Pedagogy as Practice | An artist talk with Karachi LaJamia
VIEW EVENT DETAILSWednesday, 12th February, 4pm onwards

In a global order where progress implies economic advancement, certain developmental indices get prioritized over others. In South Asia, this is especially visible in the approach towards building global cities that prioritize and promote the best of infrastructure, education, economic growth and a certain quality of life to enjoy all that these cities have to offer. These aspirations, however, involve significant changes for the land, the people who’ve called it home and their livelihood as a direct consequence of “developmental initiatives”. Across the subcontinent, this can be seen in the displacements that have pushed indigenous people to the margins, as architecture is wielded as a tool of power within the urban imagination of development. These rapid changes within our lived environment have also exacerbated the pace of the climate crisis, making this a particularly pertinent issue.
Localizing these concerns within the city of Karachi, Pakistan, Shahana Rajani and Zahra Malkani came together in 2015 to form the artist-duo Karachi LaJamia. They were cognizant of the changes within and on the outskirts of the city at that time, and wanted to build solidarities for indigenous communities affected by developmental projects. Over the years, they’ve built a nomadic space to understand ongoing struggles of resistance through pedagogy and experimental research, taking Karachi LaJamia to various public spaces within the city of Karachi, and beyond. Through their site-specific courses and a research-oriented practice, Rajani and Malkani bring to the arts a new domain of interdisciplinary-ness. They seem to ask: what could be ways in which education and knowledge-production are used to unpack socio-political realities?
Karachi LaJamia’s inherent focus on research and pedagogy as art practice, their ability to engage in political critique, and the versatility in using public spaces to bring projects to life, make their work particularly important within the contemporary arts ecosystem in South Asia. They have been named the recipients of Asia Society’s 2025 Asia Arts Future (South Asia) Award in recognition of their growing, evocative and substantial art practice within the region. Close on the heels of the Asia Arts Game Changer Awards India in February, the artist duo will be in Colombo to talk about their work in-depth, as part of an artist talk at KALĀ South Asia.
The session will offer an introduction to the interdisciplinary practice of Karachi LaJamia, their interest in knowledge production and the work they do in foregrounding the lives of indigenous communities in Karachi for wider audiences. The presentation will be followed by a moderated conversation with Meghal Perera, researcher-writer based in Colombo.
Perera brings her own perspective of having worked as an urbanist in Sri Lanka to the conversation, juxtaposing Karachi LaJamia’s work in Pakistan with similar issues of displacement and ongoing struggles from within Sri Lanka. The moderated session will unpack together the many layers of thinking through and working with local, indigenous communities and what their struggles mean for city dwellers, policymakers and heads of institutions at the helm of development.
About Karachi LaJamia
Karachi LaJamia was founded in 2015 by artists Shahana Rajani and Zahra Malkani as a nomadic space moving outside the institution to explore new radical pedagogies and art practices. They have facilitated a series of site-specific courses and collaborative research projects to explore the intersections of militarism, climate crisis, indigenous dispossession, and knowledge production in Karachi. Their courses are developed in close collaboration with local organisations and activists to build solidarity with ongoing struggles around land, water and development in the city. They have experimented with a range of research and pedagogical methods, resulting in publications, video works, scholarly texts, browser-based artwork, syllabi, workbooks and an expansive archive of fieldwork.
About Meghal Perera

Meghal Perera is an interdisciplinary researcher with interests in urban infrastructure, public space and critical mapping. She is part of The Packet, an artist collective based in Sri Lanka as well as WETLAND, a three year project exploring new forms of collaboration, supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. She currently works as a researcher for Colombo Urban Lab, an interdisciplinary think-tank focusing on sustainable and equitable cities. She holds an MSc in Urbanisation and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
In collaboration with

Event Details
02 Glennie St, Colombo 00200, Sri Lanka