KHOJ | To Seek
Design Research Residency
Khoj was a remote Design Research Residency initiated to encourage a culture of practice based research in design academia. Often design practice and its teaching is oriented towards the market. While this is a highly important segment of the design practice, it tends to dominate curriculum, structures and pedagogy, tending to marginalize discourse around socio-cultural relevance, ecology, sustainability ethics, etc. while also excluding other areas of design interest or practice the faculty might have. Khoj aims to facilitate faculty who have an orientation towards research based design practice enabling them to bring their projects and interests to fruition. Proposals invited fell under the following themes:
1. Ecology and sustainability
2. Materiality and making
3. Historical and contemporary design practices/interdisciplinary practice
4. Design/ed pedagogies
There were two cycles of the residency, each 3 months and 2 months long. During the residency, grantees worked on research based creative projects of a diverse nature while being mentored by a pool of academics and practitioners. We hope the outcome of the Khoj – Design Research Residency will be able to provide the stimulus to expanding conceptions of design research and its application and creating a better profile for the local design academia in national and international design domains.
Tazeen Hussain
Project Lead
Hussain is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Design at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. As a researcher, Hussain has presented her work at national and international conferences, and published it internationally as well. Her current interests include the re-examination of Design Education, its conception and evolution, in the Pakistani context, whilst exploring the possibilities of design as an active contributor to the socio-cultural and political landscape. Hussain received a Bachelors degree in Communication Design from Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, and a Masters in New Media and Society from the University of Leicester, UK.
Erin Sledd
Sledd, a professional academic and artist, works at the intersection of the humanities, art, and technology. She is deeply fascinated by the nature of form and structure, of transformation and permutation. Her research and creative interests span the connections between text and image, virtual and material structures, labyrinths, fairy tales, metamorphoses, and hybridity. Having taught in Pakistan and the United States, Sledd has contributed to the Justuju Faculty Development Program and served on the review committee of the Khoj Design Research Residency.
Farah Mahbub
Monitoring & Evaluation
A professional photographer for over 30 years, Farah Mahbub has established an international reputation as both teacher and practitioner of the fine art photographic medium. She joined the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in 1997 as a faculty member, where she has been ever since. Under her tenure, photography has evolved from a single class into an undergraduate minor, and finally into a major media subject in the Communication Design Department.
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