Areesha Khalid’s Spatial Nostalgia Art: ‘Diaspora Digest’

Areesha Khalid is a London-based British Pakistani architect and designer. Blending her knowledge of architecture and art, and using her own experiences, Areesha explores the theme of “South Asian spatial nostalgia” through design elements native to the Subcontinent. Her coffee table book, Diaspora Digest is a compilation of this work.

No Borders: Can you tell us a bit about your background and roots? 

Areesha Khalid: I was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan and raised there up until the age of 11 when I moved to England. I graduated with my masters in architecture a year ago and have since been working freelance in the architecture and design industry, taking up projects such as set design and art direction, as well as running my small business/blog ‘architecturebyari’. Having collaborated with some names such as WePresent, Zara Shahjahan, Mayo Clinic, etc.

As part of my small business, I create and sell South Asian spatial nostalgia art as prints and as part of my Diaspora Digest coffee table book, catering to the global South Asian diaspora community. Currently working on expanding to home decor.

NB: You use your architectural and design knowledge to create these beautiful prints of South Asian spaces. Can you tell us more about how this started and why you chose this specific type of work? 

AK: It’s what I call ‘South Asian spatial nostalgia art’, depicting spaces that make me feel nostalgic of ‘home’. Each print has a sense of yearning and longing behind it. When I started making this kind of art it was actually a kind of a physical / visual embodiment of me finally being not only fully comfortable, but also very proud of my identity and South Asian heritage. It was a way to read up and learn more about myself and where I come from, but also a way to navigate through my feelings of acceptance for my culture, which is expressed in my romanticised, nostalgic depictions of ‘home’.

I believe the spaces that we occupy tend to soak in the culture of the people that they house. Spaces can tell stories of people through colour, pattern, writing, signage, wear and tear and much more. Capturing this ‘lived in’ quality of space is essentially what conveys the culture and heritage in my work. 

Also, people sit at the heart of and dictate any culture, so first hand research plays a big role in my work. Almost all my pieces are informed by either my own experiences back home or a local’s story or experience. Whether that's a conversation with my mum about a certain memory from her childhood, embedded in the backdrop of specific spaces that I depict with my own creative twist, hoping to convey the same emotions she expressed when telling me her story or something I read or see online about other’s stories.

I find that when someone is talking about a fond memory, it will often be embedded in a space which they are able to vividly recall, expressing minute, atmospheric details which hold sentimental or cultural significance and therefore have stuck with them. This could be the peace of shade provided by thick vines wrapping their balcony, the sound of splashing water in their courtyard fountain during the peak of summer, or the earthy scent of rain touching the dry soil of their backyard signaling the start of monsoon. I always like to highlight these details, as I feel they convey the essence of culture and nostalgia in my work. 

All architectural projects also start with first-hand research at their core. Research into the people, the area, the culture, the local materiality etc. So a lot of the principles I follow when making these illustrations are rooted in my architectural background. For me, architecture plays a huge role in not only expressing the culture of a people and place but also preserving it in a solid, built form. I take that principle and apply it to my illustration work too.

Can you tell us about Diaspora Digest?

The first diaspora digest drawing I created was in June 2020. I came across a vintage Architectural Digest cover from the ‘70s a few years ago and really liked the aesthetic of it. I noticed the depictions and text on it were specifically catering to a western market. Which was expected given that it was from the ‘70s – Architectural Digest is now much more inclusive. But that cover read something like; “International interiors from homes: London, Athens, Montreal” so I just spun that to “International design fusions of South Asia and the west for the confused 24 million dispersed across the globe”, and “the connoisseur’s magazine of homeland romanticism”. 

I felt like it was a cool way to create a desi / diaspora club and to make us feel included and seen, I originally did not expect it to become an ongoing series and the title of my very own coffee table book, but as soon as the first one was released, there was so much love and appreciation for it, so I kept creating more.

As most architecture and design enthusiasts, I've always loved skimming through the new copy on the stands, but growing up, I noticed that Architectural Digest was often a platform to highlight and appreciate the most pristine, curated and neat western homes. Which was not the reality for a lot of immigrant families, trying to simply survive in western countries. The living room’s weren't covered in lush indoor plants with coordinated cloud couches and fireplaces but instead there was a cosy persian carpeted room, almost overflowing with random trinkets collected overtime, crowded by a sea of relatives and family friends at all times. It was home nonetheless. 

The Diaspora Digest spin offered representation for not only more imperfect, familiar spaces but also traditional spaces. 

These Diaspora Digest drawings became a way for me to finally express my personal journey of accepting and celebrating my rich South Asian heritage. The most common messages I get from the diaspora community upon seeing my work is how these images “heal their inner child” that once abandoned their roots, or how it makes them feel “a sense of belonging and pride”. Or how these depictions finally make them fall in love with their culture, feeling a closer connection to their heritage and their immigrant parents, since they somehow get to experience a version of the spaces their parents have always talked about with so much fondness and emotion. 

That’s exactly how I want the diaspora to feel when seeing these images. I want them to see a version of ‘home’ that gives them a sense of nostalgia, longing, and warmth. And as it did for me, I want these drawings to be a way for them to own and celebrate their heritage.  

NB: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

AK: On the romanticisation of ‘home’ as a problematic trope:

I do feel and admit that I am comparatively disconnected from my South Asian heritage compared to a local, since I no longer live there and only visit annually. I also am not directly impacted by all the negatives of living in Pakistan, that too, as a woman, which comes with a multitude of disadvantages and hardships. This kind of provides me with a lens that is less blemished by these experiences, perhaps rose-tinted (which I feel the insane burden of with every visit back home). The disconnection actually forces me to see my South Asian heritage with a bias of a kind, resulting in romanticised depictions of it. 

I understand and recognise the issue with this and it's something that I have struggled with wrapping my head around for quite some time now. But this romanticisation is not coming from an orientalist point of view but a self informed point of view of using this merely as a tool on my self acceptance journey. As people of the diaspora who are already struggling with their identity and some even battling acceptance in western countries, I find many young people resonate with my work because it paints our culture in this warm, beautiful, positive light as opposed to the overwhelming drawbacks, injustices and stereotypes that come with most places/countries. 

Whether I should see this as a positive for my work that brings the diaspora together or as ignorance on my end, is honestly an internal contradiction that I constantly battle with and struggle to communicate at the risk of sounding insensitive. 

I am also actively designing an original home decor and furniture line, combining my knowledge as an architect and designer, where you’ll be able to mimic the spaces in my art that you all love and know. Please look forward to it! ❖

You can purchase a copy of Diaspora Digest here.