Written by: Haroon Shuaib
Posted on: October 22, 2024 | 
Zain Mustafa at Altit Fort, Hunza, with a group of tourists
According to Zain Mustafa, prominent Pakistani architect, educator and cultural heritage advocate, cultural legacy is what defines the true identity of Pakistan as a nation and it goes back thousands of years. It was precisely with this in mind that a decade ago, he started to invest his time and energy in creating a cultural think tank: The Indus River Valley Institute (IRVI). As he embarked on this journey, he found his true calling.
This realization of a need for defining Pakistan’s identity, which according to Zain is much more layered and complex than often understood, came to him while he was teaching at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) in Karachi. He was irked by the fact that a majority of his students were oblivious to Pakistan’s incredibly rich and diverse pre-1947 history. According to Zain, “Pakistan’s identity cannot be understood in isolation because this region has always been the gateway to the orient. Traveling through the passes, from North to South and vice versa, there has always been a search along the river Indus for warm waters and through the oceanic silk route to the world beyond. River Indus through times has nurtured settlements. People who came here as nomads settled along its banks. Even Alexander the Great could not but be mesmerized by this area; from Uch Sharif to Lasbela, and I believe that if he could have, he would have stayed here.” It was this very fascinating evolution of history that Zain wanted to inspire others with, learn about, celebrate and be proud of. What started off by designing tours for university art students, was soon attracting foreign diplomats, ambassadors, history enthusiasts and schools. Zain was happy to welcome people on this voyage of discovery.
Zain Mustafa at the Sehwan Sharif shrine in Sindh with a group of pilgrims
Born in 1971 in Karachi, Zain Mustafa had a talent for the arts from an early age. After finishing his formal education in architecture in 1993, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Environmental Design from Parsons School of Design New York, he went to Columbia on a full scholarship to pursue a Master's degree in Education. This program at Columbia, focusing on new technologies in architectural education, equipped Zain with a unique perspective that integrates technology, design, and heritage. It also motivated him to explore architecture in the context of its people and its purpose.
A bit of a vagabond himself, Zain has travelled widely across the globe. Celebrating the complexity that exists in the diversity of historical lineage, and this non-single nation identity, is where Zain found the answer about his own identity. “From Sheedi community of Layari to Kalash tribes of Chitral, they all have overlapped their histories and we can’t pick one over the other as our uniform Pakistani identity. Finding common grounds and relevancies amongst these diverse identities, is what in itself can define our nation’s identity. It is time for us to decolonize and do away with this singular linear narrative of a western historian about who we are,” he reflects.
Zain briefing the visitors about the Baltit Fort in Hunza.
Today this is precisely what IRVI continues to do. Today the Institute’s concept of Edutourism goes beyond organizing educational tours to cultural and historical sites. Participants are also guided and encouraged to engage firsthand with Pakistan's heritage and challenge the colonial narratives about the region’s past. Zain hopes to promote amongst his fellow travelers a deeper, more nuanced understanding in this process. With trips from ancient archaeological sites such as Mohenjo-Daro, Taxila and Harappa, to the Sufi shrines of South Punjab and architectural splendors of Mughal era to the culture rich North and South, these tours are carefully curated to provide participants with insights into the innovations of ancient civilizations. Through these immersive journeys, IRVI weaves a rich tapestry of human heritage for those who care to stop and listen. The Institute has developed a wide network of master craftsmen, living museums of ancient wisdom, who often remain hidden or overlooked. For Zain, these master craftsmen, are the prized keepers of our collective memory with their millennia-old lineages a treasure trove of cultural knowledge waiting to be unearthed, celebrated, and passed on to future generations.
Zain likes to challenge his co-travelers to get involved with their own discoveries of historical and cultural nuances through different activities.
IRVI is not only carrying out its own research and documentation but also frequently publishing reports, blogs and YouTube virtual video tours to reach a wider audience. The Institute undertakes heritage site community engagements and builds skill of guides through training. IRVI holds quarterly Webinars & Annual International Conferences and has introduced the innovative model of on-site pop-up classrooms as part of its Edutours. “Otherizing ourselves from greater sub-continent including Nepal and Bangladesh and Myanmar and Sri Lanka and even India minimizes our scale. With the onset of the digital era and Marshall McLuhan’s global village, the young generation is developing a new kind of flawed understanding of their identity. We need to pull out our own authentic voice but the fact that we have started to talk about finding our own identity is a historic moment in itself and we need o scale it up. We need to find alternative channels to get these kinds of conversations going and that is exactly what I am trying to do through IRVI, and even for myself it is a continuing journey of self-discovery,” Zain says.
Zain Mustafa on an Edutour in Makli Necropolis, one of the largest funerary sites in the world.
Beyond edutourism, Zain has also been involved in several collaborative heritage projects. One of the institute’s most significant collaborations is with NED University and the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, focusing on the preservation of the cultural heritage of the Mohanna fisherfolk at Manchar Lake. His architectural work in Pakistan has also been widely recognized. His notable projects include the design of National Incubation Center (NIC) Karachi, a cutting-edge innovation and entrepreneurship center, and the redesign of Karachi Zoo. The latter project reflects Zain’s commitment to animal welfare and conservation, incorporating animal-centric design principles to create a more humane environment for the zoo's inhabitants. In addition to his architectural work, Zain is actively involved in several community initiatives. He is also a prolific writer and thought leader, contributing to various publications on architecture, heritage, and cultural identity.
Zain is a firm believer that the real intimacy of truth and wisdom will come from these other layers of extracting data, away from books and modern channels of knowledge. “The whole genre of history and cultural identity is at a time where we need to redefine words. We need to restructure the nomenclature. Those undercurrents of people’s narrated history are very much alive and available for us to tap into. There is a watershed of that kind of wisdom across the country but we need to be patient and invest time to listen to it and wait for it to come to us at its own pace.”
Zain Mustafa at Rohtas Fort near Jhelum with a group of tourists.
Zain Mustafa's vision for IRVI is for it to be a self-sustaining institution to further the discourse that has been started by him, getting more and more people connected to this ancient mindfulness, and through that reflective study of our own cultural roots, reveal Pakistan’s broader 7,000-year-old identity.
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