Board

Naazish Ata-Ullah‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Co-chair

Naazish Ata-Ullah is an artist, educator, writer, curator, human rights activist and an active member of the Women’s Action Forum. In a career that spans four decades, Professor Ata-Ullah is best known as the founder of the Printmaking specialization at the National College of Arts.

She is a graduate of Kinnaird College for Women and the National College of Arts. She undertook postgraduate studies at the Slade School of Fine Art and at the Institute of Education, London University. Ata-Ullah retired as Principal of NCA in 2010. She is a Fellow of NCA and was awarded with the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Letters by the Government of France. She lives and works in Lahore.

Raza Ali Dada‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ Co-chair

Raza Ali Dada is one of Pakistan’s most well regarded architects and educators in the field. He is currently a managing partner at Nayyar Ali Dada & Associates. The firm has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Dada has 10 years of extensive experience with various building typologies in New York, USA. A supporter of eco-conscious practices, he has actively worked on sustainable projects and raising awareness regarding local heritage and environment. He is a visiting professor at the Beaconhouse National University and is on the board of the Lahore Conservation Society.

Dada’s artistic interests have led him to work on custom objects such as furniture and lighting. His key interest is to explore how these design investigations impact and affect our relationship with our physical surroundings.

Qudsia Rahim Executive Director

Qudsia Rahim (executive director) received her undergraduate degree from the National College of Arts, Lahore and a Master’s from Alfred University, New York. Before co-founding Lahore Biennale Foundation in 2014, Rahim worked as an associate professor and curator of the Zahoor Ul Akhlaq Gallery at her alma-mater, National College of Arts. As a curator, she has organised artist residency exchange programs and research-driven exhibitions that have showcased works by local and international artists. In her current leadership role as the Executive Director of the Lahore Biennale Foundation and Director of Lahore Biennale, Rahim has executed numerous public programs that promote the role of contemporary art in public and non-conventional spaces. She founded the Research Cell as part of the Foundation’s outreach efforts to encourage cross-sectoral collaboration on the domestic and international front, and strengthen art philanthropy and scholarly research in the visual and contemporary art fields. In addition, Ms. Rahim initiated “Afforestation Lahore” a scalable, nation-wide project that brings together stakeholders from the government and civil sector to combat loss of tree cover and address other urgent environmental challenges.

Ahmad Rafay Alam Secretary

Ahmad Rafay Alam is an environmental lawyer and founding partner of Saleem, Alam & Co., a law firm specializing in the energy, water, natural resource and urban development sectors. Alam has served as Chairperson and board member of several public utilities and as a member of Climate and Environmental Councils. He believes in the right to mobility and the inviolability of the right to public spaces, and to this end has been involved with a number of landmark public interest cases on a pro-bono basis. He lives in Lahore with his wife and daughter.

Mohsin Hamid

Mohsin Hamid is the author of four novels — Moth Smoke, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, and Exit West — and a book of essays, Discontent and Its Civilizations.

His writing has been translated into forty languages, featured on bestseller lists, and adapted for the cinema.

Naima Dadabhoy

Naima Dadabhoy is a multimedia artist whose art practice explores themes of impermanence and disintegration. She has worked in various media including installation, video, print-making, painting, drawing and sculpture and has exhibited widely in Pakistan and internationally.

Tariq Zaman

Tariq Zaman has a degree in Physics from Grinnell College and an MBA from LUMS. He is CEO of Ali Embroidery Mills, the largest producer of schiffli embroidery in Pakistan, and Director at Sefam pvt limited, the largest textile retail chain of stores in Pakistan. His entrepreneurial projects include Naimat Naturals, a food enterprise which implements responsible poultry and dairy farming practices, and Manzil Ventures, a company that provides innovative transport solutions.

He serves as Co-secretary of the Afforestation Lahore, a project that addresses environmental challenges within an ecological realm. He is a board member of the Zaman Foundation which provides healthcare, nutrition, drinking water, vocational training and education. He is on the board of Care Foundation, providing education to over a quarter of a million children in Pakistan. Being a founding member of the Caring Citizens of Pakistan, he has been involved in relief work during floods and earthquakes for the internally displaced persons since 2008. He is on the Board of Trustees of Murree Museum Artist Residency Foundation.

Avid agriculturalist, tree lover and art enthusiast, Tariq brings diverse experience and generosity of spirit to all his projects and is passionate about giving back to the community.