Written by: Nahal Sheikh
Posted on: July 06, 2020 | 
| 中文
Eid in the Backyard
Areesha Khalid is a designer whose unique and striking pieces of art seek to capture identities that are not often highlighted in the landscape of art, and to bring about a change in attitudes through her art. A recent graduate of BA Architecture from Westminster University, she currently works at a design studio in London, creating bespoke work.
Although her initial plan was to go to medical school, it did not bring her a sense of fulfilment. Soon enough she began researching into architecture, a fascinating blend of arts and sciences, both of which she enjoyed greatly. Without much hope, she applied to Westminster’s Architecture program with a minimal portfolio, an explanation of why going to medical school didn’t feel right, and some low-quality photos taken by her father while she stood next to her AS-Level art exhibition, “posing awkwardly”.
Areesha Khalid
Areesha moved from Pakistan to the UK 11 years ago, planned to complete medical school in Pakistan, but instead stayed on in the UK. The amalgamation of both Western and South Asian culture is part of her identity. Both the conflict and the harmony that came from such an experience, reflect in her work, and in some ways have built her design ideology.
When Areesha first moved to the UK to a “predominantly white town”, she was the only Pakistani in her high school. Freely expressing her Pakistani roots felt difficult to do. “I was never embarrassed by my culture but of course, to fit in, I didn’t openly express myself and my heritage as I wish I could have.”
Hema Malini, the Dream Girl of the 70's
Things finally changed at university, where everyone asserted their culture unapologetically. This environment encouraged her to form a bond with Pakistani culture and heritage. However, until her third year at university, Areesha struggled to ‘find her style’. Seeing her work now, it’s difficult to see she ever struggled with style, as hers is a particular aesthetic – it is illustrative, meticulous, and hypermodern. During university, two of her studio tutors, Jane and Tom, had a great influence on her way of thinking, designing, and expression.
Areesha explains that her mentors taught her to never be apolitical, and stick by what she believed in. This meant that she learn and reflect on history, current issues, and use art to bring about change or awareness. Such a way of thinking arose from ‘The Situationist International’ School, a group of avant-garde revolutionaries from the 1950s-70s, who gave equal importance to politics and technique.
A quote from their manifesto, The Situationist City by Simon Sandler, proved to be a turning point for Areesha. “We are bored in the city, we really have to strain to still discover mysteries on the sidewalk, billboards, the latest state of humour and poetry”.
The quote refers to the mundaneness of life, in which homes and spaces are reduced to functional machines for living, and creative tendencies such as poetry and dreaming are sacrificed for safety. Areesha aspires for her design to stand out, to raise a voice, and to break from the status quo. There was no purpose in designing spaces that are mundane and neat, she didn’t want to create something realistic, simple, and constrained.
Khalid's In-Progress Concept for a Hotel
For her third year project at the university, Areesha created bold, bright, and loud images for her project, ‘Hacienda for the Homo Ludens’. The Hacienda used to be a nightclub in Manchester in the 1980s, seen as a cultural hub to defy society. And ‘Homo Ludens’ is a term she borrowed from The Situationist International, which means ‘playful men’. By bringing these two concepts together, she created her concept: the design of a playful and fun studio for artists in London.
Project Hacienda for Homo Ludens
In the design, there are trampoline-like social spaces, slides for circulation around the building, houses on wheels, lens windows, adult playgrounds, and meditation pods that give wings. This frame of design follows a specific quote from the manifesto: “The public, who are children of a kind, need the spontaneous manifestation of social life”.
For the artist studio, artists could work freely, collaborate, and awaken lost creativity as opposed to the struggling work/life duality they currently face in London. Areesha is aware that such a way of thinking may sound “extreme” and “unrealistic” but is cognizant of the reason why such a claim feels so outlandish. “Perhaps the design industry wants these changes, but we are trapped beneath the crippling burden of ‘need’ and ‘budget’”.
Nowadays, Areesha’s Instagram page ‘architecturebyari’ shows the artist with a much clearer sense of artistic expression. In recent months, quarantine has given her more time to experiment and play. But she does not try to fit in or shy away from her South Asian culture anymore. She now spends more time reading, researching, and discussing her connection to Pakistan.
COVID Fashion
“[I have been] rediscovering random things I used to love as a kid growing up in Pakistan, like a stroll through bazaars in androon [inner] Rawalpindi, or chugging Rooh Afza that my mum prepared for me, as I ran home, covered in sweat after playing outside with the neighborhood kids every evening.”
Now when she thinks about these things, they feel different, “I see Rooh Afza as less of a rose flavoured drink on a hot summer’s day, and more of a cultural symbol for the land I grew up in.”
Iftar Evening in Androon City
Even though this is a fresh perspective for her, she feels there’s an irony to be addressed. For her, it feels ironic to draw the things you love about your home country, where you longer have to deal with the hardships of living there.
This is a form of guilt many immigrants experience, who are admirers of the land in which they no longer live. From the love of Pakistan, its cultural intricacies, and a desire to be and not be there, Areesha drew the ‘Diaspora Digest’. It’s a magazine cover concept that reflects the warmth as well as guilt, by showing the streets of Old Rawalpindi, in what she calls, “the connoisseur’s magazine of homeland romanticism.”
The Front Cover of Diaspora Digest
Areesha asks difficult questions to herself and the viewers about identity, creativity, and disruption. She hopes that her work encourages people to embrace the irrational, emotional, and personal aspects of their lives, and escape the mundanities of life, which stifle artistic expression.
You may also like:
