Pakistan\u2019s largest city has suffered 13,500 killings in the past five years \u2013 a level of violence that has severely restricted the use of its public spaces. So a group of local residents decided it was time to reclaim them for the people of Karachi.<\/p>\n
Karachi, a city known for intractable political conflict and as a shelter for militants from the Afghan wars, has difficulty escaping its reputation as the world\u2019s most violent megacity. It has suffered some\u00a0<\/span>13,500 killings in the past five years<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u2013 a level of violence that has significantly degraded public safety and access to public spaces, and has instead encouraged the creation of sectarian, ethnic and political enclaves.<\/p>\n But as a city of 20 million,\u00a0<\/span>Karachi<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>also has a diversity, vitality and complexity that is infrequently explored in mass-media accounts of its character. It is Pakistan\u2019s urban dynamo: a hub of business, shipping and manufacturing as well as culture and education.<\/p>\n In April this year, a group of Karachi residents decided to show fellow residents that they could express a positive and playful vision of their city.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cNumaish\u201d<\/a>(Urdu for exhibition) was an open-air event of creative installations intended to open minds to another way of seeing the city.<\/p>\n Pakistan\u2019s largest city has suffered 13,500 killings in the past five years \u2013 a level of violence that has severely restricted the use of its public spaces. So a group of local residents decided it was time to reclaim them for the people of Karachi. Karachi, a city known for intractable political conflict and as<\/p>\nRead complete story at The Guardian <\/a>website<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"