Lahore Landing

In Lahore, the cultural heart of Pakistan, a new generation of citizen activists is working to enact change in their embattled country. Four media students from Singapore visit Lahore, where they encounter a Pakistan beyond the violence and terrorism dished up by the media. In words and pictures, their interactive online documentary shows what has moved Lahoris to invest in a better, safer future for their country. The wake-up call for many was the 2014 attack in Peshawar, where seven gunmen killed 132 schoolchildren. Their response to extremism is to make art and give workshops – take the jam session at Olomopolo Media Center or the antiterrorism workshop led by Risham, who’s hoping to make Pakistan a more inclusive and tolerant society for Christians, Hindus, Hazaras and other persecuted communities. Photos, films and texts introduce us to these and other unlikely optimists in five chapters with titles such as “Dream Worlds,” “The Attacks” and “Rise.” In the words of one citizen activist, “Change is stewing and we are the chefs of that change.”