UNEARTHING STORIES FROM THE CORE

Landscapes (Shigar & Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan): A Meditation

ke suraagh koi paien (searching for a clue)

2023

work in progress

snippets of street scenes from Shigar Valley

a hiking backpack he created
from repurposed materials
wire, rice bags, wood
carried the weight, 75 kg
up and down K2’s base camp
a 6 day climb one way
to the base of world’s 2nd highest
mountain peak, on his back
all throughout the hiking season
15 times or more in one summer
until he retired and the backpack
an extension of his life, remained
when the work was done and over
and he struggled to make a living
our stories, star stories

a hiker and a shoemaker
a cooli’s craft, a mochi’s craft

snippets of street scenes

the mobile network Jazz
its repurposed awnings
become the thatched roof
of a mochis shop

a hiker and a shoemaker
a cooli’s craft, a mochi’s craft

vernacular architecture

street scenes, Shigar

Khilingrong Mosque, 17th century
Amburiq Mosque,14th century

Satpara Lake, Skardu

Lower Kachura Lake
apricot blossoms, wildflowers

Katpana Desert, Shigar

Shigar sunsets

carpets washing season

drive through Shigar & Skardu
houses & livestock shelters
both are made by stacking rocks
cementing them with local mud
that makes them earthquake proof
insulated in the cold winters
& cool in the summers

locals shared
that modern architectural
materials have failed them

old clothes are repurposed
into these coverings
to protect the tree barks
from livestock eating away
before they have matured

the valleys and mountains
are the playrooms for children

drive from Skardu to Islamabad
abandoned, or in ruins
homes dotting mountain slopes
along the Diamer Basha dam site
4,200 families displaced (by one report)
under construction in a high seismic zone
with predictions of landslides, floods,
ecological disasters
its gross storage capacity:
ten billion cubic meters
Chinese flags appear
the area under heavy surveillance
with many checkposts
construction mostly blocked from view

and some views of
homes on the mountain slopes