Written by: Farheen Abdullah
Posted on: September 19, 2019 | 
Boat Photobooth (photo credits to the writer)
Keeping up with its tradition of organizing an interactive exhibition every few months, The Dawood Foundation (TDF) Ghar’s latest exhibition focuses on the fishermen of Keamari, their lifestyle, modes of transportation, and the problems they face as the port undergoes extensive structural and industrial change. The exhibition was installed at TDF Ghar, a 90-year-old house which has been restored by The Dawood Foundation as a heritage space, but also a community center for the people of Karachi.
The purpose behind each exhibition is to allow visitors to get to know more about their city in a fun but also thought-provoking way. “Karachi ka Keamari”, too, allows visitors insights into the lives of the people operating in some of the oldest communities in Pakistan. Spread across three rooms, “Karachi ka Keamari” uses dioramas and interactive displays to keep children and adults engaged in the changing face of Keamari Port.
The first room welcomes the visitors with folk tunes traditionally sung by the fisherman. On the other side of the room, there is a photo booth with an artificial boat, and fishnet spread out to give the illusion of water. Oars and life jackets have also been set up with this display. Another model of a dingi boat sits in a corner, which the fishermen make out of water drums, and use for their solo missions into the vast harbor. The visitors can also learn about the history of Keamari, and the villages which surround it.
The second room is perhaps the most interesting of them all. Here stands an exhibit called ‘Container Crane’, which offers a contrast to the traditional display in the first room. The exhibit has been designed to resemble the cranes which load and unload cargo on the Karachi Port on a daily basis. Through the exhibit, one can momentarily act as a crane operator, and even compete with friends and family to see who stacks the most toy containers in one go.
Visitors Playing the Container Crane Game(photo credits to the TDF Ghar on Facebook)
Meanwhile, the walls of the room display information about the architecture around the area, including the heritage sites which people come across while driving from Karachi to Keamari, as well as the historical places present on the island of Keamari. These include the Native Jetty Bridge, Mules Mansion, Manora Lighthouse, and Keamari Clock Tower.
Moving to the last room, visitors are welcomed with a television screen which plays interviews with Keamari locals, not just the fishermen. Here, the audience can get first-hand knowledge of the experiences of the residents of Keamari, and the problems they face on an everyday basis. These include a lack of infrastructure (including clean water), poor health facilities, and large-scale unemployment due to discrimination. Additionally, their livelihood is being threatened by the increasingly unpredictable monsoon season, which prevents them from being able to regularly catch fish and feed their families.
Rowboat and Ship Helm (photo credits to the TDF Ghar on Facebook)
When most people think of Keamari, they think of fishing, boat ride, sea breeze, and recreation. However, the island is a lot more than a tourist spot, and the villages of Baba Bhit and Shamspir have stories associated with them that are thousands of years’ old, which need to be heard and documented. To truly empathize and understand the needs and lifestyles of the fishermen from these villages, it is important to visit the places with the intention of understanding their lives and their motivations, as opposed to marginalizing them in one’s vision of Keamari.
“Karachi ka Keamari” aims to start a conversation about these fishermen, by providing people a holistic view of the island and its inhabitants. It allows visitors to explore the various aspects which are associated with Keamari, both traditional and technological, in critical and informative ways. The exhibition began on 25th August and will be up at TDF Ghar till the end of October for people to visit.
Karachi Ka Keamari poster
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