IRVI

30/07/2026

Every so often, a project reminds us why we do what we do. This is one of those moments.

In September 2025, we hosted a 10-day UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers residency in Taxila, bringing together young volunteers from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Bahawalpur, Balochistan, Lahore and Taxila itself.

Together, they explored a simple but ambitious question:

How might a video game inspire the next generation to discover and care for one of the world’s great archaeological landscapes?

Over ten days, the team developed the concept for “Taxila: Heritage Education through AI & Gaming Design.”

We are honoured to share that the project has been recognised as a Star of Outstanding by AWHEIC, with the award announced during a side event of the 48th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Busan, Republic of Korea.

This recognition belongs first and foremost to the volunteers. Their curiosity, generosity and willingness to work across cultures transformed an idea into something far greater than any of us imagined.

At IRVI, we believe heritage is a living inheritance. Its future depends not only on conserving places, but on giving each generation new ways to encounter them, understand them and carry their stories forward.

We are grateful to AWHEIC, UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers, our partners and everyone who believed in this journey.

It is a reminder that meaningful ideas often begin with a small group of people, a shared purpose and the courage to try something new.

This is only the beginning.

22/07/2026

Celebrating Spring & Culture!
Edition 005 of IRVI’s newsletter brings fascinating cultural features:
Textile crafts
Feature films on Indus narratives
Music revivals
Book & project spotlights
Read here:https://indusrivervalley.org/img/newsletter/ICAHN_005.pdf
Subscribe to join our cultural journey!

22/07/2026

Why Sustainable Tourism Matters?
In our special newsletter feature on Sustainable Tourism Practices for Manchar Lake’s Mohanna community, discover how culture, community & environment come together for heritage & livelihood.
Read the full proposal & insights here:https://indusrivervalley.org/img/newsletter/Sustainable-Tourism-Proposal-by-IRVI.pdf
Tell us what you think!

17/07/2026

Humbled to be included in the initial ideation and final judging panel for this module 5 of ‘s summer project on “freedom”

A giant thanks to for creating, curating and delivering a powerful message to our talented youth, our obsolete colonial educational curricula and schools continuing to keep it alive, to the tech industry and what can be created to keep heritage alive through technology and of course to the visionary management of

Looking forward to continuing to collaborate in this project as it matures and scales up

10/07/2026

03/06/2026

Indus River Valley Institute (IRVI) conducted an Earth Architecture Workshop, bringing together children and young learners for a hands-on introduction to one of the oldest and most sustainable building traditions of the Indus Basin.

As Pakistan's first Culture & Heritage Think Tank, IRVI is committed to reviving indigenous knowledge systems, not just through documentation and research, but through direct, embodied practice. Understanding how our ancestors built with the land beneath their feet is essential to reclaiming an architectural identity rooted in this region's 7,000-year history.

The workshop involved children learning to mix mud, combining clay-rich earth, water, straw, lime, cow dung and organic fibre in precise proportions, guided by skilled craftsmen. From this earthen paste, they pressed mud blocks into wooden moulds, the same technique that built the great cities of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Stone carving followed, with young hands gripping hammers and chisels to shape raw rock.

Sand modelling allowed participants to explore form, volume, and structure freely.

Participants also engaged in a bamboo cribbage activity, they learned to assemble interlocking bamboo joints that form the basis of earthquake-resistant construction, a technique as intelligent as it is ancient, and deeply relevant to building resilient structures across Pakistan's seismic regions.

The workshop concluded with wall plastering, pressing mud render onto an existing earth wall by hand, just as masons have done across the Indus basin for millennia.

With the development of the IRVI New Residency, we aim to establish a dedicated programme of Earth Architecture workshops, more structured, more expansive, and open to children, students, architects, and heritage practitioners alike, forming part of a broader curriculum connecting built heritage, sustainable construction, and cultural education.

04/05/2026

📢 New Newsletter Alert – ICAHN_008 is Live!

Explore the richness of Pakistan’s culture and heritage 🇵🇰

Download, read, and share the latest edition of ICAHN_008 by IRVI.

This edition features:
🔹 Restoration of Gor Khatri by KP Archaeology Department
🔹 Yasmeen – Pakistan’s first Benju Artist
🔹 Abdur Rehman Malik – a skilled Camel Lamp Maker
🔹 The Forgotten River Beas – a powerful documentary
🔹 The Tappa – preserving the Pashtun folk voice
🔹 Saliha Khan Sadozai – a culinary expert
🔹 Classical Music Heritage Trust
🔹 Derajat Museum
🔹 IRVI at the Pakistan Heritage Exchange Event
🔹 The Indus – IRVI’s book recommendation

📩 We’d love your feedback:
[email protected]

Join a growing global community celebrating Pakistan’s heritage.

https://shorturl.at/UrzSZ

https://indusrivervalley.org/newsletter

The Indus River Valley Institute (IRVI) is Pakistan’s first culture, heritage & identity think tank to reclaim the lost roots to our ancestors who passed through the Indus River Valley or settled there over millennia.

12/02/2026

A couple of informal clips taken from a recent panel discussion that .official was on for the HERITAGE EXCHANGE Conference curated and hosted by in Lahore (February 10 & 11, 2026)

10/02/2026

IRVI approaches historical timelines as analytical frameworks to understand long-term civilizational change, continuity, and adaptation.

This chronology, extracted from the book The Indus, maps key phases of human and cultural development from prehistoric societies (c. 7000–3300 BCE) to the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3300–1300 BCE), followed by Vedic and post-Vedic periods (c. 1500–500 BCE), Persian and Hellenistic influences (c. 550–100 BCE), and the early Islamic period (from the 8th century CE). It further traces the medieval era (c. 1200–1700 CE) and transitions into the early modern and colonial phases (18th–20th centuries CE).

Viewed as a continuum, this timeline reveals recurring patterns of urban planning, water management, trade networks, governance structures, and cultural exchange across eras. It highlights how societies along the Indus adapted to environmental conditions, absorbed external influences, and restructured social systems without entirely losing cultural continuity.

For IRVI, such timelines help decode long-term civilizational trends that inform our work on heritage preservation, indigenous knowledge systems, sustainable tourism, and community-led cultural practices. By mapping eras and milestones, we identify how societies responded to change whether ecological shifts, technological transitions, political transformations, or social reorganization and which responses proved resilient over time.

For IRVI, history is not merely archival; it is analytical. Chronology allows us to move from isolated historical events to evidence-based insights that support present-day research, policy thinking, and responsible cultural stewardship.

03/02/2026

Indus River Watershed & Delta

The Indus River watershed and delta supported agriculture, trade, and urban life for thousands of years, making it the backbone of ancient civilizations.

Visit: https://www.indusrivervalley.org