(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

Traditional miniature painting was an art form that thrived in the subcontinent during the Mughal period and bore witness to cultural shifts in identity, through technique and content, as the Empire declined and patronage shifted. Architecture students at Beaconhouse National University set out to explore how best, a selected few of these 16th and 17th century artworks can be exhibited to reframe conversations of identity in a 21st century Pakistani context. This paper discusses how as part of their coursework, the students set out to study paintings, curate relevant artefacts, design the exhibits and propose the layout for a tailored exhibition space. Digital technologies played a key role in these exhibitions allowing audiences to take note of minute details (through scaled up digital reproductions), immerse themselves in the narrative context (through visual projections and background audio) and reframe subject matter within their own urban context (through photography). Keeping with the democratic nature of the digital technologies that made these exhibitions possible, the proposed spaces have been designed as dismantlable structures that will take part in public art events such as the Lahore Biennale.