We are really glad to introduce our new collaboration partner in Pakistan: The Citizens Archive of Pakistan!
The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to cultural and historic preservation operating in Karachi and Lahore. CAP has focused on the tradition of oral storytelling in Pakistan emphasizing the importance of narratives in a dialogue on national identity. CAP passionately shares Pakistan’s stories with educational outreach programs and thousands of visitors who attend their festivals and exhibitions, all with the aim of making CAP the foremost museum and heritage center of Pakistani history, photography, culture, literature, and historical documentation demonstrating the spirit of Pakistan from the perspective of a citizen.Keeping the aims in mind, CAP has conducted multiple projects such as the Oral History Project, Exchange for Change, Outreach Tours, Humans of Karachi, Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Lollywood Project and many more.
The Oral History Project (OHP), lying at the heart of CAP, aims to record recollections of the early days of Pakistan, to provide an alternative perspective to official narratives. The stories emerging from the project, the old photographs, and the personal experiences of the varied people of Pakistan provides inspiration for CAP’s exhibitions and events. The project also works on archiving and preserving various records, such as letters, newspapers, refugee cards, official correspondences and passports. Since its inception, CAP has digitized over 63,000 photographs and collected over 1,800 oral histories.
Humans of Karachi is inspired by Brandon Stanton, who started the Humans of New York. It aims to create a photographic census of the city of Karachi in a creative manner. With people from all over the world calling Karachi their home, there exist many complex and challenging stories, which the CAP wants to share.
We will collaborate with the Oral History Project Team in Lahore. Its members are helping us to schedule interviews with people who are willing to share stories on how the conflict between India and Pakistan affected their personal life. We are really thankful for all the help and support we received from CAP and cannot wait to meet the team and interviewees in Lahore!
More about: