Team
The Upper Indus Project team has been directed by Jason Neelis (Wilfrid Laurier University: WLU) and co-directed by Murtaza Taj (Lahore University of Management Sciences: LUMS) and Laurianne Bruneau (French Archaeological Mission in Ladakh [MAFIL]) since its inception in a development phase (2017-2020). The current project for Epigraphic and Petroglyphic Complexes of the Upper Indus is co-directed by Debra Foran (WLU) and Ali Zaidi (WLU). An agreement between WLU and Gilgit-Baltistan Secretariat for Tourism, Youth Affairs, Archaeology and Museum signed in July 2019 serves as a framework for supporting ongoing project work at Upper Indus petroglyph and inscription sites that will be submerged in the flood basin of Diamer-Bhasha dam.
Atiq Hashmi
Atiq Hashmi has been working in the realm of digital heritage since the past ten years. After completing a master degree in electrical engineering from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Pakistan around 2015, he started working with the Technology for People Initiative (TPI) lab of the same university to digitally preserve the crumbling heritage sites in Pakistan. At the same time The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided funds to TPI to digitally preserve a diverse set of heritage sites in Pakistan- Mosques, Buddhist temples, a Hindu temple, and forts. The highlight of the project was the latest 3D laser technology that was able to document very fine details of heritage sites with very high accuracy. He worked on this project as a technical team lead and lead a team of around 16 young archaeologists and computer scientists for almost one year. After the completion of this project, Atiq started working with the leading archaeological organizations and museums in Pakistan to introduce them the terrestrial laser technology and the usage of digital technologies in the field of museology respectively. In 2017 Atiq decided to move to Europe because of its strong cultural background. He was awarded the prestigious Erasmus-Mundus scholarship for his MA in Media Arts and Cultures studies. This program which was conducted in Austria, Denmark, and Hong Kong offered him a very beautiful opportunity to not only learn about the history of arts and cultures but provided him a chance to explore the contemporary European and Asian cultures as well. He attended lectures delivered by the renowned media artists and art historians including Andrew Broeckmann, Chris Salter and Oliver Grau to name a few and got a chance to work with renowned media artists like Professor Jeffrey Shaw and Prof. Sarah Kenderdine in Hong Kong. He defended his MA thesis under the supervision of Prof. Jeffrey Shah and Prof. Sarah Kenderdine in 2019 on the art of 3D visualizations. After the completion of his Erasmus-Mundus program he continued working with both of these professors until the start of 2021 when he moved back to Pakistan. Since the early 2021 he is working on the digital documentation and preservation of Petroglyphs and Inscriptions along the Indus River and one of the famous old Silk Routes in the northern areas of Pakistan. For more details, please follow his portfolio website https://atiqhashmi.com/
Amjad Ali Mughal
Amjad Ali Mughal is a talented and experienced 3D Artist. He has seven years of hands-on experience in the fields of photogrammetry, photography, designing and modelling, virtual tours and laser scanning. Since his joining in 2017, Amjad has been working with the LUMS’ Technology for People Initiative (TPI) Lab on several national and international projects including an award-winning project on the documentation of Sikh heritage in Lahore Pakistan. He takes pride in taking beautiful pictures and appreciating the visual details that he finds on heritage buildings and museum artifacts.
Zeeshan Waris Qureshi
Zeeshan Waris Qureshi is an emerging Photo and Video Generalist. He is good at taking dramatic shots with changing lights and visual effects. His nature of observing a natural landscape from different perspectives adds extra details while collecting data from different rocks and boulders during our rock carvings preservation project. He’s proficient in working with 3D modelling software like Reality Capture and Agisoft Metashape etc. and virtual tour software like Kolor AutoPano Giga as well.
Rehman Waris Qurashi
Rehman Waris Qurashi is a computer games geek. His long experience of playing multiple computer games and subjectively analysing their user interface designs and visual aesthetics helps us a lot during the colour corrections of images, colour correction of 3D models, UI/UX design of uploaded 3D models online, and to design the themes of virtual tours. In his free time he runs a YouTube channel as well where he guides youngsters about the experience of different computer games.
Shafi Ullah
Shafi Ullah hails from the Chilas city of Gilgit-Baltistan where Diamer Bhasha Dam is under construction. He is an archaeologist by profession and an explorer by passion who holds a master’s degree in Archaeology. Being the sole archaeologist from Chilas he fully takes the responsibility to guard the already known rock carvings of this region and explore more areas around the Chilas to find more of them. He has been an integral part of many national and international organizations who have worked in this region for rock art documentation in the last ten years. He has also been very focal for the development of tourism industry in Chilas surrounding the rock art and collaborates with local and international tourists who are interested in the Silk Route rock art.