Consul General of Italy in Karachi, Danilo Giurdanella inaugurates 7th edition of the Italian Design Week at Habitt City.

The Consul General of Italy Danilo Giurdanella welcomed the guests at the 7^th edition of the Italian Design Week in Karachi on Thursday, 16 March, 2023 jointly organized by the Consulate of Italy with Habitt City – a community safe space for cultural initiatives and activities for Karachiites.

The event was organized to launch Don Corleone Objects in Pakistan by the renowned Sicilian ceramic artist, Antonino Forlin. Antonino Forlin and IBL/Habitt CEO, Munis Abdullah ventured together for a retail launch of the signature home textile and ceramic collections namely ‘Taormina’ and “Munis × Don Corleone” in Pakistan.

The event was attended by diplomats, foreigners, government-officials, prominent-architects, artists, selected members of press and notable members of business community. Some of attendees were Commissioner Karachi Mr. Iqbal Memon, Consul General of United States of America Ms. Nicole Theriot, Consul General of France Mr. Alexis Chahtahtinsky, Consul General of Japan Mr. Odagiri Toshio, Chairman Gul Ahmed Textile Mills, Mr. Bashir Ali Mohammad and many more.

During his welcome speech, The Consul General of Italy Danilo Giurdanella welcomed the guests at the 7^th edition of the Italian. He termed this event as an important event. He added; “such is the importance of Designing in Italy that more than 64,000 Experts work in Design sector in Italy”. Italian consul further added that; “Italian consul in Karachi is collaborating with Pakistan in Textile and in Ceramic sector”.  

Munis Abdullah CEO Habitt City thanked Italian CG, staff at Italian Consul, IDC and his staff at Habitt City for bring Italian Design Day/Week which also includes Italian Markitt to life. He praised Italy for its exclusive and exquisite designs. Mr. Munis Abdullah also reminded that the concept of super-star (super-stardom) was first coined by Italians. Mr. Munis also shared that Habitt often referred as IKEA of Pakistan.

Commissioner Karachi Mr. Iqbal Memon said; “we have been seeing heavy rains for last couple of years, and this trend is expected to stay or maybe increase. To counter this, architects should design infrastructure like building, road, bridges etc in such a way that they can withstand heavy rains”

The Italian Design Day is an event conceived to promote Italian design abroad, to support exports and the internationalization of companies in this sector, to foster international know-how and exchange of technical and creative skills. This 7th edition focuses on quality, the ability to conceive and create products that combine aesthetic and functional needs using production processes that respect the environment and people’s health.

Besides the product launches of Taormina and Munis × Don Corleone collections in Karachi, the Consulate also organized the book launch and panel discussion of The FOLD – a book by Salman Jawaid, the first Pakistani architect invited in 2018 by the European Culture Centre to organize the Pakistan Pavilion at the International Venice Architecture Biennale, which created history for the people of Pakistan and opened the doors for others to follow. The book looks into the journey of a team of young passionate architects from Pakistan, who make a mark at one of the most prestigious international design event with their sheer determination and hard-work.

The Consulate together with Habitt City have lined up cultural events such as an Italian Markitt – a three day street food festival from 17-19 March, 2023 for people of Karachi to enjoy the Italian delicacies in their city. Furthermore, a ceramic workshop by Antonino Forlin has been organized for arts enthusiasts and students to get a chance to learn specialized technique and methods used in pottery and ceramics. An Italian Culinary Class has also been organized for ardent lovers of Italian cuisine to learn authentic Italian recipes, which will be demonstrated by Chef Gennaro Carrozza during the Italian Design Week.

The Italian Friends of the Citizen Foundation, a non-profit organization advocating the cause of TCF Pakistan in Italy has partnered with Indus Valley School for Art and Architecture and Salone del Mobile, the largest Annual Furniture and Design Exhibition in the world hosted in Milan. Dr. Faiza Mushtaq, Executive Director & Dean of Academics at IVS School of Art and Architecture took the opportunity to announce on the occasion of Italian Design Day, the ART4EDUCATION project, that aims to showcase award winning design pieces by Pakistani artists, architects and designers to be auctioned at Salone del Mobile in 2024 to support the TCF network in Pakistan.

Book Launch: Siraj-ud-din Aziz’s ‘The Art & Craft of Management’ launched.

Seasoned banker Siraj-ud-din Aziz in collaboration with PathFinder Group & Paramount Books hosted the launch ceremony of his seventh book titled as ‘The Art & Craft of Management’ on Friday 13^th March 2020 at Pearl Continental Hotel here in Karachi. This impressive book launch ceremony was widely attended by bankers, members of literary and academic circles, socialites and selected members of press.

Former Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Dr. Shamshad Akhtar in her foreword for Siraj-ud-din Aziz’s seventh book ‘The Art & Craft of Management’ wrote; “Mr. Aziz has written it real interesting, practical and easy read. He keeps the readers engaged with practical knowledge and hands-on experience. It is an inclusive repertoire of guidance on the do’s and don’ts of management that is driven by the valuable insight that he has garnered over his illustrious career”.

“This book can be beneficial for professionals from all walks of life and every rung of seniority can find some topic to benefit from. It offers understanding of corporate practices for new and seasoned leaders alike. Professionals will find valuable experiences and tips as they read this book”, she concluded.

The author of the book ‘The Art & Craft of Management’, Siraj-ud-din Aziz also spoke his heart and said; “this book contains articles written over a period of two years. Many of the subjects written are a consequence of what I saw, heard or experienced. No incident or any story in this book is either imaginary or a figment of fiction. They are real live drama that is enacted on the shop floor.”

Siraj-ud-din Aziz said further said; “being an actor and a spectator for over four decades on the corporate stage, I have written from what I experienced, what I witnessed and what I heard across several organizations in different geographies.”

“Being blessed to have worked at locations that offered multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-racial and multi-ethnicity settings, helped me immensely to accept, absorb, and imbibe the beauty of diversity in a working environment”, he concluded.

Other distinguished speakers who spoke their heart out for Siraj-ud-din Aziz’s book were Miraj-ud-din Aziz author’s brother, Nadiya Chishti Mujahid Professor for Social Science & Liberal Arts, Javed Jabbar Senator/former Federal Minister, Ikram Sehgal Chairman PathFinder Group/Defence Analyst and the Chief Guest of this launch ceremony Mr. Yaseen Anwar former Governor State Bank of Pakistan.