2012

The Second THAAP Conference – 2011, was an occasion for the celebration of the city with the theme, ‘Portrait of Lahore’. The response this time was even more encouraging as 53 scholars responded with written abstracts, 28 of which were selected for presentation. These have now been put together with an addition of a paper on Post-Colonial Lahore and published as ‘Portrait of Lahore – Lahore nu Salam’.

The Third THAAP Conference – 2012, to be held on November 7, 8, 9 and 10, for which 90 scholars from 38 universities worldwide have submitted abstracts, signifies its acceptance and the worldwide interest it has generated. That intellectual input will also be brought together in a book for dissemination. Generation of knowledge and its dissemination remain the twin aspects of the THAAP endeavor. 

THAAP is a forum of academics and professionals dedicated to improving the state of education, particularly in the field of Arts, Architecture and Culture, where multidisciplinary discourses take place and diversity thrives; our particular focus is on teachers for they will, and can, lead the way and give us hope for a richer future – a future which is not stagnant with a unitary thought but carries the variety of a thousand flowers. The question is how to implement it? 

THAAP recognizes the intrinsic link between history, tradition and culture and acknowledges that our present-day belief, value framework system, and world-view, which constitutes the culture of a society or community is shaped by the historical past. Thus, THAAP aims to reassess and revisit history and create scholarship and knowledge from the people’s perspective and disseminate it to a wide audience. This knowledge is generated through a series of talks by eminent and young scholars and an annual conference. Sajida and I, architects that we are, are proud to be teachers, and it is the teachers who impact the future. They can make it or destroy it. So far, in Pakistan, teachers of history, art and architecture have lacked a platform where healthy intellectual interaction can take place. To provide such a platform, is the objective of the Trust for History, Art and Architecture in Pakistan, THAAP. Through a series of such discussions, we hope to start a debate that will be fresh and productive and lead us to the future. There is no better way to learn, than to learn from each other.