid their acne will show. Our ancestors are “not cool like the West” and “India got all the good stuff” is the running sentiment of the nation. Nothing we do is good enough.

The goal of the Lahore Fort Digitization Project is to reclaim Pakistan’s historical narrative by re-examining our history and re-cataloging our historic sites, starting with the Lahore Fort.

The architecture housed in this Fort today represents the evolution of the Mughal Empire in the contributions made by four successive emperors in the dynasty. It represents the golden age of Islamic rule across Central and South Asia and how their individual philosophies have contributed to the arts and culture of modern day Pakistan and India.

The Mughal Emperor Akbar rebuilt the original Lahore Fort on a grander scale when he established Lahore as the capital of the Mughal Empire in 1566. A contemporary of the other great Mughal Forts in Delhi and Agra, this fort is equal in scale and design and house such architectural gems as the Shish Mahal (Palace of Mirrors), the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) and the Naulakha, a marble pavilion studded with delicate pietra dura using semi-precious stones.

Perhaps most significant is the location of the Fort. In the historic city of Lahore, this Fort forms one side of a quadrangle, facing the iconic Baadshahi Mosque, with a Hindu Temple and a Sikh Temple placed between them. This shows how these Islamic emperors respected the right to personal religion, so much as to embed their beliefs into the layout of the capital of the Mughal Empire.

The Mughal Emperors lived fascinating lifes and represented varying degrees of fidelity to the religion. Yet, even across this range, each Emperor was consistent in their basic family values, respect for other cultures, and their unwavering support of the arts and education.

In the era of the Mughal Empire, learning and culture were placed at the forefront. Some say that the literacy rate across the empire was as high as 90%, based on the number of people who could read Persian, Sanskrit, Hindi or Arabic. Perhaps unsurprisingly, mathematics was a universal skill across the subcontinent. However, all of these statistics were nullified after colonization, as the British did not consider non-English speakers to be literate at all. It was, sadly, this erasure of existing achievements that started the decline of the Muslim populations in India.

The Lahore Fort was at the heart of the Mughal Empire for almost 150 years. Rediscovering this monument could provide us with new insights into the workings of the Empire that created such a lasting impact in the region. By reconnecting this past to our present, we can hope to start repairing the negative image of Muslims and Islam that exists today.

“Sometimes going back to the beginning is the only way.”
― Rachel Hauck, Once Upon a Prince

After two decades of meandering through various art media and exploring a number of philosophical avenues, I seem to have come full circle back to a project that has suddenly evolved into a whole new animal. But before I can explain the what, I have to explain the why:

I come from a culture that is, in many ways still trying to define itself. From the initial days of living the dream as the Land of the Pure to the almost immediate drop into harsh reality, Pakistan lost critical momentum in establishing the ideals for which it was created when we lost our Quaid-e-Azam (Father of the Nation). The subsequent years of experiencing extreme political interference from the Soviet Union and the US created a space where a number of competing factions attempted to gain a foothold, further destabilizing this fledgling dream.

Having been raised outside of Pakistan, my teenage self struggled to find something great about Pakistan. My parent’s families were incredibly patriotic. They talked about the sacrifices that were made by millions, to be part of a country where Muslims could be safe and free. They dreamed of a country that lived up to the ideals that govern our religion: of education and logic and peace.
They worked every day to uphold the values and live up to the ideals that Pakistan was made for.

Yet outside of my home, all I saw around me was division and self-centeredness. Everyone judged each other on the basis of religion, sectarianism, economic status, beauty… it didn’t matter what. As long as you were a Pakistani in Pakistan, you were not good enough. This misery was further compounded by our history books and by the western media, which either couldn’t tell us apart from neighboring India, or, just called us backward terrorists. Torn between wanting to believe my parents and the prevalent negative narrative, I internalized the negativity. I figured my family was one of the few delusional families left that still tried to justify the creation of Pakistan.
Everyone else knew better, so should I.

Then, years ago, I wrote and illustrated a book that explored how the architecture of the Lahore Fort represented a visual evolution of the Mughal Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Obviously, this took me into new realms of research, beyond the cursory few paragraphs that cover the Mughal Empire in any schoolbook. My parents, (eternally supportive of our education), planned a trip to Lahore and arranged to grant me access to restricted areas of the Fort, so that I could see for myself, the scale and grandeur that my culture had left behind.
It was a seminal experience for me to realize how impactful this empire was, and how much they revered art, music and education. How their philosophies upheld the teachings of Islam and represented the kind of respect that should be shown to those from other beliefs.

The Mughal Empire holds a great significance in Pakistan, being the last Islamic Dynasty to rule this part of Asia before the British occupation in the 19th century. Unfortunately, much of what was created in this era was undermined as part of the British Divide and Rule policy, and this ridicule has been internalized and preserved in how Pakistan remembers its history today.

In my talks with the guides and authorities tasked with managing this monument, I learned that the British Armies had looted and ravaged all the monuments of the Muslims when they took power. They stabled horses in the royal courts and gouged out jewels and semi-precious stones from the sides of buildings. They wanted to destroy us, and our people not just physically, but emotionally, and wipe away any claims to greatness that we might have.

As many of our monuments from this era fall into further disrepair, our youth and public are further removed from their connection to the past. I was lucky, I had parents who were educated and dedicated to my success. They taught me to question the norm and instilled in me the principles and the strength to believe in myself. It took me years to crystallize this into a clear theory, but I got there.

It is my own experience which makes me realize how important these monuments are. The lack of historical “ownership” and ignorance is what allows external negative portrayals to settle into the psyche of our youth. This increases incidences of extremism, lawlessness, a lack of empathy for their fellow man and an extreme lack of self-pride and civic sense. Without positive reinforcement, it’s easy to live down to everyone’s expectations and teens and young adults are the first to fall prey to such manipulations.

The goal of the Lahore Fort Digital Preservation Project is to reclaim Pakistan’s historical narrative by re-examining our history and re-cataloging our historic sites. Using 3D digital visualization technology to do this, we aim to preserve and (virtually) restore the monuments of the Lahore Fort in a medium that will be attractive and accessible to all, especially our youth.
For a population with an average age of 21.4, using an interactive gaming method to communicate with them seems obvious, almost mandatory.

By bringing this project to Pakistan, I plan to train students of animation in the tools of virtual creation while simultaneously teaching them to understand and explore our past with an unbiased eye. By bringing CG colleagues with me, I hope to forge academic and professional relationships between Pakistan and the US. And, by publishing this, I hope to create a safe neutral space where Muslims (and non-Muslims) can learn more about these Islamic rulers, free of the preconceptions of western narratives.

Now, more than ever, we need to create content that humanizes our culture and history. We need to create bridges to prevent the disturbing “otherization” that is occurring around the world and find ways to help cultures communicate. We need to actively undo the damange that was done to us and rediscover the best of us.

Cultural representation is fast becoming the Topic of the Century.

Everywhere we look, we see calls for representation, inclusivity and diversity in media. This is such an important movement in our history because it is making people of all cultures aware of the invisible price they pay for not participating in a global conversation.

To be fair, many cultures have not been allowed a seat at the story-telling, history-writing table. In fact, much of what we know about many cultures is knowledge assimilated and filtered through the lens of their colonizers and detractors. And only recently has it occurred to many of us to start questioning the sources that we gain information from.

In fact, that is the primary crux of this post, because as we start to explore how to bring other races and cultures into the public eye, we see a growing backlash against filmmakers representing cultures that they themselves do not belong to.

First, let’s be clear: Representation is important, because the world is made up of more than just a single race and that should be visible in all forms.

However, it is important to remember that there is more than one valid point of view in the world. The way Representation falls into Appropriation is when one cultural point of view is co-opted and used to advance the theories and concepts of another culture. Sort of like how Colonialism works.

Take, for example, Terrorism. Every decade since WW2 has brought us a new set of shows, movies and media that have held up and vilified individual cultures for a variety of reasons. The Germans are anti-semitic (or just evil incarnate), the Russians are conniving commies, the Japanese are crazed Kamikazes intent on world domination… so on and so forth. Since 9/11, it has been the Arabs and the Muslim world being represented as misogynist haters of all things good in the world.

This means, that even though each of these cultures is/was “Represented” in media, their culture is appropriated in a manner that makes them look bad, and promotes the prevailing theory of the time that the entire race is evil. Let’s remember that one man’s terrorist is very likely another man’s hero, and that these labels are entirely subjective.

• 

Does that mean that a Director cannot make a film about anything other than their own demographic? Dear Heavens NO! It also doesn’t mean that Directors cannot criticize any culture other than their own either!

The real issue with Appropriation is not about who makes it, but rather, about how arbitrarily they Represent the other culture.

And it might be easy to say “hey, there are a bunch of movies/shows/stories out there that completely vilify white culture too”. Except for the fact that there is such a high volume of work that represents such a variety of white culture and ideologies, that any negative representation is tempered by the many works that add nuance and compassion for said culture.

This is true of Indian cinema too, which is an industry that regularly produces the highest number of films per year. There is such a high degree of representation of Indian culture in the world, it is hard to imagine Indians being vilified with a shallow label.

To add insult to unfair representation; artists and filmmakers from underrepresented cultures are often encouraged to create work that reinforces existing negative stereotypes. It is tough to pitch a “heartwarming coming of age story” in an alternate culture without being told that there isn’t really a market for such rosy drivel. No, because nobody is willing to imagine that a happy story can exist in the burnt tundras of desert dwellers or that happiness can exist in an imperfect world. So the only artists who get funding and global attention are the ones who trade on their identities for a shot at fame. After all, any representation is better than none, right?

That is the insidious nature of economically-dependent art. Toiling away in obscurity can feel like a jail sentence, and after a while, it becomes easier and easier to adapt your vision to start appealing to the masses. Yet, artists must realize they are not just representatives of culture, they are responsible for educating society of the ideals that they want to live up to. Artists can build bridges and bring hope and empathy into the world. But if we bind them with restrictions in the name of progress, even in the name of diversity, we are doing them a disservice.

It doesn’t matter who makes the art, it matters how they make it. Do they care about the culture they represent? Do they know enough about the culture to call it out? Is it fair to use their art to tar and feather an entire culture? When it comes to underrepresented cultures, Art has to bring perspective to a conversation, not rely on sad, one-line cliches and unremitting criticism.

There is a lot more to Appropriation than just the terrible misrepresentation of cultures in mainstream media and in art. But this is not a topic that can be summarized in a nutshell. We see Appropriation across the gamut, in fashion, design, music and literature. It is insidious in how quietly it can sneak up on a person, and the best way to fight it is to expand the conversation and move it past the limited description of who made it. Let’s include the why and wherefor and really start looking at whether our art is helping or hurting another.

The videos are starting to come up, and the art work is building. I’m super excited and at the same time I feel like I should be producing more. I’ll get there, I always do, but it’s interesting how the productivity graph is never a nice, predictable line.

Some of this must be from having grown up in Pakistan. I can’t remember a time when my life wasn’t interrupted by “real life”. Things like, sitting down for a geography exam, only to have it interrupted by an emergency evacuation because a bomb threat was called in. Or, trying to meet a deadline when monsoon season hits. Two days of rain and 5 days without electricity can really hamper productivity, and yet, Karachi manages to prevail against all odds. Karachiites prevail, in spite of the broken infrastructure, the violence, the heavily intertwined social lives that demand that you stop and care for your loved ones no matter what.

The idea that a person can work “no matter what” is an unrealistic and soul-destroying concept, because we are not robots, and no amount of discipline can make us that way. The trick here, is to find that organic way of working so that all the work that needs to be done, gets done.

This is what I’ve been forced to discover since Oct 1st. Good news though, I’ve actually still managed to do things. Bad news, I haven’t recorded it as well.

But that’s okay! Nobody can do everything all the time. Staying realistic is the best way to ensure productivity through an extended period of time. And, breaks are important.
As quite a few people have reminded me, I’ve been going a 101 mph since 2012, and I need this sabbatical. Not only to kickstart my work towards a new set of research goals, but also to reboot my creative self so I can be enthusiastic and not crazy.

If history is written by the “winners”, then where do the “losers” go to discover their past? Identity cannot be created/felt/experienced without a true understanding of one’s past, and if the past is brutally slanted against you, your only recourse is to internalize that loathing and damage yourself in every way possible.

As a teenager, I lived through one of the bloodiest periods of Pakistani history. Sectarian violence was rife, internal divisions were tearing the country apart, and 90% of the population was illiterate and closed to reason, logic and even common sense. In 1996, more people died in Karachi than in Bosnia and Kashmir combined. The kind of impact it made on the psyche of the country as it witnessed this trauma is still largely unrecorded. The impact of this era is still visible in the behaviour of our people today.

My artistic career has been marked by multiple moments that have revealed small parts of this puzzle to me at different times. As a pre-college teen, I wrote a 4,500-word dissertation (with accompanying illustrations) that led me to research one of the most influential Dynasty that ruled the sub-continent in the 4 centuries leading up to British occupation. As a senior in college, created a fantastical story based on a pivotal war between India and Pakistan, that is often mischaracterized in history as a loss for Pakistan. It was there that my research led me to speak to people who had actually lived that history, and it made me realize how long our history books could be. From interviews with people who actually fought on the frontline, to talking to people who had been government officials at the time, or witnessed firsthand the unfolding of said war, I was able to piece a compelling story that was made more exciting when I added a dollop of magic into it.

Fast-forward through a decade of my career progression: I moved to the US, earned a terminal degree and became a professor of animation. It was in my tenure-track progress that I was approached to help create a story for our local Seneca Nation based in upstate NY. We were commissioned to create an authentic representation of their story of creation, so that their youth would not lose touch with their religious beliefs. The Iroquois Creation story was created with characters designed to resemble actual tribes-members, with sound actors who were Native Americans who spoke with a “pure” accent.
The soundtrack was composed by an award-winning Native composer and featured live-action segments of actual dance rituals.
The ICS went on to show in almost 20 festivals, with 6 wins as best animation and many, many accolades for the soundtrack.
It was this film that reignited my previous confusions/angst about history, and the process of recording it. It occurred to me that my own mixed feelings about being a Muslim woman from Pakistan may have something to do with how my country is perceived and portrayed in the world. It also occurred to me that I may be in a unique position to actually change my conflicted self-narrative if I were to actually participate in the writing of the history of my people and my country, like the Haudenosaunee did with the Iroquois Creation Story.

My research led me to the writings of multiple scholars, most notably Sheryl Brown Graves, in the Journal of Social Issues:

“Television programming provides information about social groups in two ways: by inclusion and by
exclusion. When diverse groups are included, television content offers specific examples of the
physical, psychological, social, cultural, and economic characteristics of each group. However when
groups are absent from the television curriculums there is implication that the missing groups are
unimportant, inconsequential, and Powerless. Both types of information can contribute to the
development, maintenance, and modification of children’s thoughts, feelings, and actions towards
racial/ethnic groups.”

The idea that childrens’ programming can essentially direct racial and ethnic divisions and sow the seeds of future dissent is scary. Not only are “mainstream” races taught to be suspicious of the “unusual”, but the non-represented classes are taught to inherently see themselves as the enemy, or “the others” too.
In an attempt to consciously combat this disparity in “pre-programming” ideology, I co-created a project called The Character Mosaic Project. The goal was simple: create a variety of interesting and authentic characters of color, build them and distribute them to young and independent filmmakers, thereby enabling the less technically inclined to tell their animated stories. We felt that making these characters would allow artists with fewer resources to present their ideas and essentially help to even out the playing field. It may also spark other, bigger production houses to put more care into how they build their own casts in future films.

Yet, as I worked on Character Mosaic, I found myself impatient to write my own story and talk about my own culture. I’d spent so long waiting for a Pakistani filmmaker/writer/artist to present us in a way that shows us in a good light… and I suddenly understood what my professional mentors have always told me. “Make the film you want to see.”

Well, I’m not going to wait for another filmmaker/artist to come along, I’m not a helpless princess waiting to be rescued. I want to embrace my life, my culture and my history, to see my warts, but also to see my own beauty, because, I think, that is the only way I can truly thrive.

So I’ll save my own damn self. And maybe encourage others to follow suit!

•