Wednesday, 17th February 2010 | 6:30 pm

Artificial volcanoes? Ships creating clouds over the oceans? Forests covering the Sahara Desert? These sound like crazy ideas, but they are actual proposals from top scientists for cooling Earth – approaches known as geoengineering.

The planet’s temperature keeps rising, driven by humanity’s increasing emissions of greenhouse gases. But the world isn’t making much progress on tackling the root problem – emissions from power plants, cars, buildings, and more. So scientists are increasingly talking about radical ideas of how to cool the planet, by blocking some of the sunlight hitting Earth’s surface, or through planet-scale projects to suck up greenhouse gases and lock them away.

But some of these approaches could have serious side-effects, such as disrupting the monsoons that more than a billion people in Asia and Africa depend on. Hacking the planet like this is a risky way of dealing with global warming. Do we understand the planet well enough to tinker with it like this? Who decides where to set Earth’s thermostat? And how do we regulate these technologies?

About Mason Inman

Mason Inman is an American journalist, currently based in Karachi, who covers science and the environment for National Geographic News, New Scientist, Science, Nature, and other publications. He also blogs at Failing Gracefully.

Date: Wednesday, 17th February, 2010
Time: 6:30 pm
Minimum Donation: Anything you like. Please support our vision of intellectual poverty alleviation by donating generously.
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. No reservations.

Sunday, 14th February 2010 | 6:00 pm

Mohammed Hanif, author of A Case of Exploding Mangoes, will introduce the authors after which Bina Shah, H.M. Naqvi, Kamila Shamsie, Musharraf Ali Farooqi, and Nafisa Rizvi will read from their works. The readings will be followed by a discussion led by the judges of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2010; Muneeza Shamsie, Dr.Pablo Mukherjee, and Dr. Stephanos Stephanides.

Bina Shah is the author of five books: two collections of short stories, ‘Animal Medicine’ and ‘Blessing’, and three novels: ‘Where They Dream in Blue’, ‘The 786 Cybercafe’ and ‘Slum Child’, published in Italian as ‘La Bambina Che Non Poteva Sognare’. She lives in Karachi.

H.M. Naqvi has worked in finance and taught creative writing at Boston University. His debut novel, ‘Home Boy’, has been published by HarperCollins. Presently he resides in Karachi.

Kamila Shamsie is the author of 5 novels, most recently ‘Burnt Shadows’ which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and is being translated into 21 languages. She was born and grew up in Karachi, and now lives in London.

Mohammed Hanif’s first novel ‘A Case of Exploding Mangoes’ won the Commonwealth Prize for first novel, the inaugural Shalkti Bhatt prize and the Corine Award in Germany. It was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and James Tait Black Memorial Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker. Hanif works for the BBC and is working on his second novel.

Musharraf Ali Farooqi is the author of ‘The Story of a Widow’ which was longlisted for the 2010 IMPAC-Dublin Literary Award. He has translated the Urdu classics ‘The Adventures of Amir Hamza’, ‘Hoshruba: The Land and the Tilism’, and the forthcoming poetry collection of Afzal Ahmed Syed. He is currently the Urdu Publisher at Oxford University Press.

Nafisa Rizvi started her career in advertising. It took her over a decade and a diploma in advertising to figure out that she was in the wrong profession. She then took to teaching and is presently assisting A level students with art theory courses. Nafisa recently published her first novel, The Blue Room. 

This event is sponsored by the regional (Europe and South Asia) Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2010

Date: Sunday, 14th February, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. No reservations.

Opening Date: Thursday, 4th Feb 2010 | 5:30 pm

“Based in part on my experiences living in Karachi, Fever Dreams is a non linear narrative of the imprints this city has left on me, from monsoon power cuts to winter riots. It is the tale of a sojourn through deep waters, a subterranean world where fantasy and memory, myth and reality combine, and the possibility of escape, of finally coming up for air.
Reem Khurshid

Reem Khurshid was born in 1986. A self-taught artist, she divides her time between painting and creating customized apparel for fellow sneakerheads. In 2009, her work was published in CURVY, an annual art book celebrating one hundred established and upcoming female illustrators from around the world, and exhibited at the book launch held in Sydney, Australia. As resident artist/co-founder of indie netlabel Mooshy Moo, she has also produced album art for local acts Dalt Wisney and Mole. Fever Dreams is her first exhibition in Karachi.

After the opening, there will be a music performance by Mole accompanied by Reem Khurshid painting live on canvas.

Time: 7:30 – 8:30 pm | Cover Fee: Rs. 100

The exhibition will continue until Wednesday, 17th February 2010

Opening Date: Thursday, 4th February, 2010
Time: 5:30 pm
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F | Faraar
Address | Map

Sunday, 31st January 2010 | 6:00 pm

Zehra Nigah is one of Pakistan’s most prominent and loved poets. She burst onto the literary horizon as a child prodigy in the 1950s and has consistently been hailed as the one voice worth listening to on the mushaeraa circuit.

In an interview conducted by Aasim Akhtar, Zehra Nigah says:

A great poet is one who can form his own school of thought and inspire younger people. Political acumen is essential to great literature. How can a sensitive writer be oblivious to his surroundings?

Zehra Nigah has published three volumes of poetry, Shaam ka Pehla Taara, Waraq, and Firaq. She says she has never felt the urge to be prolific, to write when there is nothing to say. Yet every word that emerges from her pen, every syllable that she speaks, carries the spark of a luminous intelligence. (Some excerpts from the Hindu Literary Review)

We are truly grateful to Zehra Apa for always readily agreeing to come to T2F and to Dr. Asif Farrukhi for moderating the evening.

Date: Sunday, 31st January, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm
Minimum Donation: Anything you like. Please support our vision of intellectual poverty alleviation by donating generously.
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. No reservations.

Saturday, 30th January 2010 | 6:30 pm

Shades of Prey, a 52-chapter murder mystery set in Karachi, is the culmination of the project, A Novel Experience, which began at Generation’s School, Karachi, in 2005, with the intention of enhancing the writing skills of young people. Its authors are currently at college at a variety of institutions in Karachi, Lahore, and New York. Four of the six authors will be present at the book reading.

“Shades of Prey’s universal appeal lies in its being a gripping page-turner with an intriguing twist in the tale. But Shades of Prey is more than that. The backdrop is recognizably Pakistani. As the action moves across the urban landscape of parks, shopping malls, fun-fairs and suburban communities and enters the workings of newspaper offices, schools, police stations and television channels, it explores the functioning of our society.”

Lynette Viccaji – Teacher and Coordinator, English Literature
Convent of Jesus and Mary and The Lyceum, Karachi

The novel will be available for purchase at T2F’s Bookshop. If you already have a copy, bring it along and get it signed!

For more information and to view excerpts from the novel, please visit www.shadesofprey.com

Date: Saturday, 30th January, 2010
Time: 6:30 pm
Minimum Donation: Anything you like. Please support our vision of intellectual poverty alleviation by donating generously.
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. No reservations.

A Novel Experience
Readings from Shades of Prey and conversations with the authors of Pakistan’s first collaborative novel
Saturday Jan 30th 2010 | 6:30 pm

An Evening with Zehra Nigah
Readings and anecdotes featuring one of Pakistan’s most loved poets
Sunday Jan 31st 2010 | 6:00 pm

Our society is politically gridlocked, says Sophiya Khwaja, a Rawalpindi-based artist, whose latest works, “Forced Gridlock” opened at Faraar, the Second Floor (T2F) Friday evening. Her paintings, a contemporary mix of her print making, training, draughtsmanship, and miniatures, presented a dialogue on how people, while living in their limited bubbles, at some point or another, are affected by other social spheres …

Read the Full Report in The News

The inhabitants of the 21st century are observing “forced gridlocks”, especially those living in the third world countries: a major chunk of the youth feels they cannot do anything on their own; politicians feel there is no way out of the political mayhem; and economists are worried about the recession that has engulfed their minds …

Read the Full Report in The Daily Times

If you’d like to say a few words about Asim or share memories, videos or photographs, please let us know before Monday so that we can accommodate as many people as possible.

In Complete Solidarity!

T2F: mariam@peaceniche.org
Citizens Archive of Pakistan: citizensarchive@gmail.com

Date: Monday, 18th January, 2010
Time: 6:30 pm
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Sunday, 17th January 2010 | 6:30 pm

Bindiya Chamkay Gi is a short documentary-narrative focusing on the life of Bindiya Rana – an outspoken member of the Khwaja Sira (or Hijra) Community in Karachi. The film traces a day in her life and portrays the legal, social and cultural challenges that her community faces in present-day Pakistan. Bindiya Chamkay Gi is Ragni Kidvai’s first complete film, and is part of an academic thesis-project focusing on the Khwaja Sira Community in Karachi.

After the screening, Bindiya will talk about her new organization, GIA, and the work they are doing in the areas of transgender rights and social justice.

About Ragni Kidvai

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Ragni Kidvai has been politically active from an early age. Starting with a high school internship at a video-production house, she has been using the media as a tool for social justice work ever since. Ragni went to Hampshire College in the US to study Political Philosophy with a focus on Identity Politics and Video Production. Ragni now lives and works in New York.

Date: Sunday, 17th January, 2010
Time: 6:30 pm
Minimum Donation: Anything you like. Please support our vision of intellectual poverty alleviation by donating generously.
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. No reservations.

Saturday, 16th January 2010 | 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Animation and Visual Effects is arguably the most rapidly evolving industry in the world. From Star Wars to Avatar, visual effects have come a long way. This fascinating session, conducted by Rehan Zia will demonstrate how computer generated characters and visual effects are combined seamlessly with live action film footage to take you through magical environments, realms of mystical creatures, and the ends of space.

Digital Multishot Photography techniques and their application to computer generated images will also be discussed.

About Rehan Zia

Rehan Zia is an amateur photographer and Demonstrator in Computer Animation and Digital Effects at the prestigious National Centre for Computer Animation, Bournemouth University, U.K. He was responsible for establishing and heading the Department of Media Studies at Iqra University before leaving for the UK to pursue a Masters in Digital Effects. He is also a moderator for www.cgexpanse.com, the Pakistani Digital Artists Forum.

Rehan is starting his PhD (By Practice) in the same discipline and wants to contribute as much as possible to academia and the local industry during the course of his research.

Date: Saturday, 16th January, 2010
Time: 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Minimum Donation: Anything you like. Please support our vision of intellectual poverty alleviation by donating generously.
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. No reservations.

Opening Date: Friday, 15th Jan 2010 | 5:30 pm

“My work deals with unwelcome external interferences in an individual’s everyday life. More recently, these interferences have evolved into those of a rigid, frustrated society that is found flourishing within our permanently gridlocked political and economic system. Through my work, I illustrate the individual’s varying reactions to these interferences, where these reactions range from acceptance to disconnection and even rejection”.
Sophiya Khwaja

Born and raised in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sophiya attended the National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore, where she selected Printmaking as her field of choice. After three years of intensive etching, she pursued a two year Printmaking Masters program at the renowned Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) that she attended on a Fulbright Scholarship awarded in 2004. Her focus through the duration of her MFA at RISD was also primarily on etching.

Back from RISD, Sophiya now resides in Islamabad, Pakistan, with her husband and is currently exhibiting work both in Pakistan and the United States. She is also a visiting professor of Printmaking at NCA.

This exhibition marks the inauguration of “Faraar”, a new PeaceNiche project created especially to showcase the work of emerging artists, designers, and photographers.

The exhibition will continue until Sunday 31st January 2010.

Opening Date: Friday, 15th January, 2010
Time: 5:30 pm
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Zeerak Ahmed & Shoaib Rizvi

Zeerak and Shoaib spent the summer painting after finishing their A Levels from Karachi Grammar School in 2009. They got in touch with us looking for an opportunity to exhibit their work. We liked what they showed us and agreed to a show, and also asked them if they’d like to paint a mural on one of our walls.

“We got to work, completely overwhelmed by this opportunity, and at the end of three painstaking weeks we were finally done. The mural is mainly a comment on the world through our eyes. It is loosely based on the sufi idea that listening to music is a spiritual experience which can bring people closer to God, leaving behind the physical world fraught with catastrophe and urban squalor.

As we have both had training in classical eastern music, we feel very strongly about the power of this art form. The mural explores the concept of paradise, and our individual attempts to reach paradise while still living in the physical world. Being raised in an urban setting, we have become aware of the disappearance of vibrant colour from the cityscape that is now turning into various shades of gray. This mural was our little attempt to bring back color to the city and in doing so bring back color to our lives.
 
We thoroughly enjoyed the freedom we were given by the T2F team, who not only trusted us amateurs, but also enthusiastically welcomed our psychedelic palette and non-traditional style. Probably the best start that we could ask for as aspiring artists.”

Zeerak Ahmed is currently at Hiram College, USA, pursuing an undergraduate degree with an Art major and Music minor.

Shoaib Rizvi lives in Karachi and is going to be studying medicine in London in 2010.

Uzair Akram

Uzair Akram is a graphic artist living and working in Karachi. He spends his days working as a Creative Director at RGBlue Communications and the rest of his time drawing MyndMaps.

“The mural at the entrance of T2F is the first time I did a MyndMap for an organization as opposed to an individual. It took me 12 hours. Love & Peace”.

Ammad Tahir

Ammad is a graduate of Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture with a major in Painting and a minor in Print-making. Since 2008, he has been actively involved in art projects, residencies, group shows and mural painting.

“I was delighted when T2F offered me a wall in the new space. The balcony, which is also a smoker’s area, was the perfect place for me to use my imagination and draw something close to my realities and emotions. I had been thinking about these unusual creatures that originate from the sea. These carnal characters, stung by jelly fish, have entered a trance-like space and become people of pleasure. They are alive and are celebrating the darkest realities of life, but nothing in them is human”.

I finally stumbled upon Checkout by a cool little company called Sofa. I knew them as the developers of Disco, a disc burning application which had gotten a lot of flak from the old-guard Mac community for being nothing but eye candy. But anyway, Checkout looked fantastic and did everything we needed and more. However, the US$ 400 price tag was daunting so I wrote a beseeching note to the Sofa guys and told them about PeaceNiche and what we were planning to do and requested a discount. One of the founders wrote back immediately and offered a 30% discount. I was thrilled. The next day he wrote again and said that he and the other boys had discussed our case and wanted to give us a 50% discount. I was gob-smacked.

Checkout is a beautiful piece of software with all the polish of a Mac app. Beneath the prettiness, lies a robust point of sale application, packed with features, reports, and functionality that a retail environment needs. I especially love the Import Products feature that works like a charm. Very useful when you need to input hundreds of book titles.

Moving on … T2F 2.0 is on two floors and we’re having trouble with one Point of Sale station. So, I wrote to my Sofa friends again to ask about a second license and whether there were any chances of a discount :D The company has now been acquired, is much bigger, and they have a dedicated support team so I had no expectations. I got a response immediately and the support gentleman said we could get a second license at 50% off, just like the last time. I just couldn’t believe it. So, I stayed up a couple of nights and did some graphic design work worth $200 and paid for another license of Checkout yesterday. Super excited. I still cannot get over how supportive the Sofa team have been and will remain devoted to them forever.

If anyone would like to see a demo of Checkout and how it works on the network and with receipt printers, please let me know. I’d love to show it off :)

Thank you Sofa!

Sunday, 3rd January 2010 | 6:00 pm

The nine Rural Support Programs featured in Mahmood Hasan Khan’s book have helped organise over a million rural households into participatory organizations with nearly two million members. Discover the stories of ordinary men and woman who have made a demonstrable difference in their communities through participatory rural support programs.

About Mahmood Hasan Khan

Mahmood Hasan Khan is Emeritus Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University in Canada. He has been a keen student and researcher of different aspects of agricultural and rural development, particularly in Pakistan, for over 40 years. The author has published thirty-five articles in professional journals and seven books, and co-authored five books. His well-known titles are: The Role of Agriculture in Economic Development (1966); The Economics of the Green Revolution in Pakistan (1975); Underdevelopment and Agrarian Structure in Pakistan (1981); Climbing the Development Ladder (1998); and Agriculture in Pakistan (2006). Mahmood Hasan Khan has worked as a consultant for international organisations, including OECD, ILO, FAO, IMF, UNDP, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Islamic Development Bank, and several public and private sector organisations in and outside Pakistan.

This event is brought to you by Oxford University Press

Date: Sunday, 3rd January, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. No reservations.

Friday, 1st January 2010 | 6:00 pm

“By the Long Partition my purpose is to emphasize that 1947 was only the beginning of what was necessarily a long, drawn-out process of dividing a territory and its people into two distinct nation-states. Although there has been a lot of argument over why partition took place, we have not paid enough attention to understanding the historical process of partitioning itself.”

Join us at T2F to find out more about Vazira’s views on the making of modern South Asia

About Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali Zamindar

Vazira is interested in cross-border and interdisciplinary histories for rethinking a divided South Asia, as well as the politics of violence and its impact on history-writing itself. Her first book, The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories, was published by Columbia University Press in 2007, and Indian and Pakistani editions of the book came out in 2008. At present she is working on the history of archaeology on the northwest frontier of British India, on the borderlands with Afghanistan, and her two sons are globe-trotting with her to archives in South Asia and Britain.

Zamindar moved from the Netherlands to Brown in 2006, and teaches courses in the history of colonialism and nationalism in South Asia, including the Partition of 1947 and Gandhi.

This event is brought to you by Oxford University Press

Date: Friday, 1st January, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. No reservations.

Salman is the ultimate diplomat and answers questions very gracefully :D I managed to capture just a tiny clip during the extensive Q&A session:

Check out Salman’s post on his Science & Religion blog, “Irtiqa”, where he writes about fielding questions after public lectures.

Jehan Ara has written a detailed post about her experience at the first Science Ka Adda session held at the new T2F. Read all about it on her blog, “In the Line of Wire”.

Thank you Salman, for being so generous with your time and for making science come alive. I wish everyone could have teachers like you.

After a long, hard wait — eight-and-a-half-months to be precise — t2f is back. Version 2.0, as the owners and founder members prefer to call it, is located a few blocks away from its previous site, and from all accounts, is an upgrade on the last version.

Ahmed Yusuf Reports for The News

View a slideshow of photographs taken on T2F 2.0’s opening day
Photos and Text by Eefa Khalid and Mariam Anwar

I was never very good at Physics and Geography. My favourite subjects were Maths, Chemistry, History and English, and because I found these subjects interesting, I was good at them. I think I would have enjoyed Physics and Geography too but for the teachers I had, who were never able to bring the subjects to life for me.

Read Jehan Ara’s Full Post on “In the Line of Wire”

In a seeming challenge to those working in Pakistan’s media, Karachi’s, ‘The Second Floor’ cafe offered up a screening of, ‘Network’ – a 1970’s classic which offers a satirical glimpse into the dark, unseen fantasy world of those who run prime time news in the U.S.

Jahanzaib Haque Reports for The Friday Times

1. Make a cash or cheque donation

Address: 10-C, Sunset Lane 5, Phase 2 Extension, DHA, Karachi-75500, Pakistan
Phone: +(92-300) 823-0276 (Sabeen Mahmud)

Cheques should be made out to “PeaceNiche”

2. Make a donation through PayPal

http://www.t2f.biz/donate-via-paypal/

3. Wire Transfer your contribution

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 142608
ACCOUNT TITLE: PEACENICHE
SWIFT CODE: JSBLPKKA
BANK ADDRESS: JS BANK LIMITED SHAHEEN COMPLEX M.R. KAYANI ROAD KARACHI
PHONE: +92-21 111-572-265

4. Mail a cheque to a PeaceNiche volunteer in the United States

Aassia Haq
Re: PeaceNiche and T2F / Sabeen Mahmud
6600 Gray Wolf Drive
Plano TX 75024

Clearly indicate PeaceNiche | T2F on the envelope or cheque and please provide a phone number for any cheque issues.

A big shout-out to everyone who has contributed. Every penny counts and your support means the world to us.

The last few months have been hideous. A number of times, I very seriously considered kissing the idea of T2F goodbye, cutting my losses, and walking away. But every single day, since T2F 1.0 closed, someone or the other would call or e-mail or send a text inquiring about T2F 2.0. Each time that happened, I’d get back into DO OR DIE mode. So, even though I growled at many of you when you’d ask that dreaded question, i.e. “When will T2F reopen?”, in my heart, I was thrilled that you cared enough to ask.

I went into quiet mode and stopped sending e-mails and writing blog posts because I didn’t want to whine and complain about how everything that could possibly go wrong was going wrong. There’s enough crap in everyone’s lives as it is. I wanted to wait until I had something positive to say.

So, finally, after all the uncertainty and chaos, we have a date: 22nd December 2009. We started shifting into the new space 5 days ago and still have lots of stuff to figure out. Inspired by the web apps community, we are in beta testing mode for now but hopefully we won’t take 5 years to come out of beta like Gmail did :D

We don’t know what our opening hours will be, we don’t have KESC-supplied electricity in the building yet, we’re in debt up to our ears, we’re exhausted, but we’re alive, mad as ever, and raring to GO!

Can’t wait to see everyone again!

Tuesday, 22nd December 2009 | 6:30 pm

There is perhaps no instrument other than the telescope that has so changed fundamental perceptions about humanity and its place in the universe. Galileo, 400 years ago, pointed his telescope skywards and saw an imperfect universe – with blotches on the Sun and craters on the Moon. But his telescope also opened up a universe of objects invisible to the naked eye – such as the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. This was only the start of our journey. Since the time of Galileo, our telescopes have unveiled newborn stars shrouded in gas and dust, planets around other stars, gaseous nebulae containing the building blocks of life, comets crashing into planets, and a universe consisting of hundreds of billions of galaxies.

In this exciting Science Ka Adda session, Salman Hameed will highlight key discoveries, from Galileo and Herschel to the Palomar Observatory and the current Hubble Space Telescope, that have had the biggest impact on the way we look at ourselves and construct our place in the universe.

About Salman Hameed

Salman Hameed is an astronomer and Assistant Professor of Integrated Science and Humanities at Hampshire College, Massachusetts. Currently, he is working on understanding the rise of creationism in the contemporary Islamic world and how Muslims view the relationship between science and religion. He is also working with historian Tracy Leavelle at Creighton University to analyze reconciliation efforts between astronomers and Native Hawaiians over telescopes on top of sacred Mauna Kea in Hawaii. His astronomy research focuses on star formation in spiral galaxies. He has taught “History and Philosophy of Science & Religion” with philosopher Laura Sizer, “Science in the Islamic World” and astronomy courses such as “Introduction to Astrophysics” and “Search for Life in the Universe”.

Visit Salman’s Science & Religion Blog: Irtiqa

Date: Tuesday, 22nd December, 2009
Time: 6:30 pm
Minimum Donation: Anything you like. Please support our vision of intellectual poverty alleviation by donating generously.
Venue: PeaceNiche | T2F
Address | Map

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. No reservations.

Directions from Sunset Boulevard

• From Sunset Boulevard, on the way to Korangi Road, turn right at 8th Sunset Street (the last traffic signal after the Defence Library before hitting Korangi Road)
• Take the second left at Sunset Lane
• Take the first right at Sunset Lane 5
• The building has a red brick exterior and there is a Utility Store right opposite

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]]> http://www.t2f.biz/t2f-2-0-location/feed/ 0 http://www.t2f.biz/home/ http://www.t2f.biz/home/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:36:02 +0000 admin http://t2f.biz/?p=9001 PeaceNiche, a not-for-profit NGO, registered under the Societies Act of 1860, is committed to becoming a vibrant centre of Pakistan’s developing civil society. PeaceNiche is a social entrepreneurship project that blends the best of business practice with the non-profit urge to make meaning rather than focusing purely on the bottom line.

The Second Floor (T2F) is the first project of PeaceNiche. A community space for open dialogue, T2F features:
• Community Space for Conversation and Discourse
• Platform for Debates, Discussions, Talks, and Creative/Performing Arts
• Gallery Space for Emerging Designers, Artists, and Photographers
• Bookshop
• Coffeehouse
• Mentoring Space

Raison d’être
PeaceNiche/T2F was born out of a desire to enact transformational change in urban Pakistani society. At one end of the spectrum, capitalism is booming and the new religion is consumerism. Those interested in the betterment of lives tend to focus on feeding the needy, educating the poor, and building hospitals.
PeaceNiche/T2F wishes to focus on the issue of Intellectual Poverty Alleviation without which no form of social change is likely to take root or prosper. Political will is largely absent in the middle and upper classes owing to a variety of reasons, ranging from apathy to disillusionment. Young people, who are touted as future leaders lack awareness, access to role models, and the desire to move out of their comfort zone. It is essential, if our society is to move forward in any meaningful manner, that the youth and middle classes be engaged and shaken out of a dangerous state of lethargy.
PeaceNiche/T2F has its eyes set on the urban city dweller who has had little or no access to culture, including art, music, literature, and film and certainly no platform for creative expression and discourse. By sensitizing the urban elite and middle classes to global issues that affect humanity, through lectures, discussions, talks, and new media interventions, PeaceNiche/T2F aims to build political will, thought leadership, and a genuine desire to make a difference.

The PeaceNiche Board
PeaceNiche is governed by a group of visionary individuals, including writers, poets, activists, musicians, designers, bankers, educators, and doctors.
Founder Members
Mahenaz Mahmud [Chairperson]
Director Program Development, Teachers’ Resource Centre
Academic Coordinator, Institute of Early Childhood Education
Sabeen Mahmud [Director]
COO, Beyond Information Technology Solutions (b.i.t.s.)
Member, Governing Council, The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)
Founder Member, All Pakistan Music Conference
Founder Member, Citizens’ Archive of Pakistan
Seema Malik [Treasurer]
Director, Teachers’ Resource Centre
Principal, PECHS Girls’ School
Nuzhat Kidvai
Education Technology Advisor, Beaconhouse School System
Women’s Rights Activist
Ghazala Aziz
Dermatologist
Managing Trustee, Accident & Emergency Foundation, Jinnah Hospital
Zaheer Kidvai
CEO, b.i.t.s.
Board Member, Virtual University & Textile Institute of Pakistan
Advisor, Beaconhouse National University
Education Technology Consultant
Sonia Rehman
Actor and Producer
Advisory Council
Asif Farrukhi
Writer, Translator, Critic, and Publisher
Ameena Saiyid – OBE
MD, Oxford University Press
Arshad Mahmud
Composer, Musicologist
Zafar Masud
Barclays Bank
Deepak Perwani
Fashion Designer
Saqib Malik
Film Maker
Faraz Minai
Investment Banker
Musadiq Sanwal
Editor – DAWN Internet Edition
Producer, Musician, Actor, Journalist
Mohsin Sayeed
Journalist
Mohsin Siddiqui
Human Resources, Shell Oil
Ayesha Tammy Haq
TV Anchor, Lawyer
Naveen Naqvi
Senior Anchor, DawnNews
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