After hosting artists and filmmakers to document the picturesque Shigar Valley, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s Neela Asmaan initiative is ready to take its next step in trying to shape the valley’s future.
In an Instagram post on Monday, it announced its upcoming Climate Futures Residency, which invites “thinkers, researchers, scientists, technologists, environmentalists, agricultural practitioners, architects, heritage specialists and those working to understand the challenges and possibilities of the decades ahead” to spend two weeks in the valley, interacting with its people, environment and each other.
The first iteration of the programme is divided into two interconnected residencies set to take place in July and August.
The first, titled Reading the Valley involves research, observation and community engagement. The second part, Imagining Futures, does exactly what the name says — participants plan for future scenarios and design policies.
Each of these residencies will have two participants who will use their time in Shigar to talk to local stakeholders: farmers, tourism industry representatives and government officials.
Applications are due by June 30 and should be submitted to organisers via email along with the applicant’s CV, a short biography, a 500-word letter of interest and a portfolio showing the applicant’s work.
If selected, they’ll be provided accommodation in Shigar, logistical support — including transfers to and from Skardu airport — and a stipend to offset meal costs and airfare.
The work resulting from the residencies will be collected as part of The Shigar Futures Paper, an annual publication exploring the valley’s future.
Professionals from the following fields are encouraged to apply:
Shedding light on the need for the programme, the post from Neela Asmaan and Chinoy said people across the world were faced with “profound questions about climate, food systems, water, migration, technology, conservation and the future of human settlement”.
During such times, the most important answers may not emerge from conferences and lab work, it said, but from “places like Shigar, where people continue to live at the meeting point of nature, culture and change”.
