Website:
https://www.akf.org.uk/
AGA KHAN FOUNDATION UK
Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: The role and impact of Aga Khan Foundation around the world

His Highness the Aga Khan noted, within Islam, I quote, “The role of spirit and the role of the daily life are inseparably intertwined.”
His Highness consistently, thorough the years, has addressed, key principles.
■Human dignity
■Self reliance
■Quality of Life
■Importance of family and community
■Critical role of civil society in development
■Meritocracy
■Opportunity
■Emphasis on education at all levels
■Sustainability
■Culture
■Cosmopolitan ethics
■Imperative of pluralism
— AKF General Manager Michael Kocher
The definition of Early Childhood Education (ECD) is, “from conception to age 8”.
AKDN ECD programmes around the globe ensuring 600,000 children get a good start in life, annually.
— ECD Specialist Sheila Manji
AKF General Manager Michael Kocher and Early Childhood Development Specialist Sheila Manji speak about the Foundation’s work in “Breaking the Cycle of Poverty” on 27 November 2015 at the Ismaili Centre, London.
Watch here:
https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2016/ ... ilimail%29

His Highness the Aga Khan noted, within Islam, I quote, “The role of spirit and the role of the daily life are inseparably intertwined.”
His Highness consistently, thorough the years, has addressed, key principles.
■Human dignity
■Self reliance
■Quality of Life
■Importance of family and community
■Critical role of civil society in development
■Meritocracy
■Opportunity
■Emphasis on education at all levels
■Sustainability
■Culture
■Cosmopolitan ethics
■Imperative of pluralism
— AKF General Manager Michael Kocher
The definition of Early Childhood Education (ECD) is, “from conception to age 8”.
AKDN ECD programmes around the globe ensuring 600,000 children get a good start in life, annually.
— ECD Specialist Sheila Manji
AKF General Manager Michael Kocher and Early Childhood Development Specialist Sheila Manji speak about the Foundation’s work in “Breaking the Cycle of Poverty” on 27 November 2015 at the Ismaili Centre, London.
Watch here:
https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2016/ ... ilimail%29
Nazish Bana to run for Aga Khan Foundation UK in Tokyo Marathon, 2016
Aga Khan Foundation UK (Facebook, Twitter) announces the selection of Nazish Bana who will be running 26.2 miles Tokyo Marathon on the 28th February 2016, raising funds for the AKF UK.
Follow Nazish on Twitter @NazishBana, and show him your support by donating now.
https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2016/ ... thon-2016/
Aga Khan Foundation UK (Facebook, Twitter) announces the selection of Nazish Bana who will be running 26.2 miles Tokyo Marathon on the 28th February 2016, raising funds for the AKF UK.
Follow Nazish on Twitter @NazishBana, and show him your support by donating now.
https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2016/ ... thon-2016/
Matt rejoins the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) UK as its new Chief Executive Officer
Matt Reed
1 March 2016
Matt rejoins the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) UK as its new Chief Executive Officer, having previously held the position of Director of Programmes. For the last three years, Matt has led the foundation's work in India. In his new role, Matt will expand the foundation's partnerships in the UK and Europe and build greater public awareness about the work of the broader Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
"It is a privilege to lead AKF in the UK after three exciting years in India. Since the UK office was established in 1973, we have raised hundreds of millions of pounds for development initiatives across Central and South Asia, in East and West Africa, and in the Middle East to improve community resilience and the quality of life for millions of people. I am thrilled by the opportunities we have to deepen and diversify support for the range of communities AKDN serves in 30 countries and look forward to raising awareness about this important work."
Matt has a PhD and MA in European History from Claremont Graduate University in Los Angeles.
https://www.bond.org.uk/movers-shakers/matt-reed
Matt Reed
1 March 2016
Matt rejoins the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) UK as its new Chief Executive Officer, having previously held the position of Director of Programmes. For the last three years, Matt has led the foundation's work in India. In his new role, Matt will expand the foundation's partnerships in the UK and Europe and build greater public awareness about the work of the broader Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
"It is a privilege to lead AKF in the UK after three exciting years in India. Since the UK office was established in 1973, we have raised hundreds of millions of pounds for development initiatives across Central and South Asia, in East and West Africa, and in the Middle East to improve community resilience and the quality of life for millions of people. I am thrilled by the opportunities we have to deepen and diversify support for the range of communities AKDN serves in 30 countries and look forward to raising awareness about this important work."
Matt has a PhD and MA in European History from Claremont Graduate University in Los Angeles.
https://www.bond.org.uk/movers-shakers/matt-reed
AKF Talk: Empowering India's Women
VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfx49yXM1Ng
Published on Feb 27, 2017
Tinni Sawhney, CEO of Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) India, in conversation with Matt Reed, CEO AKF UK, discussing how the Foundation is enhancing women’s financial security, improving incomes and promoting access to sanitation that provides both dignity and safety.
Category
People & Blogs
License
Standard YouTube License
VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfx49yXM1Ng
Published on Feb 27, 2017
Tinni Sawhney, CEO of Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) India, in conversation with Matt Reed, CEO AKF UK, discussing how the Foundation is enhancing women’s financial security, improving incomes and promoting access to sanitation that provides both dignity and safety.
Category
People & Blogs
License
Standard YouTube License
The Aga Khan Foundation: An Introduction then a Focus on Central Asia
Monday, November 6, 2017
3:00pm – 5:00pm
Speaker: Dr Matt Reed, CEO, Aga Khan Foundation
We are pleased to welcome Dr Matt Reed, CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation (UK), who will introduce the work of the AKF then focus on their programmes in the Central Asian countries of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.
AKF focusses on four thematic areas: rural development, health, education and civil society. Its activities are intended to improve the quality of life of beneficiary communities by assisting in the struggle against hunger, disease, illiteracy, ignorance and social exclusion. AKF is largely a field-based organisation with programme units located in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya, the Kyrgyz Republic, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uganda.
British Expertise International / D Group members: FREE
All others (including CATBIG members): £50+VAT
For more information and to view the event on the British Expertise website, please click here
https://www.strategyinternational.co.uk ... ntral-asia
Monday, November 6, 2017
3:00pm – 5:00pm
Speaker: Dr Matt Reed, CEO, Aga Khan Foundation
We are pleased to welcome Dr Matt Reed, CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation (UK), who will introduce the work of the AKF then focus on their programmes in the Central Asian countries of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.
AKF focusses on four thematic areas: rural development, health, education and civil society. Its activities are intended to improve the quality of life of beneficiary communities by assisting in the struggle against hunger, disease, illiteracy, ignorance and social exclusion. AKF is largely a field-based organisation with programme units located in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya, the Kyrgyz Republic, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uganda.
British Expertise International / D Group members: FREE
All others (including CATBIG members): £50+VAT
For more information and to view the event on the British Expertise website, please click here
https://www.strategyinternational.co.uk ... ntral-asia
ZeeJLF conversations: Matt Reed talks about creating role models in advancement through education
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... C0A5P4OOHE
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... C0A5P4OOHE
Microfinance 3.0: Renewing its promise to break the cycle of poverty
A conversation with Jesse Fripp, General Manager, Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance, and Maria Largey, Director and Head of Financial Institutions, CDC Group
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuAJF1ZgHoo
A conversation with Jesse Fripp, General Manager, Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance, and Maria Largey, Director and Head of Financial Institutions, CDC Group
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuAJF1ZgHoo
Aga Khan Foundation & JLF: A conversation with Matt Reed
By Launchora
The Jaipur Bytes podcast, hosted by Lakshya Datta, delivers thought-provoking ideas and meaningful debates from the iconic ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, setting off conversations even when away from the Pink City. Jaipur Bytes is produced by Launchora in association with the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival.
Podcast at:
https://www.launchora.com/jaipurbytes/e ... eed-e3vqs7
By Launchora
The Jaipur Bytes podcast, hosted by Lakshya Datta, delivers thought-provoking ideas and meaningful debates from the iconic ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, setting off conversations even when away from the Pink City. Jaipur Bytes is produced by Launchora in association with the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival.
Podcast at:
https://www.launchora.com/jaipurbytes/e ... eed-e3vqs7
The Aga Khan Foundation is once again partnering with the Jaipur Literature Festival @ The British Library this June!
The Jaipur Literature Festival returns to The British Library for its sixth consecutive year from 14-16 June 2019. The Festival presents a unique showcase of South Asia’s literary heritage, oral and performing arts, books and ideas, dialogue and debate.
Join us for a vibrant weekend of debate and discussion featuring writers, poets, historians, journalists and more.
Book your ticket at:
http://jlflitfest.org/zee-jlf-at-britis ... 25c8c5fc8d
AKF is proud to be participating in and
sponsoring four thought-provoking talks...
04. The Islamic Enlightenment: Faith and Reason
Christopher de Bellaigue in conversation with William Dalrymple
13. The Elephant and the Dragon
Vasuki Shastry, Steve Tsang, Ellen Barry and Lijia Zhang in conversation with Salil Tripathi
21. The Dance of Democracy
Navin Chawla, Mukulika Banerjee and Meghnad Desai in conversation with John Elliott
28. Islamic Arts: Multiple Histories, Multiple Expressions
Zulfikar Hirji, Sussan Babaie in conversation with William Dalrymple
http://jlflitfest.org/zee-jlf-at-britis ... y/schedule
The Jaipur Literature Festival returns to The British Library for its sixth consecutive year from 14-16 June 2019. The Festival presents a unique showcase of South Asia’s literary heritage, oral and performing arts, books and ideas, dialogue and debate.
Join us for a vibrant weekend of debate and discussion featuring writers, poets, historians, journalists and more.
Book your ticket at:
http://jlflitfest.org/zee-jlf-at-britis ... 25c8c5fc8d
AKF is proud to be participating in and
sponsoring four thought-provoking talks...
04. The Islamic Enlightenment: Faith and Reason
Christopher de Bellaigue in conversation with William Dalrymple
13. The Elephant and the Dragon
Vasuki Shastry, Steve Tsang, Ellen Barry and Lijia Zhang in conversation with Salil Tripathi
21. The Dance of Democracy
Navin Chawla, Mukulika Banerjee and Meghnad Desai in conversation with John Elliott
28. Islamic Arts: Multiple Histories, Multiple Expressions
Zulfikar Hirji, Sussan Babaie in conversation with William Dalrymple
http://jlflitfest.org/zee-jlf-at-britis ... y/schedule
Join us at the Jaipur Literature Festival London edition @ the British Library from 14-16 June!
The Jaipur Literature Festival returns to The British Library for its sixth consecutive year from 14 – 16 June 2019. The festival presents a unique showcase of South Asia’s literary heritage, oral and performing arts, books and ideas, dialogue and debate.
Join AKF for a vibrant weekend of debate and discussion featuring writers, poets, historians, journalists and more. We’re proud to be participating in and sponsoring four great talks:
The Islamic Enlightenment: Faith and Reason – 11:15am on 15 June in the Piazza Pavillion
Christopher de Bellaigue in conversation with William Dalrymple
A revelatory and game-changing polemic that rewrites everything we thought we knew about the modern history of the Islamic world. Christopher de Bellaigue presents an absorbing account of the political and social reformations that transformed the lands of Islam in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Islamic Enlightenment is an astonishing and revelatory history of Middle Eastern history. Beginning his account in 1798, de Bellaigue demonstrates how Middle Eastern heartlands have long welcomed modern ideals and practices, including the adoption of modern medicine, the emergence of women from seclusion and the development of democracy. With trenchant political and historical insight, de Bellaigue further shows how the violence of an infinitesimally small minority is in fact the tragic blowback from these modernising processes. What makes The Islamic Enlightenment particularly germane is that non-Muslim pundits in the post-9/11 era have repeatedly called for Islam to subject itself to the transformations that the West has achieved since the Enlightenment―the absurd implication being that if Muslims do not stop reading the Qur’an and other holy books, they will never emerge from a benighted state of backwardness. The Islamic Enlightenment, with its revolutionary argument, completely refutes this view and reveals the folly of those demanding modernity from those whose lives are already drenched in it.
The Elephant and the Dragon – 3pm on 15 June in the Piazza Pavilion
Vasuki Shastry, Steve Tsang, Ellen Barry and Lijia Zhang in conversation with Salil Tripathi
While the phenomenal economic rise of India and China is of key interest to economists around the world, the civilisational links between these two ancient cultures are equally fascinating. A session on how the ‘elephant’ and the ‘dragon’ negotiate their relationship with each other and how their growing influence is reshaping the world. Author and expert on Asian economies and public policy Vasuki Shastry, Political scientist and historian Steve Tsang, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ellen Barry and factory worker-turned writer Lijia Zhang discuss the two Asian superpowers and their impact on the world as we know it with author Salil Tripathi.
The Dance of Democracy – 11.15am on 16 June in the Durbar Theatre
Navin Chawla, Mukulika Banerjee and Meghnad Desai in conversation with John Elliott
India is the world’s largest democracy. It has faced daunting challenges, sustaining democratic institutions against all odds. India’s vigorous political system remains credible and sound in its fundamentals, and almost a billion citizens, young and old, exercise their constitutionally given freedom to choose in what remains a disciplined and peaceable process. A session that examines the results of the recent national elections as well as the strengths and fault lines in India’s democratic convictions with Mukulika Banerjee, Navin Chawla and Meghnad Desai in conversation with John Elliott.
Islamic Arts: Multiple Histories, Multiple Expressions – 4.15pm on 16 June in the Durbar Theatre
Zulfikar Hirji, Sussan Babaie, Vivek Gupta and Venetia Porter in conversation with William Dalrymple
Muslims have always had complex artistic responses to their faith, and while some elevated the arts (i.e. visual, musical, and literary) to their greatest heights, others have regarded artistic expressions as opposed to Islam’s doctrines and values. This session examines the very varied historical and contemporary responses to the Islamic arts that Muslims have had and considers the plurality of ways in which the arts have played a critical role in expressing Islamic ideas and concepts.
https://www.akf.org.uk/blog/akfatjlfbl2019/
The Jaipur Literature Festival returns to The British Library for its sixth consecutive year from 14 – 16 June 2019. The festival presents a unique showcase of South Asia’s literary heritage, oral and performing arts, books and ideas, dialogue and debate.
Join AKF for a vibrant weekend of debate and discussion featuring writers, poets, historians, journalists and more. We’re proud to be participating in and sponsoring four great talks:
The Islamic Enlightenment: Faith and Reason – 11:15am on 15 June in the Piazza Pavillion
Christopher de Bellaigue in conversation with William Dalrymple
A revelatory and game-changing polemic that rewrites everything we thought we knew about the modern history of the Islamic world. Christopher de Bellaigue presents an absorbing account of the political and social reformations that transformed the lands of Islam in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Islamic Enlightenment is an astonishing and revelatory history of Middle Eastern history. Beginning his account in 1798, de Bellaigue demonstrates how Middle Eastern heartlands have long welcomed modern ideals and practices, including the adoption of modern medicine, the emergence of women from seclusion and the development of democracy. With trenchant political and historical insight, de Bellaigue further shows how the violence of an infinitesimally small minority is in fact the tragic blowback from these modernising processes. What makes The Islamic Enlightenment particularly germane is that non-Muslim pundits in the post-9/11 era have repeatedly called for Islam to subject itself to the transformations that the West has achieved since the Enlightenment―the absurd implication being that if Muslims do not stop reading the Qur’an and other holy books, they will never emerge from a benighted state of backwardness. The Islamic Enlightenment, with its revolutionary argument, completely refutes this view and reveals the folly of those demanding modernity from those whose lives are already drenched in it.
The Elephant and the Dragon – 3pm on 15 June in the Piazza Pavilion
Vasuki Shastry, Steve Tsang, Ellen Barry and Lijia Zhang in conversation with Salil Tripathi
While the phenomenal economic rise of India and China is of key interest to economists around the world, the civilisational links between these two ancient cultures are equally fascinating. A session on how the ‘elephant’ and the ‘dragon’ negotiate their relationship with each other and how their growing influence is reshaping the world. Author and expert on Asian economies and public policy Vasuki Shastry, Political scientist and historian Steve Tsang, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ellen Barry and factory worker-turned writer Lijia Zhang discuss the two Asian superpowers and their impact on the world as we know it with author Salil Tripathi.
The Dance of Democracy – 11.15am on 16 June in the Durbar Theatre
Navin Chawla, Mukulika Banerjee and Meghnad Desai in conversation with John Elliott
India is the world’s largest democracy. It has faced daunting challenges, sustaining democratic institutions against all odds. India’s vigorous political system remains credible and sound in its fundamentals, and almost a billion citizens, young and old, exercise their constitutionally given freedom to choose in what remains a disciplined and peaceable process. A session that examines the results of the recent national elections as well as the strengths and fault lines in India’s democratic convictions with Mukulika Banerjee, Navin Chawla and Meghnad Desai in conversation with John Elliott.
Islamic Arts: Multiple Histories, Multiple Expressions – 4.15pm on 16 June in the Durbar Theatre
Zulfikar Hirji, Sussan Babaie, Vivek Gupta and Venetia Porter in conversation with William Dalrymple
Muslims have always had complex artistic responses to their faith, and while some elevated the arts (i.e. visual, musical, and literary) to their greatest heights, others have regarded artistic expressions as opposed to Islam’s doctrines and values. This session examines the very varied historical and contemporary responses to the Islamic arts that Muslims have had and considers the plurality of ways in which the arts have played a critical role in expressing Islamic ideas and concepts.
https://www.akf.org.uk/blog/akfatjlfbl2019/
Reconnecting Afghanistan: a new report by Chatham House
Funded by DFID and the Aga Khan Foundation (UK), this new report examines the challenges inherent in, and the benefits of, regional connectivity in Afghanistan and the wider region. The report looks at a range of cross-border programmes, including AKDN's work, covering areas such as energy and infrastructure, medical tourism, border markets and the creation of cross-border ecosystems, and discusses how these initiatives are strengthening ties between Afghanistan and its neighbours.
More....
https://www.chathamhouse.org/publicatio ... 25c8c5fc8d
*******
Explore, Exchange, Engage: adventurers return from inaugural 360 Tajikistan trip
The first 360 programme was held in June 2019 by the Aga Khan Foundation UK. A small group of travellers set out on a journey of adventure and personal discovery to witness the impactful work of the Aga Khan Development Network and to immerse themselves in a new culture.
Photography: 360 participants
17 explorers and AKF UK representatives travelled to Tajikistan for the inaugural 360 programme. This programme gave participants the opportunity to explore a country, meet like-minded people and learn more about the work of AKDN through witnessing, first hand, the projects on the ground and the life changing impact they are having on communities.
Photos and more....
https://www.akf.org.uk/news/explore-exc ... 25c8c5fc8d
Funded by DFID and the Aga Khan Foundation (UK), this new report examines the challenges inherent in, and the benefits of, regional connectivity in Afghanistan and the wider region. The report looks at a range of cross-border programmes, including AKDN's work, covering areas such as energy and infrastructure, medical tourism, border markets and the creation of cross-border ecosystems, and discusses how these initiatives are strengthening ties between Afghanistan and its neighbours.
More....
https://www.chathamhouse.org/publicatio ... 25c8c5fc8d
*******
Explore, Exchange, Engage: adventurers return from inaugural 360 Tajikistan trip
The first 360 programme was held in June 2019 by the Aga Khan Foundation UK. A small group of travellers set out on a journey of adventure and personal discovery to witness the impactful work of the Aga Khan Development Network and to immerse themselves in a new culture.
Photography: 360 participants
17 explorers and AKF UK representatives travelled to Tajikistan for the inaugural 360 programme. This programme gave participants the opportunity to explore a country, meet like-minded people and learn more about the work of AKDN through witnessing, first hand, the projects on the ground and the life changing impact they are having on communities.
Photos and more....
https://www.akf.org.uk/news/explore-exc ... 25c8c5fc8d
Illuminate
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ABeveG ... rce=Direct
A new annual programme by the Aga Khan Foundation aimed at year 12 students to offer them insight on the key development issues in the world today
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ABeveG ... rce=Direct
A new annual programme by the Aga Khan Foundation aimed at year 12 students to offer them insight on the key development issues in the world today
AKF's Matt Reed talks AKDN on the Do One Better! Podcast
Matt Reed, CEO of AKF (UK) joined Alberto Lidji to talk about the Aga Khan Development Network, its $5.5bn of annual operations, relationships with 40,000 civil society organisations and much more.
Podcast at:
https://www.lidji.org/podcast/episode/c ... 25c8c5fc8d
Matt Reed, CEO of AKF (UK) joined Alberto Lidji to talk about the Aga Khan Development Network, its $5.5bn of annual operations, relationships with 40,000 civil society organisations and much more.
Podcast at:
https://www.lidji.org/podcast/episode/c ... 25c8c5fc8d
Seasons Greetings 2019
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVsfe-6 ... rce=Direct
Highlights from 2019 from the Aga Khan Foundation (UK)
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVsfe-6 ... rce=Direct
Highlights from 2019 from the Aga Khan Foundation (UK)
#RunForAKF 2020 - still time to register!
AKF UK are proud to launch #RunforAKF 2020.
We have secured a number of places in runs across the UK and Europe. From 5k to marathons, take part in a race that suits you:
Asics 10k (July 2020)
Birmingham 10k (May 2020)
Royal Parks Half Marathon (October 2020)
Stockholm Full Marathon (May 2020)
Berlin 10k (May 2020)
Tough Mudder (London, May 2020 + Midlands, June 2020)
Nightrider (June 2020)
*******
Jaipur Literature Festival 2020
The greatest literary show on earth is back! The Jaipur Literature Festival took place in India’s Pink City from 23-27 January 2020. The annual festival presents a unique showcase of South Asia’s literary heritage, oral and performing arts, books and ideas, dialogue and debate. AKF was delighted to be sponsoring and participating in seven sessions.
Details at:
https://www.akf.org.uk/news/jaipur-lit- ... 25c8c5fc8d
AKF UK are proud to launch #RunforAKF 2020.
We have secured a number of places in runs across the UK and Europe. From 5k to marathons, take part in a race that suits you:
Asics 10k (July 2020)
Birmingham 10k (May 2020)
Royal Parks Half Marathon (October 2020)
Stockholm Full Marathon (May 2020)
Berlin 10k (May 2020)
Tough Mudder (London, May 2020 + Midlands, June 2020)
Nightrider (June 2020)
*******
Jaipur Literature Festival 2020
The greatest literary show on earth is back! The Jaipur Literature Festival took place in India’s Pink City from 23-27 January 2020. The annual festival presents a unique showcase of South Asia’s literary heritage, oral and performing arts, books and ideas, dialogue and debate. AKF was delighted to be sponsoring and participating in seven sessions.
Details at:
https://www.akf.org.uk/news/jaipur-lit- ... 25c8c5fc8d
Dear friends of the Aga Khan Foundation UK,
In these unprecedented times, we write to assure you that the Aga Khan Foundation and the agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) are pulling together to find creative and effective solutions to maintain our important work to improve the quality of human life. A cross-AKDN task force is planning how best to harness our institutions and activities in order to help address the various effects of this pandemic on public health, economic well-being, and social cohesion.
First and foremost is ensuring the safety of those we serve – our employees, our beneficiaries, and their neighbours. It is now clear that the single most important action that we can collectively take is to vigorously follow the advice of global health authorities to suppress the spread of the virus. This is why everyone in AKDN is focusing in the first instance on the requirements of “physical distancing” to make sure that we are all protecting ourselves, our families, and our communities. We urge you to do the same, and to join us in spreading this message to those you know.
AKDN's operations are being adapted to complement and reinforce actions by national governments to combat COVID-19. Drawing on our connections to over 50,000 civil society organisations, we are mobilising our wider network of partners and volunteers to promote hand-washing and hygiene, physical distancing, and proper segregation of those who are sick. Through this, we are serving community needs, including support for public policies on self-isolation and quarantine, as well as developing and introducing a spectrum of protocols for prevention, containment and care.
Even as we work with others to impede spread of the virus, AKDN is playing its part in strengthening national health systems and preparing for this rapidly unfolding health crisis. Working together, several AKDN agencies are already treating patients, testing suspected cases, and advising national authorities on their responses and preparedness. AKDN is also engaging with national Ministries of Health on country-specific COVID-19 preparedness plans. The priority is to bolster government diagnostic and care capacities and, where possible, help secure much needed supplies and test kits.
Finally and importantly, AKDN has begun work to prepare for the significant economic challenges that will follow this pandemic, and the long-lasting effects that this will have on the health, livelihoods, and development of everyone living in the regions we serve. In the words of His Highness the Aga Khan this week, addressing the Ismaili community:
"The world is facing a challenging time, and in these moments it is important that the Jamat remains united and focussed on those who will need assistance...We must remain strong and prepare to build, and build well, when this crisis passes."
We thank you for your interest in AKDN and your engagement with us to improve the quality of life, promote pluralism, and enhance civil society. Right now, all of us must do our utmost to slow transmission of COVID-19 and assist those whose lives it will disrupt the most. We wish you all safety and good health during this challenging time.
Matt T. Reed
Chief Executive Officer
Aga Khan Foundation UK
In these unprecedented times, we write to assure you that the Aga Khan Foundation and the agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) are pulling together to find creative and effective solutions to maintain our important work to improve the quality of human life. A cross-AKDN task force is planning how best to harness our institutions and activities in order to help address the various effects of this pandemic on public health, economic well-being, and social cohesion.
First and foremost is ensuring the safety of those we serve – our employees, our beneficiaries, and their neighbours. It is now clear that the single most important action that we can collectively take is to vigorously follow the advice of global health authorities to suppress the spread of the virus. This is why everyone in AKDN is focusing in the first instance on the requirements of “physical distancing” to make sure that we are all protecting ourselves, our families, and our communities. We urge you to do the same, and to join us in spreading this message to those you know.
AKDN's operations are being adapted to complement and reinforce actions by national governments to combat COVID-19. Drawing on our connections to over 50,000 civil society organisations, we are mobilising our wider network of partners and volunteers to promote hand-washing and hygiene, physical distancing, and proper segregation of those who are sick. Through this, we are serving community needs, including support for public policies on self-isolation and quarantine, as well as developing and introducing a spectrum of protocols for prevention, containment and care.
Even as we work with others to impede spread of the virus, AKDN is playing its part in strengthening national health systems and preparing for this rapidly unfolding health crisis. Working together, several AKDN agencies are already treating patients, testing suspected cases, and advising national authorities on their responses and preparedness. AKDN is also engaging with national Ministries of Health on country-specific COVID-19 preparedness plans. The priority is to bolster government diagnostic and care capacities and, where possible, help secure much needed supplies and test kits.
Finally and importantly, AKDN has begun work to prepare for the significant economic challenges that will follow this pandemic, and the long-lasting effects that this will have on the health, livelihoods, and development of everyone living in the regions we serve. In the words of His Highness the Aga Khan this week, addressing the Ismaili community:
"The world is facing a challenging time, and in these moments it is important that the Jamat remains united and focussed on those who will need assistance...We must remain strong and prepare to build, and build well, when this crisis passes."
We thank you for your interest in AKDN and your engagement with us to improve the quality of life, promote pluralism, and enhance civil society. Right now, all of us must do our utmost to slow transmission of COVID-19 and assist those whose lives it will disrupt the most. We wish you all safety and good health during this challenging time.
Matt T. Reed
Chief Executive Officer
Aga Khan Foundation UK
Webinar - How to help children continue to learn during COVID-19
How to help children continue to learn during COVID-19
The Aga Khan Foundation and Aga Khan Education Services’ educational response to uncertainty
Thursday 30 July 2020 | 2pm - 3pm BST
REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... 25c8c5fc8d
Due to COVID-19 and the accompanying lockdown measures, children around the world have been unable to go to school, in some countries for as long as six months. The Aga Khan Foundation and the Aga Khan Education Services have been at the forefront of responding to this educational crisis by co-designing new solutions with communities, educators, and learners worldwide and adapting their education programming to ensure children can continue to learn, develop and grow during these uncertain times.
Join AKF’s Dr Andrew Cunningham and Nafisa Shekhova and AKES’s Margery Evans to learn about some of the innovative new approaches they are taking to respond to COVID-19, the medium and long-term impact on education globally and how the education sector might respond to these evolving challenges.
Speakers
REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... 25c8c5fc8d
How to help children continue to learn during COVID-19
The Aga Khan Foundation and Aga Khan Education Services’ educational response to uncertainty
Thursday 30 July 2020 | 2pm - 3pm BST
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Due to COVID-19 and the accompanying lockdown measures, children around the world have been unable to go to school, in some countries for as long as six months. The Aga Khan Foundation and the Aga Khan Education Services have been at the forefront of responding to this educational crisis by co-designing new solutions with communities, educators, and learners worldwide and adapting their education programming to ensure children can continue to learn, develop and grow during these uncertain times.
Join AKF’s Dr Andrew Cunningham and Nafisa Shekhova and AKES’s Margery Evans to learn about some of the innovative new approaches they are taking to respond to COVID-19, the medium and long-term impact on education globally and how the education sector might respond to these evolving challenges.
Speakers
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How to help children continue to learn during COVID-19
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfUdhwUG4AU
Due to COVID-19 and the accompanying lockdown measures, children around the world have been unable to go to school -- in some countries for as long as six months.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfUdhwUG4AU
Due to COVID-19 and the accompanying lockdown measures, children around the world have been unable to go to school -- in some countries for as long as six months.
Cooperation and compassion during COVID-19 – how civil society must pave the road to recovery
Matt Reed, Global Director of Institutional Partnerships at AKF and CEO at AKF (UK)
Last month, I spoke at the launch of The Council of Europe Development Bank’s Award for Social Cohesion*. The award recognises outstanding organisations and projects contributing to social cohesion in Europe.
The topic could not be more important, as events of 2020 have underscored for all of us – from the fever pitch of polarisation on social media, to understandable outrage at police violence and institutional racism, to the rise of conspiracy theories, violence, and xenophobia culminating in attacks on the US capitol. Each of these point to societies struggling to cohere — to accept and embrace differences as a strength, not a weakness. Or so it all seems, if we follow the headlines and hysterias of Twitter.
But that dour vision – real though it is – is far from the whole story. When I look around the world and take stock of the past year, I see many extraordinary examples of people coming together in this pandemic to help one another, and all humanity. These examples of solidarity and solutions give the lie to the pessimistic view of polarised politics incapable of pragmatism and practical action.
Despite the very real threat of vaccine nationalism and instances where countries have prioritised self-preservation over global cooperation, over the past year there have also been many instances of incredible cooperation, coordination, and international selflessness. As we enter the second year of this pandemic, we would do well to remember those and draw on their inspiration.
In London, I have been struck this year by how many people have reached out to neighbours they barely knew – the elderly, the infirm, the sheltered, and the shielding. One of the tragic ironies of a pandemic is that the very instincts of solidarity we normally celebrate are actually dangerous. But for so many, the desire to help our neighbours (safely) transcended these constraints in 2020.
In the UK, we saw millions of people clapping for carers, and thousands of them hungry for a way to connect and contribute. Very quickly, voluntary schemes of all kinds sprouted across the country – from schoolchildren keeping fit with Joe Wicks and his virtual PE, to restaurants and hospitality staff forming volunteer kitchens to provide meals for NHS workers or other vulnerable people. In our neighbourhood, fliers quickly appeared in every mailbox offering help with shopping and deliveries.
In our own household, my wife quickly contacted the 92-year old neighbour we’d hardly spoken with and offered to help with her groceries. After almost a year now of speaking to her each weekend — and the pleasure of some socially-distanced drinks together in her front garden during this summer’s brief pause in the lockdown — we have become friends. What took us so long, and why did it take a pandemic for so many of us to get to know our neighbours? Whatever the delay, it has made bonds in our area stronger, and I think it says something fundamental about us, despite the fraying social fabric we can also witness.
This past year, my role at the Aga Khan Foundation has given me a keen appreciation for the vital contributions that community organisations and non-profits have made during this pandemic. And it has convinced me even further how fundamentally important AKF’s long-term support of civil society in Asia and Africa is and has been.
Every year, AKF works with over 60,000 community organisations of all kinds – from women’s savings groups to farmer collectives to local NGOs. Having that strong spine of existing organisations, a deep reservoir of social capital, and long experience of working together, these groups were able to swing into action almost immediately last year to help keep their families and communities safe and healthy. In many respects, they were more ready than my neighbours and I were in London – and far more effective.
These organisations have been working in their communities for years, often for decades. Many had already been prepared by AKF and the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat to respond to local emergencies and natural disasters. Once our colleagues at the Aga Khan Hospitals and Aga Khan University were able to confirm the right protocols, we were able to work with the leadership of these community organisations to raise awareness about the virus in remote parts of Central and South Asia, Eastern Africa, Syria and Egypt.
Because they have been present in these communities for years, and are made up of local people with widespread trust, these groups have offered a powerful antidote to the fake news and conspiracy theories that have thrived elsewhere, creating panic in their wake. In some places, they literally saved lives by combatting misinformation and the stigmatisation of marginalised minorities that sometimes accompanied it.
Working together with other members of the Aga Khan Development Network, including the Nation Media Group and Habib Bank, these efforts reached more than 9 million people with important information about health and hygiene, helping keep them and their families safe. They helped connect some 7 million people to social safety nets, such as cash assistance and food distribution. And they worked with teachers and schools across ten countries to help over 135,000 children continue learning while classrooms were disrupted. The reach of this work has been remarkable – but it is by no means isolated. Their stories are not well-known, but thousands of other non-profit organisations have stepped up in this pandemic to provide vital relief and assistance. That is the power – and enduring potential – of civil society.
At the global level, we also have powerful examples of international cooperation and solidarity. The speed with which the scientific community, the pharmaceutical industry, and a range of governments have been able to react and cooperate has been astonishing. Within weeks of identifying the new coronavirus, scientists collaborating across the globe had been able to decode its genome and identify the new variant with precision.
Virologists, epidemiologists, physicians, behavioural scientists, and drug developers were able to rapidly develop testing protocols and kits, diagnostic and modelling capacity, and predictions to help guide policymakers in the early days of the disease. Governments activated policy tools that had been tested in other situations, such as Advanced Market Commitments and direct financial assistance to university labs and pharmaceutical companies. Within months, over a dozen vaccines were in development. Less than a year later, several have already proven effective and safe – the fastest vaccine development in history, by several years’ distance.
That feat of scientific, industrial, and political cooperation is unprecedented. The fact that it has happened so quickly and smoothly has perhaps stopped many of us from marking the full extent of that achievement. It is truly historic – but that success did not emerge in a vacuum. It too builds on long-term support for epidemic preparedness through organisations like the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which was jointly founded by the governments of Norway and India, the Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Economic Forum.
Each of these examples demonstrate the power of community action and international cooperation. They remind us why the hard work of building social cohesion is vital. But it cannot be achieved on-demand and overnight. It requires long-term, patient cultivation over years and across generations. That is why the Aga Khan Foundation has made support for civil society a cornerstone of our work for half a century – and will continue to do so.
As the world has seen over the past decade — and will experience even more forcefully in the wake of this pandemic — in times of economic stress, it is often tempting to cut the social programmes, the social institutions – schools, hospitals, non-profit organisations – that undergird our communities. But if this pandemic has taught us anything, it is that while eroding these foundations may seem economically expedient, our societies’ long-term resilience is dependent on the existence of these social safety nets, these engines of solidarity, these institutions of pluralism.
That is a lesson we must all heed as we now turn our thoughts to the future, and what it will mean to build back better from this pandemic.
https://www.akf.org.uk/cooperation-and- ... 25c8c5fc8d
Matt Reed, Global Director of Institutional Partnerships at AKF and CEO at AKF (UK)
Last month, I spoke at the launch of The Council of Europe Development Bank’s Award for Social Cohesion*. The award recognises outstanding organisations and projects contributing to social cohesion in Europe.
The topic could not be more important, as events of 2020 have underscored for all of us – from the fever pitch of polarisation on social media, to understandable outrage at police violence and institutional racism, to the rise of conspiracy theories, violence, and xenophobia culminating in attacks on the US capitol. Each of these point to societies struggling to cohere — to accept and embrace differences as a strength, not a weakness. Or so it all seems, if we follow the headlines and hysterias of Twitter.
But that dour vision – real though it is – is far from the whole story. When I look around the world and take stock of the past year, I see many extraordinary examples of people coming together in this pandemic to help one another, and all humanity. These examples of solidarity and solutions give the lie to the pessimistic view of polarised politics incapable of pragmatism and practical action.
Despite the very real threat of vaccine nationalism and instances where countries have prioritised self-preservation over global cooperation, over the past year there have also been many instances of incredible cooperation, coordination, and international selflessness. As we enter the second year of this pandemic, we would do well to remember those and draw on their inspiration.
In London, I have been struck this year by how many people have reached out to neighbours they barely knew – the elderly, the infirm, the sheltered, and the shielding. One of the tragic ironies of a pandemic is that the very instincts of solidarity we normally celebrate are actually dangerous. But for so many, the desire to help our neighbours (safely) transcended these constraints in 2020.
In the UK, we saw millions of people clapping for carers, and thousands of them hungry for a way to connect and contribute. Very quickly, voluntary schemes of all kinds sprouted across the country – from schoolchildren keeping fit with Joe Wicks and his virtual PE, to restaurants and hospitality staff forming volunteer kitchens to provide meals for NHS workers or other vulnerable people. In our neighbourhood, fliers quickly appeared in every mailbox offering help with shopping and deliveries.
In our own household, my wife quickly contacted the 92-year old neighbour we’d hardly spoken with and offered to help with her groceries. After almost a year now of speaking to her each weekend — and the pleasure of some socially-distanced drinks together in her front garden during this summer’s brief pause in the lockdown — we have become friends. What took us so long, and why did it take a pandemic for so many of us to get to know our neighbours? Whatever the delay, it has made bonds in our area stronger, and I think it says something fundamental about us, despite the fraying social fabric we can also witness.
This past year, my role at the Aga Khan Foundation has given me a keen appreciation for the vital contributions that community organisations and non-profits have made during this pandemic. And it has convinced me even further how fundamentally important AKF’s long-term support of civil society in Asia and Africa is and has been.
Every year, AKF works with over 60,000 community organisations of all kinds – from women’s savings groups to farmer collectives to local NGOs. Having that strong spine of existing organisations, a deep reservoir of social capital, and long experience of working together, these groups were able to swing into action almost immediately last year to help keep their families and communities safe and healthy. In many respects, they were more ready than my neighbours and I were in London – and far more effective.
These organisations have been working in their communities for years, often for decades. Many had already been prepared by AKF and the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat to respond to local emergencies and natural disasters. Once our colleagues at the Aga Khan Hospitals and Aga Khan University were able to confirm the right protocols, we were able to work with the leadership of these community organisations to raise awareness about the virus in remote parts of Central and South Asia, Eastern Africa, Syria and Egypt.
Because they have been present in these communities for years, and are made up of local people with widespread trust, these groups have offered a powerful antidote to the fake news and conspiracy theories that have thrived elsewhere, creating panic in their wake. In some places, they literally saved lives by combatting misinformation and the stigmatisation of marginalised minorities that sometimes accompanied it.
Working together with other members of the Aga Khan Development Network, including the Nation Media Group and Habib Bank, these efforts reached more than 9 million people with important information about health and hygiene, helping keep them and their families safe. They helped connect some 7 million people to social safety nets, such as cash assistance and food distribution. And they worked with teachers and schools across ten countries to help over 135,000 children continue learning while classrooms were disrupted. The reach of this work has been remarkable – but it is by no means isolated. Their stories are not well-known, but thousands of other non-profit organisations have stepped up in this pandemic to provide vital relief and assistance. That is the power – and enduring potential – of civil society.
At the global level, we also have powerful examples of international cooperation and solidarity. The speed with which the scientific community, the pharmaceutical industry, and a range of governments have been able to react and cooperate has been astonishing. Within weeks of identifying the new coronavirus, scientists collaborating across the globe had been able to decode its genome and identify the new variant with precision.
Virologists, epidemiologists, physicians, behavioural scientists, and drug developers were able to rapidly develop testing protocols and kits, diagnostic and modelling capacity, and predictions to help guide policymakers in the early days of the disease. Governments activated policy tools that had been tested in other situations, such as Advanced Market Commitments and direct financial assistance to university labs and pharmaceutical companies. Within months, over a dozen vaccines were in development. Less than a year later, several have already proven effective and safe – the fastest vaccine development in history, by several years’ distance.
That feat of scientific, industrial, and political cooperation is unprecedented. The fact that it has happened so quickly and smoothly has perhaps stopped many of us from marking the full extent of that achievement. It is truly historic – but that success did not emerge in a vacuum. It too builds on long-term support for epidemic preparedness through organisations like the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which was jointly founded by the governments of Norway and India, the Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Economic Forum.
Each of these examples demonstrate the power of community action and international cooperation. They remind us why the hard work of building social cohesion is vital. But it cannot be achieved on-demand and overnight. It requires long-term, patient cultivation over years and across generations. That is why the Aga Khan Foundation has made support for civil society a cornerstone of our work for half a century – and will continue to do so.
As the world has seen over the past decade — and will experience even more forcefully in the wake of this pandemic — in times of economic stress, it is often tempting to cut the social programmes, the social institutions – schools, hospitals, non-profit organisations – that undergird our communities. But if this pandemic has taught us anything, it is that while eroding these foundations may seem economically expedient, our societies’ long-term resilience is dependent on the existence of these social safety nets, these engines of solidarity, these institutions of pluralism.
That is a lesson we must all heed as we now turn our thoughts to the future, and what it will mean to build back better from this pandemic.
https://www.akf.org.uk/cooperation-and- ... 25c8c5fc8d
The Silk Road: A Living History - new exhibition
The Aga Khan Foundation is excited to announce the opening of a new outdoor photography exhibition on 8 April on Granary Square in London's King's Cross.
The Aga Khan Foundation is delighted to announce The Silk Road: A Living History, an open-air photography exhibition by Christopher Wilton-Steer. The exhibition documents Wilton-Steer’s journey along the historic trade route undertaken in 2019.
Over a period of four months, he travelled 40,000 km overland by car, bus, train, ferry, horse and camel from London to Beijing traversing sixteen countries. He began his journey from London’s King’s Cross where the show will be staged from 8 April 2021 and run until 16 June. The exhibition will be arranged around Granary Square and is presented in partnership with King’s Cross and Wild Frontiers.
Comprised of over 160 photographs, The Silk Road: A Living History invites the viewer to take a journey from London to Beijing, encountering many of the people, places and cultures along the ancient trade route. The exhibition’s linear design creates a physical route for the viewer offering them the chance to travel by proxy. With galleries closed due to the lockdown, this outdoor exhibition — which allows for social distancing — aims to offer visitors cultural stimulation at a time when we have been starved of it. Moreover, with the current travel restrictions, the exhibition opens up a world of far-flung destinations that are currently inaccessible. Says Wilton-Steer: ‘At a time when we are unable to travel, I hope that this exhibition will provide visitors with an escape from the UK into other worlds far away.’
The show aims to celebrate the diversity of cultural expressions found along the Silk Road, highlight examples of how historical practices, rituals and customs live on today, and also reveal some of the connections between what appear at first glance to be very different cultures. It also seeks to engender interest and understanding between distant cultures and challenge perceptions of less well known and understood parts of the world. Photographs from Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, India, China and elsewhere will feature in the show. Visitors will be able to access additional content including videos and music via QR codes on each panel of the exhibition.
The Silk Road, the name given to the numerous trading routes that connected China and the West, was first established during the days of the Roman Empire. For several centuries it facilitated the exchange of goods, ideas, religions and technologies across 1000s of miles, shaping and changing the world as we know it. While it lost its prominence to new maritime trade routes by the 1600s, its legacy still endures. China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, the $900 billion double trade corridor to reopen channels between China and the West, can be seen as its 21st century successor.
Wilton-Steer, who heads up communications at the Aga Khan Foundation UK, undertook his journey between July and November 2019. His interest began when he was a child, however. He says, ‘I first heard about the Silk Road at a young age and dreamt of travelling along it. Stories of desert cities, caravans of camel laden with goods, and of a trade route stretching across Eurasia sounded so alluring to me.’
Of the journey, Wilton-Steer adds: ‘When we fly somewhere, we arrive at the destination and all aspects of life are different. By traveling over land, I hoped to understand more about the similarities between different cultures and learn more about what connects us.’
The exhibition follows well-received presentations by Wilton-Steer at the Institut Française in Antananarivo, Madagascar (2016), The Royal Geographical Society (2018) and Philanthropy House, Brussels (2019), and was conceived with the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF). Established in 1967, the Foundation works with poor and marginalised communities in Africa, Asia and the Middle East to improve the quality of life, promote pluralism, and enhance self-reliance. Together with its sister agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network, it has been active in Central Asia for nearly 30 years, and for almost a century in India and Pakistan. Working alongside governments, the AKDN has been a long-term partner in the development of Afghanistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India and, more recently, Kazakhstan. In the last 30 years, the AKDN has invested and channelled significant financial and human resources into the economic, social and cultural development of Central Asia with the promotion of pluralism and women’s empowerment central to those efforts.
Several examples of AKF and AKDN’s work along the Silk Road are documented in the exhibition, such as the Vanj cross-border bridge between Afghanistan with Tajikistan. This is one of six bridges constructed by AKF to help improve connectivity between these two historically linked regions. Agreements between the respective governments allow traders to sell goods in specially designated markets on one or both sides of the bridges. Afghans can also cross these bridges to receive critical health care saving them a long and arduous journey through the mountains to the nearest Afghan hospital.
Another photo shows Karimkol, a fruit and vegetable farmer from the Jalal-abad region of Kyrgyzstan. As part of its food security work, the Aga Khan Foundation supports farmers like Karimkol to expand their nurseries so that they can in-turn support other farmers in this remote and mountainous region.
Another facet of AKDN’s work is the preservation of historic buildings, such as Khaplu Palace in northern Pakistan. Built in 1840, it is the finest surviving example of a royal residence in the region. By the early 2000s the palace had fallen into disrepair with livestock living in some of the rooms. Working alongside local government, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture began restoration work in 2005 and the palace re-opened as a museum and heritage hotel under the Serena Hotel Group in 2011. The restoration of the palace created dozens of jobs in the hospitality sector and has helped open the area to tourism. The restoration work has received numerous awards including a UNESCO Heritage Conservation Award in 2013.
The importance of tourism promotion is underscored with a photograph documenting the opening ceremony of a new tourism centre in the Pamir Mountains of Eastern Tajikistan, in which a girl in traditional Tajik clothes dances. As part of its economic inclusion efforts, the Foundation supports the sustainable development of tourism in the region for the benefit of local communities. Established in 2008 with the support of the Aga Khan Foundation, PECTA — which operate the tourism centres — creates job opportunities for local people and encourages the preservation of historical heritage, natural resources, and wildlife while supporting tourists to visit this remote and breathtakingly beautiful region.
The Silk Road: A Living History will run from 8th April until 16th June 2021 on Granary Square in London’s Kings Cross. It is an open-air exhibition and free to the public.
Restrictions permitting, the exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of publicly accessible talks and workshops at the Aga Khan Centre. Information on these will be released in March. There are also plans for an Aga Khan Foundation Silk Road Bazaar in the nearby Canopy Market area.
www.silkroad-livinghistory.org
https://www.akf.org.uk/the-silk-road-a- ... 25c8c5fc8d
The Aga Khan Foundation is excited to announce the opening of a new outdoor photography exhibition on 8 April on Granary Square in London's King's Cross.
The Aga Khan Foundation is delighted to announce The Silk Road: A Living History, an open-air photography exhibition by Christopher Wilton-Steer. The exhibition documents Wilton-Steer’s journey along the historic trade route undertaken in 2019.
Over a period of four months, he travelled 40,000 km overland by car, bus, train, ferry, horse and camel from London to Beijing traversing sixteen countries. He began his journey from London’s King’s Cross where the show will be staged from 8 April 2021 and run until 16 June. The exhibition will be arranged around Granary Square and is presented in partnership with King’s Cross and Wild Frontiers.
Comprised of over 160 photographs, The Silk Road: A Living History invites the viewer to take a journey from London to Beijing, encountering many of the people, places and cultures along the ancient trade route. The exhibition’s linear design creates a physical route for the viewer offering them the chance to travel by proxy. With galleries closed due to the lockdown, this outdoor exhibition — which allows for social distancing — aims to offer visitors cultural stimulation at a time when we have been starved of it. Moreover, with the current travel restrictions, the exhibition opens up a world of far-flung destinations that are currently inaccessible. Says Wilton-Steer: ‘At a time when we are unable to travel, I hope that this exhibition will provide visitors with an escape from the UK into other worlds far away.’
The show aims to celebrate the diversity of cultural expressions found along the Silk Road, highlight examples of how historical practices, rituals and customs live on today, and also reveal some of the connections between what appear at first glance to be very different cultures. It also seeks to engender interest and understanding between distant cultures and challenge perceptions of less well known and understood parts of the world. Photographs from Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, India, China and elsewhere will feature in the show. Visitors will be able to access additional content including videos and music via QR codes on each panel of the exhibition.
The Silk Road, the name given to the numerous trading routes that connected China and the West, was first established during the days of the Roman Empire. For several centuries it facilitated the exchange of goods, ideas, religions and technologies across 1000s of miles, shaping and changing the world as we know it. While it lost its prominence to new maritime trade routes by the 1600s, its legacy still endures. China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, the $900 billion double trade corridor to reopen channels between China and the West, can be seen as its 21st century successor.
Wilton-Steer, who heads up communications at the Aga Khan Foundation UK, undertook his journey between July and November 2019. His interest began when he was a child, however. He says, ‘I first heard about the Silk Road at a young age and dreamt of travelling along it. Stories of desert cities, caravans of camel laden with goods, and of a trade route stretching across Eurasia sounded so alluring to me.’
Of the journey, Wilton-Steer adds: ‘When we fly somewhere, we arrive at the destination and all aspects of life are different. By traveling over land, I hoped to understand more about the similarities between different cultures and learn more about what connects us.’
The exhibition follows well-received presentations by Wilton-Steer at the Institut Française in Antananarivo, Madagascar (2016), The Royal Geographical Society (2018) and Philanthropy House, Brussels (2019), and was conceived with the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF). Established in 1967, the Foundation works with poor and marginalised communities in Africa, Asia and the Middle East to improve the quality of life, promote pluralism, and enhance self-reliance. Together with its sister agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network, it has been active in Central Asia for nearly 30 years, and for almost a century in India and Pakistan. Working alongside governments, the AKDN has been a long-term partner in the development of Afghanistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India and, more recently, Kazakhstan. In the last 30 years, the AKDN has invested and channelled significant financial and human resources into the economic, social and cultural development of Central Asia with the promotion of pluralism and women’s empowerment central to those efforts.
Several examples of AKF and AKDN’s work along the Silk Road are documented in the exhibition, such as the Vanj cross-border bridge between Afghanistan with Tajikistan. This is one of six bridges constructed by AKF to help improve connectivity between these two historically linked regions. Agreements between the respective governments allow traders to sell goods in specially designated markets on one or both sides of the bridges. Afghans can also cross these bridges to receive critical health care saving them a long and arduous journey through the mountains to the nearest Afghan hospital.
Another photo shows Karimkol, a fruit and vegetable farmer from the Jalal-abad region of Kyrgyzstan. As part of its food security work, the Aga Khan Foundation supports farmers like Karimkol to expand their nurseries so that they can in-turn support other farmers in this remote and mountainous region.
Another facet of AKDN’s work is the preservation of historic buildings, such as Khaplu Palace in northern Pakistan. Built in 1840, it is the finest surviving example of a royal residence in the region. By the early 2000s the palace had fallen into disrepair with livestock living in some of the rooms. Working alongside local government, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture began restoration work in 2005 and the palace re-opened as a museum and heritage hotel under the Serena Hotel Group in 2011. The restoration of the palace created dozens of jobs in the hospitality sector and has helped open the area to tourism. The restoration work has received numerous awards including a UNESCO Heritage Conservation Award in 2013.
The importance of tourism promotion is underscored with a photograph documenting the opening ceremony of a new tourism centre in the Pamir Mountains of Eastern Tajikistan, in which a girl in traditional Tajik clothes dances. As part of its economic inclusion efforts, the Foundation supports the sustainable development of tourism in the region for the benefit of local communities. Established in 2008 with the support of the Aga Khan Foundation, PECTA — which operate the tourism centres — creates job opportunities for local people and encourages the preservation of historical heritage, natural resources, and wildlife while supporting tourists to visit this remote and breathtakingly beautiful region.
The Silk Road: A Living History will run from 8th April until 16th June 2021 on Granary Square in London’s Kings Cross. It is an open-air exhibition and free to the public.
Restrictions permitting, the exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of publicly accessible talks and workshops at the Aga Khan Centre. Information on these will be released in March. There are also plans for an Aga Khan Foundation Silk Road Bazaar in the nearby Canopy Market area.
www.silkroad-livinghistory.org
https://www.akf.org.uk/the-silk-road-a- ... 25c8c5fc8d
Travelling the Silk Road:
From London to Beijing
A talk with the creator of 'The Silk Road: A Living History' exhibition, Christopher Wilton-Steer
5 May 2021 | 5:30pm BST | Online
REGISTER :
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... 25c8c5fc8d
Join us for a conversation with Christopher Wilton-Steer, creator of ‘The Silk Road: A Living History’ exhibition who will discuss his 40,000km (mostly) overland journey across Eurasia in 2019.
Over a period of four months, Christopher travelled by car, bus, train, ferry, horse and camel from London to Beijing traversing sixteen countries.
Christopher will share his experiences of planning the trip; how he got from A to B to C, and eventually to Z; stories about the varied people, places and cultures he encountered; and talk about the work of the Aga Khan Development Network that he witnessed along this most celebrated of trade routes.
Christopher is travel photographer and serves as Head of Communications for the Aga Khan Foundation UK. Through his photography, he is interested in exploring less well documented parts of the world in an effort to build bridges of interest and understanding between different cultures. His work has been featured in magazines and newspapers around the world including National Geographic, The Guardian, CNN, Financial Times, and Der Spiegel amongst others.
Take a journey through history and cultures, exploring ancient civilisations and contemporary nations.
Take a journey with us along 40,000km of the ancient Silk Road
On 8 April, AKF (UK) opened a new exhibition The Silk Road: A Living History on Granary Square in King's Cross, London.
Comprised of over 160 photographs, the exhibition tracks the route taken overland by Christopher Wilton-Steer, a travel photographer and Head of Communications at AKF (UK), over four months in 2019. The Silk Road: A Living History invites the viewer to take a journey from London to Beijing, encountering many of the people, places and cultures along the ancient trade route.
With galleries closed due to the lockdown, this outdoor exhibition — which allows for social distancing — aims to offer visitors cultural stimulation at a time when we have been starved of it. Moreover, with the current travel restrictions, the exhibition opens up a world of far-flung destinations that are currently inaccessible.
The exhibition runs until 16 June and is free and open to the public.
Learn more at: www.silkroad-livinghistory.org
Silk Road in the press
BBC Radio London (2:07:36)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09ch ... 25c8c5fc8d
Time Out
https://www.timeout.com/london/news/you ... 25c8c5fc8d
London Magazine
https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/inter ... 25c8c5fc8d
Wanderlust
https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/si ... 25c8c5fc8d
Oxus Society for Central Asia
https://oxussociety.org/the-silk-road-a ... 25c8c5fc8d
Apollo Magazine
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/the-sil ... 25c8c5fc8d
Wall Street International
https://wsimag.com/art/65363-the-silk-r ... 25c8c5fc8d
Metal Magazine
https://metalmagazine.eu/bi/post/articl ... 25c8c5fc8d
Sky News Arabia
Al Maghreb Alaan
On 8 April, AKF (UK) opened a new exhibition The Silk Road: A Living History on Granary Square in King's Cross, London.
Comprised of over 160 photographs, the exhibition tracks the route taken overland by Christopher Wilton-Steer, a travel photographer and Head of Communications at AKF (UK), over four months in 2019. The Silk Road: A Living History invites the viewer to take a journey from London to Beijing, encountering many of the people, places and cultures along the ancient trade route.
With galleries closed due to the lockdown, this outdoor exhibition — which allows for social distancing — aims to offer visitors cultural stimulation at a time when we have been starved of it. Moreover, with the current travel restrictions, the exhibition opens up a world of far-flung destinations that are currently inaccessible.
The exhibition runs until 16 June and is free and open to the public.
Learn more at: www.silkroad-livinghistory.org
Silk Road in the press
BBC Radio London (2:07:36)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09ch ... 25c8c5fc8d
Time Out
https://www.timeout.com/london/news/you ... 25c8c5fc8d
London Magazine
https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/inter ... 25c8c5fc8d
Wanderlust
https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/si ... 25c8c5fc8d
Oxus Society for Central Asia
https://oxussociety.org/the-silk-road-a ... 25c8c5fc8d
Apollo Magazine
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/the-sil ... 25c8c5fc8d
Wall Street International
https://wsimag.com/art/65363-the-silk-r ... 25c8c5fc8d
Metal Magazine
https://metalmagazine.eu/bi/post/articl ... 25c8c5fc8d
Sky News Arabia
Al Maghreb Alaan
Travelling the Silk Road: from London to Beijing
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVUfQfKqDU8
A talk with the creator of ‘The Silk Road: A Living History’ exhibition, Christopher Wilton-Steer
Over a period of four months, Christopher travelled by car, bus, train, ferry, horse and camel from London to Beijing traversing sixteen countries.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVUfQfKqDU8
A talk with the creator of ‘The Silk Road: A Living History’ exhibition, Christopher Wilton-Steer
Over a period of four months, Christopher travelled by car, bus, train, ferry, horse and camel from London to Beijing traversing sixteen countries.
The Silk Road: A Living History - Introduction to the exhibition
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHc-8ENQdc
In 2019, Christopher Wilton-Steer, Head of Communications, AKF UK, travelled overland from London to Beijing photographing the people, places and cultures he encountered on the way.
An exhibition of those photographs is now open on Granary Square, King's Cross, London. In this video, Christopher briefly takes us on some of that journey.
Learn more at: www.silkroad-livinghistory.org
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHc-8ENQdc
In 2019, Christopher Wilton-Steer, Head of Communications, AKF UK, travelled overland from London to Beijing photographing the people, places and cultures he encountered on the way.
An exhibition of those photographs is now open on Granary Square, King's Cross, London. In this video, Christopher briefly takes us on some of that journey.
Learn more at: www.silkroad-livinghistory.org
Webinar
Travelling the Silk Road from East to West: How a 14th century Mongol pilgrim became the leader of the church in Iraq
9 June 2021 | 12:00pm BST | Online
REGISTER: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... 25c8c5fc8d
In this talk, Professor Philip Wood examines the lives of Barsauma and Mark, Christian pilgrims from Mongolia who became important players in the politics of 14th century Iraq. This session will explore the conditions under which long distance overland travel and the spread of ideas and personnel across Eurasia was possible during this period.
Professor Wood will also discuss some of the unusual diplomatic links between the East and the West in this period, such as the attempt by the Mongol Ilkhan to organise a crusade against Jerusalem in alliance with the Pope and the king of France.
This talk will highlight how Christianity in the 14th century was not only a European phenomenon and how the Christian communities that this pilgrim encountered in Central Asia had rich histories going back to the 6th and 7th centuries.
Travelling the Silk Road from East to West: How a 14th century Mongol pilgrim became the leader of the church in Iraq
9 June 2021 | 12:00pm BST | Online
REGISTER: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... 25c8c5fc8d
In this talk, Professor Philip Wood examines the lives of Barsauma and Mark, Christian pilgrims from Mongolia who became important players in the politics of 14th century Iraq. This session will explore the conditions under which long distance overland travel and the spread of ideas and personnel across Eurasia was possible during this period.
Professor Wood will also discuss some of the unusual diplomatic links between the East and the West in this period, such as the attempt by the Mongol Ilkhan to organise a crusade against Jerusalem in alliance with the Pope and the king of France.
This talk will highlight how Christianity in the 14th century was not only a European phenomenon and how the Christian communities that this pilgrim encountered in Central Asia had rich histories going back to the 6th and 7th centuries.
Restoring the values of the past:
Creating a school of music in Tajikistan
Register at:
https://iis-ac-uk.zoom.us/webinar/regis ... 25c8c5fc8d
In this talk Otambek Mastibekov will share why he felt compelled to establish a music school in Tajikistan that focused on the teaching and promotion of madḥiya-khānī, the devotional songs and music of the Badakhshani/Pamiri Ismaili Muslims.
Madḥiya is a poetic genre in Persian and Arabic literature. For the Ismaili Muslims of the Silk Road: Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Western China and Northern Pakistan, madḥiya is devotional singing that embodies the art of music, religion, philosophy and ethics. Known in the region as madḥiya-khānī (singing madḥiya) or qaṣīda-khānī (singing qaṣīda), its origin goes back, according to tradition, to the 11th century poet, philosopher and traveller Nāṣir Khusraw (1004-1088 CE). 
Dr Mastibekov will explore how components of religious and cultural values were lost during the Soviet period in Tajikistan and the role of the music school in restoring these values. He will share the challenges involved in establishing the school, of recovering knowledge related to this historical musical tradition as well as learning about the origin of Badakhshani musical instruments. Dr Mastibekov will share stories and video clips of the students at the music school and his plans and hopes for its future. Finally, he will touch upon the history of madḥiya literature and the manuscript preservation and analysis work at the Ismaili Special Collection unit at The Institute of Ismaili Studies.
'The Silk Road: A Living History' talks are a collaboration between Aga Khan Foundation UK, Aga Khan University – Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and The Institute of The Ismaili Studies.
Time
Jun 2, 2021 02:00 PM in London
Creating a school of music in Tajikistan
Register at:
https://iis-ac-uk.zoom.us/webinar/regis ... 25c8c5fc8d
In this talk Otambek Mastibekov will share why he felt compelled to establish a music school in Tajikistan that focused on the teaching and promotion of madḥiya-khānī, the devotional songs and music of the Badakhshani/Pamiri Ismaili Muslims.
Madḥiya is a poetic genre in Persian and Arabic literature. For the Ismaili Muslims of the Silk Road: Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Western China and Northern Pakistan, madḥiya is devotional singing that embodies the art of music, religion, philosophy and ethics. Known in the region as madḥiya-khānī (singing madḥiya) or qaṣīda-khānī (singing qaṣīda), its origin goes back, according to tradition, to the 11th century poet, philosopher and traveller Nāṣir Khusraw (1004-1088 CE). 
Dr Mastibekov will explore how components of religious and cultural values were lost during the Soviet period in Tajikistan and the role of the music school in restoring these values. He will share the challenges involved in establishing the school, of recovering knowledge related to this historical musical tradition as well as learning about the origin of Badakhshani musical instruments. Dr Mastibekov will share stories and video clips of the students at the music school and his plans and hopes for its future. Finally, he will touch upon the history of madḥiya literature and the manuscript preservation and analysis work at the Ismaili Special Collection unit at The Institute of Ismaili Studies.
'The Silk Road: A Living History' talks are a collaboration between Aga Khan Foundation UK, Aga Khan University – Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and The Institute of The Ismaili Studies.
Time
Jun 2, 2021 02:00 PM in London
Announcing the SILK ROAD BAZAAR in London's King's Cross! From 11-13 June 2021
Love markets, craft products and supporting small businesses?
This is just the thing for you.
11 - 13 June 2021 | Canopy Market, King's Cross
The Aga Khan Foundation are delighted to announce The Silk Road Bazaar — an artisan market inspired by and staged alongside the open-air photography exhibition, The Silk Road: A Living History in London’s King’s Cross.
Between 11-13 June, a select group of vendors selling artisanal wares from countries along the historic Silk Road trading route will come together to form the Silk Road Bazaar.
Visitors will be able to learn about a craft products from along the Silk Road and purchase a variety of goods including Ottoman-inspired silks from Turkey, Pakistani homeware, Afghan jewellery, leather accessories from Cairo, one-of-a-kind calligraphy art, organic saffron from Iran, handmade Uzbek hats, small batch artisan teas and baklava to name just a few items for sale.
“The Aga Khan Foundation is delighted to bring together this unique collection of vendors from across Central and South Asia and the Middle East. Artisans are a vital link to the Silk Road’s rich cultural heritage, but they are also a critical resource for local livelihoods. Between the twin threats of globalisation and this pandemic, they are more under threat than ever. Please come to the Bazaar, be part of our efforts to support local artisans, and discover the extraordinary talent from these regions,” Matt Reed Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation UK.
Location & Timings
Location
Canopy Market
King's Cross
London N1C 4BH
Opening hours
Friday 11 June: 12pm – 8pm
Saturday 12 June: 11am – 6pm
Sunday 13 June: 11am – 6pm
The Vendors
ART OF THE PEN is Soraya Syed’s London-based calligraphy studio. Soraya was an apprentice to a master calligrapher in Istanbul and received her license in 2005.
Soraya will be demonstrating her craft and selling some of her work, alongside specially-selected tools from Istanbul.
Attar Apothecary sells single farmer, fair trade and organically grown saffron & rose petals from Iran.
We also source hand crafted items such as glassware, ceramics and stoneware.
The Doppi Project by BENI is a story and journey by diaspora to discover and reclaim their heritage thread by thread.
The project tells the story of both Uyghur and Uzbek culture via traditional and historical hats called ‘Doppi’, and what they symbolise for a new generation today.
ISHKAR is helping craft thrive in challenging contexts. The objects we sell have been handcrafted in places that are, or have been, affected by conflict or political turbulence.
Cut off from international markets and unable to sustain their businesses, many artisans have downed their tools. We’re aiming to bring vitality to our shared global heritage.
MISHKĀ is synonymous with beautiful objects handcrafted by women living among Cairo’s historic Mamluk monuments in the ‘City of the Dead’ using traditional techniques and the finest natural materials.
Training and design support by designers, including Bill Amberg, provides the women with the skills to produce these products, which are sold for the benefit of their families and themselves.
Nimuri sells homeware and clothing made in Pakistan, supporting heritage craft skills and creating beautiful and unique products that tell a story about the country’s rich artisanal history.
It sources from small family-run or female-led businesses, charities and not-for-profit organisations.
Ottoman Silks reproduces fabrics from the illustrious Ottoman Empire. The collection comprises of six elegant designs that were originally commissioned and worn by the Ottoman Sultans and their royal court.
Our exclusive range of kaftans, waistcoats and accessories is unique in its combination of heritage and contemporary designs and has been made to the highest standards.
Pink Tea Café brings joy, inspiration and a moment of magic through the finest speciality teas, artisan chai blends and exquisite handcrafted baklava.
We offer some of the rarest teas in the world meticulously selected by our tea master from estates farming sustainably, each one complemented with a poem so that every sip is a conscious and mindful one.
Sabbara was founded by and working with Syrian refugee women.
We make stunning embroidered cushions and clutches which provide those who are most in need with a living wage, a creative outlet for trauma, and a supportive community.
S jo creates original, one of a kind accessories drawing inspiration from traditional textile techniques and handcrafted by artisans mainly women from villages in Pakistan.
It was born out of a design PhD project looking to improve power and privilege specifically within the act of craft practice between traditional women’s craft communities and NGOs/designers in development.
Eastern Rug Centre supplies hand-made Afghan rugs made by our own weavers in the Northern and North-Western regions of Afghanistan to many Oriental rug shops and individual customers across the UK.
We have been based in London UK for over 25 years.
Learn more...
https://www.akf.org.uk/silk-road-bazaar ... 25c8c5fc8d
Love markets, craft products and supporting small businesses?
This is just the thing for you.
11 - 13 June 2021 | Canopy Market, King's Cross
The Aga Khan Foundation are delighted to announce The Silk Road Bazaar — an artisan market inspired by and staged alongside the open-air photography exhibition, The Silk Road: A Living History in London’s King’s Cross.
Between 11-13 June, a select group of vendors selling artisanal wares from countries along the historic Silk Road trading route will come together to form the Silk Road Bazaar.
Visitors will be able to learn about a craft products from along the Silk Road and purchase a variety of goods including Ottoman-inspired silks from Turkey, Pakistani homeware, Afghan jewellery, leather accessories from Cairo, one-of-a-kind calligraphy art, organic saffron from Iran, handmade Uzbek hats, small batch artisan teas and baklava to name just a few items for sale.
“The Aga Khan Foundation is delighted to bring together this unique collection of vendors from across Central and South Asia and the Middle East. Artisans are a vital link to the Silk Road’s rich cultural heritage, but they are also a critical resource for local livelihoods. Between the twin threats of globalisation and this pandemic, they are more under threat than ever. Please come to the Bazaar, be part of our efforts to support local artisans, and discover the extraordinary talent from these regions,” Matt Reed Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation UK.
Location & Timings
Location
Canopy Market
King's Cross
London N1C 4BH
Opening hours
Friday 11 June: 12pm – 8pm
Saturday 12 June: 11am – 6pm
Sunday 13 June: 11am – 6pm
The Vendors
ART OF THE PEN is Soraya Syed’s London-based calligraphy studio. Soraya was an apprentice to a master calligrapher in Istanbul and received her license in 2005.
Soraya will be demonstrating her craft and selling some of her work, alongside specially-selected tools from Istanbul.
Attar Apothecary sells single farmer, fair trade and organically grown saffron & rose petals from Iran.
We also source hand crafted items such as glassware, ceramics and stoneware.
The Doppi Project by BENI is a story and journey by diaspora to discover and reclaim their heritage thread by thread.
The project tells the story of both Uyghur and Uzbek culture via traditional and historical hats called ‘Doppi’, and what they symbolise for a new generation today.
ISHKAR is helping craft thrive in challenging contexts. The objects we sell have been handcrafted in places that are, or have been, affected by conflict or political turbulence.
Cut off from international markets and unable to sustain their businesses, many artisans have downed their tools. We’re aiming to bring vitality to our shared global heritage.
MISHKĀ is synonymous with beautiful objects handcrafted by women living among Cairo’s historic Mamluk monuments in the ‘City of the Dead’ using traditional techniques and the finest natural materials.
Training and design support by designers, including Bill Amberg, provides the women with the skills to produce these products, which are sold for the benefit of their families and themselves.
Nimuri sells homeware and clothing made in Pakistan, supporting heritage craft skills and creating beautiful and unique products that tell a story about the country’s rich artisanal history.
It sources from small family-run or female-led businesses, charities and not-for-profit organisations.
Ottoman Silks reproduces fabrics from the illustrious Ottoman Empire. The collection comprises of six elegant designs that were originally commissioned and worn by the Ottoman Sultans and their royal court.
Our exclusive range of kaftans, waistcoats and accessories is unique in its combination of heritage and contemporary designs and has been made to the highest standards.
Pink Tea Café brings joy, inspiration and a moment of magic through the finest speciality teas, artisan chai blends and exquisite handcrafted baklava.
We offer some of the rarest teas in the world meticulously selected by our tea master from estates farming sustainably, each one complemented with a poem so that every sip is a conscious and mindful one.
Sabbara was founded by and working with Syrian refugee women.
We make stunning embroidered cushions and clutches which provide those who are most in need with a living wage, a creative outlet for trauma, and a supportive community.
S jo creates original, one of a kind accessories drawing inspiration from traditional textile techniques and handcrafted by artisans mainly women from villages in Pakistan.
It was born out of a design PhD project looking to improve power and privilege specifically within the act of craft practice between traditional women’s craft communities and NGOs/designers in development.
Eastern Rug Centre supplies hand-made Afghan rugs made by our own weavers in the Northern and North-Western regions of Afghanistan to many Oriental rug shops and individual customers across the UK.
We have been based in London UK for over 25 years.
Learn more...
https://www.akf.org.uk/silk-road-bazaar ... 25c8c5fc8d
Trade, Heritage and Landscape along the Silk Roads
with Professor Michael Jansen, GuTech Muscat; Professor Roland Lin, UNESCO / EPHE, Paris; Professor Stephane Pradines, ISMC – AKU, London
16 June 2021 | 12pm BST | Online
REGISTER
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... 25c8c5fc8d
During this webinar chaired by Professor Stéphane Pradines, Professor Roland Lin and Professor Michael Jansen will discuss the Silk Roads and networks between Asia, Africa and Europe.
The experts will focus particularly on the land and maritime routes in Central Asia and the Indian Ocean. With some historical and archaeological examples, the discussants will show how Emporiums, city-States and thalassocracies were created around commercial networks. Along the Silk Roads, not only products were exchanged but people circulated bringing with them new ideas, cultures, and religions such as Buddhism and Islam.
The panel will develop the idea of intangible heritage along the Silk Roads, and they will share their long-time experience on how to preserve and promote heritage along the Silk Roads. The main questions our speakers will try to answer are how to identify heritage, preserve, and promote sites and monuments? What are the challenges for archaeologists, heritage architects for conservation, creation of infrastructures and sustainable development? What are the NGO and international organisations, such as UNESCO, doing to support nations, cultures, identities, territories through the World Heritage list and what kind of opportunities are created and developed along the Silk Roads heritage?
with Professor Michael Jansen, GuTech Muscat; Professor Roland Lin, UNESCO / EPHE, Paris; Professor Stephane Pradines, ISMC – AKU, London
16 June 2021 | 12pm BST | Online
REGISTER
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... 25c8c5fc8d
During this webinar chaired by Professor Stéphane Pradines, Professor Roland Lin and Professor Michael Jansen will discuss the Silk Roads and networks between Asia, Africa and Europe.
The experts will focus particularly on the land and maritime routes in Central Asia and the Indian Ocean. With some historical and archaeological examples, the discussants will show how Emporiums, city-States and thalassocracies were created around commercial networks. Along the Silk Roads, not only products were exchanged but people circulated bringing with them new ideas, cultures, and religions such as Buddhism and Islam.
The panel will develop the idea of intangible heritage along the Silk Roads, and they will share their long-time experience on how to preserve and promote heritage along the Silk Roads. The main questions our speakers will try to answer are how to identify heritage, preserve, and promote sites and monuments? What are the challenges for archaeologists, heritage architects for conservation, creation of infrastructures and sustainable development? What are the NGO and international organisations, such as UNESCO, doing to support nations, cultures, identities, territories through the World Heritage list and what kind of opportunities are created and developed along the Silk Roads heritage?
Sport and Nation Building along the Silk Road: Football and Identity Politics
with Professor Leif Stenberg, Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
30 June 2021 | 12pm BST | Online
REGISTER
https://aku-edu.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... 25c8c5fc8d
In many states along the Silk Road, there is a strong link between sport and national identity. Various sports are promoted as ancient as the state itself and become associated with an identity politics upheld by the state.
In recent decades, football has challenged other sports and has become a global dominant force particularly when it comes to finances and popularity. Football fans from Turkey in the west to China in the east support their local and national teams. Football today is not only a dominant financial player, clubs across the world are also supported by religious and ethnic communities and are represented at various political levels.
This talk will present and discuss the role sports, especially football, play within several local and national contexts in countries along the Silk Road.
We hope you can join us.
with Professor Leif Stenberg, Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
30 June 2021 | 12pm BST | Online
REGISTER
https://aku-edu.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... 25c8c5fc8d
In many states along the Silk Road, there is a strong link between sport and national identity. Various sports are promoted as ancient as the state itself and become associated with an identity politics upheld by the state.
In recent decades, football has challenged other sports and has become a global dominant force particularly when it comes to finances and popularity. Football fans from Turkey in the west to China in the east support their local and national teams. Football today is not only a dominant financial player, clubs across the world are also supported by religious and ethnic communities and are represented at various political levels.
This talk will present and discuss the role sports, especially football, play within several local and national contexts in countries along the Silk Road.
We hope you can join us.