Khayali Karachi is a speculative dive into the spaces of South Asia, starting from a city by the sea, based in Pakistan, called Karachi. This was co-founded by Anita Zehra and Shabbir Mohammed as young as 21 years old.
Through an immersive storytelling methodology, we intend to morph spatial awareness with wonder. It began with an idea, a desire. Sauntering through any city will open up valleys of information about the city. It unwraps the spaces as an interaction with the senses. If one can train their eyes to see the tales brewing in every crack of this city, ears to listen to the way the city speaks, meet the guardian spirits that protect the sea, and speak languages that go beyond the tongue, they can envision Khayali Karachi.
A toolkit around art, love, and peace building is created using wonder as a form of empowerment and hope as a tool to combat chaotic dishevels of any city. By asking questions with a sense of belonging and curiosity, one is rewired to think of the city differently. When does a land become mine? How do I create innocently? And what will I create? It extends into a vision of sustaining a community driven by hope and imagination, instead of violence and hopelessness.
