Shanaz Ramzi has been a freelance journalist since 1994, writing on a variety of subjects for various publications, both local and international. She has authored a best-selling book, Food Prints, a recipe book Food Tales, and edited the Oxford Companion to Pakistani Cuisine, the first book of its kind published in Pakistan. Ramzi served as GM PR and Publications at HUM Network Ltd for 11 years, and was also the editor of all their publications including two monthlies, GLAM and Masala TV Food Mag. Ramzi founded her own award-winning PR and event management company, StarLinks PR and Events in 2015 of which she is currently the CEO, and is also the president of TravelinPK, a travel consultancy.

Ramzi is the charter president of Rotary Club of Karachi New Central, Director and Trustee Heritage Foundation, Pakistan, member TRC (Teacher’s Resource Centre), founding president PREDA (PR, Event Management, Digital and Activitations), managing trustee Karachi Biennale Trust, president Epilepsy Support Pakistan, joint-secretary NRPWF (Neurology Research and Patient Welfare Fund), and president Cliff Pakistan. She is the recipient of several awards including Icon of the Nation award by Icon Foundation, bronze Stevies Award for Women in Business for Start-up of the Year, gold award Best Female CEOs of the World, and silver award for Best PR Achievement of the Year in SUVS Awards (Silicon Valley, United States), the Global Business Insight Awards for Most Innovative in Social Media Management Services, bronze Spotlight Short Film Awards for her documentary Salute to Karima, and Global Women’s Awards by WIO. Ramzi has attended numerous conferences and seminars around the world and has conducted workshops on a variety of subjects.

Atteqa Malik is an accomplished entrepreneur, artist, scholar, and cultural operator with a strong background in international collaboration, creative diplomacy, and civic engagement. Currently serving as Chairperson of the Karachi Biennale Trust, Director at GIA International Exports Pvt. Ltd., as a member of the Executive Committee at Indus Valley School of Arts & Architecture, and Board Director at Pakistan UK and Ireland Business Council. Leading cross-cultural initiatives and fostering global partnerships. Recognized for promoting Pakistani exports to Europe and UK, supporting SME’s, facilitating trade and cultural dialogue between countries and intercultural exchanges through art and technology.

Ainee Shehzad Salim is a Valedictorian Commonwealth scholar. She holds a Civil Engineering degree along with a Bachelor in Education and a Master in Education and International Development from the Institute of Education, UCL. She is the Head of Department of Continuing Professional Development at the Karachi Grammar School, College Section. She is a CIE PDQ Programme Leader, has authored scholarly articles on education and development and also teaches A and O Level Mathematics. Ainee is an external mentor at IBA, Chairperson Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre Fundraising Committee, Member Development in Literacy, Member, College of Teachers, England. She runs a successful furniture, interior designing and event management company. She has pioneered educational change by teacher development in many under-privileged schools. She was recently acknowledged as the Top 100 Women of Pakistan in the Ponds Miracle Woman celebration. She is an avid art collector.

Farzana Tunio has worked in the challenging field of design and advertising both in Pakistan and in the USA and received an award at the Art Direction magazine's ‘Creativity Show’ in New York for her calendar design. Her logo design for Interwood Pvt. Ltd, a furniture company, has withstood the test of time. She is also a visiting faculty at Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture and is working on her dream project, setting up a ‘Visual Arts College’ at the newly adopted campus the the 180 year old heritage site ‘NJV School’, by ‘Akhuwat’ a non-profit organization of which she is the Co-Chairperson of their Core Committee in Sindh. Besides arts, she also manages ‘Hennys’ her sandwich deli.

Asad Hasan is an MBA (IBA) and a Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA, UK) by profession. In consulting specializes in business strategy formulation, port planning, executive search, education, healthcare, TVET, compensation management, HR, market feasibility studies, company valuation, and due diligence procedures. Industry experience includes HRM, DFI, construction management, supply chain, financial & management accounting and corporate finance areas. An experienced trainer who has conducted many workshops and training on various topics including corporate compliance, financial benchmarks for business managers, mercantile law, HR cost benchmarks, etc.

Niilofur Farrukh is a cultural interventionist based in Karachi. Her prolific five-decade career centres on decolonizing ways of viewing, reading, practicing, and writing about art and culture in Pakistan. In 2016, she co-founded Karachi Biennale Trust and as its CEO led four acclaimed editions of the Karachi Biennale through 2025. This city-wide international project created opportunities for public audiences to experience the transformative power of art with hundreds of works on themes that were relevant to their lives.
She is also the co-founder of ASNA that hosted four International Clay Triennials that created synergy between contemporary art and artisanal practices. Since the 1990s, Niilofur’s art criticism has been published in articles and columns in major newspapers like Dawn and Newsline in Pakistan and regional publications. As the founder editor of NuktaArt, Pakistan’s acclaimed contemporary art magazine, she expanded the spaces for art research. Niilofur has three books to her credit: A Beautiful Despair - The Art and Life of Meher Afroz (Lé Tropical Printers, 2020), Pioneering Perspectives (Ferozsons, 1998) and Pakistan’s Radioactive Decade: An Informal Cultural History of the 1970s (2019) (co-edited with John McCarry and Amin Gulgee, Oxford University Press). She also co-established NuktaArt: Pakistan’s Contemporary Art Magazine. She is currently writing her fourth book on early art histories of Karachi. As a curator, Niilofur approaches exhibitions as provocative spaces. In 2025 she curated “…connecting the internal and external time …” the First Retrospective of Meher Afroz (2025). Her global engagements include being the current chair of the “Censorship and Freedom of Expression Committee” at International Association of Art Critics (AICA) and serving as a member of the International Institute of Public Art Prize at Shanghai University and being on the jury of AICA Young Critic Awards.

Almas Bana has primarily worked with not-for-profit organizations including 14 years with Agha Khan University with the last held position of Associate Dean, followed by stints in Kenya and Pakistan as CEO of school trusts managing their school networks. His strengths lie in developing strategic programs and managing their implementation. He enjoys working in multi cultural environments.
Almas believes that art in all its manifestations not only reflect society but can provide a vision for its positive development. It should be a harbinger of change in an open society. Involvement in the Karachi Biennale provides him with such an experimental opportunity. Almas has B.Sc and M.B.A. degrees from Pakistan and Certificate in International Management from Boston University, USA.

Nadeem Ahmad is the Senior Corporate Counsel at Orr, Dignam & Co., Advocates - one of Pakistan’s leading law firms. He did his Masters in Political Science and degree in Law from the University of Karachi in 1974. He has a vast experience in corporate law having specialised in advisory work and drafting of legal instruments. He has written research articles on various subjects published in prominent newspapers and legal journals including the daily Dawn and PLD. He is a senior contributor to the World Bank’s Project / Annual Publication on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ vis-à-vis Pakistan. He authored the Chapter on Pakistan in the publication of the Center for International Legal Studies of Austria titled, ‘International Franchising Law’ published in the USA. He provided legal assistance in the formation of numerous NGOs of international repute including the trust for the preservation and maintenance of the historic and picturesque ‘Baltit Fort’ at Hunza.

Seema Jaffer, is a Strategic Communication & Media Expert and CEO Bond Advertising, with an experience spanning 30+ years. Seema has served as the Executive Director & Key Expert for Huqooq e Pakistan, a joint initiative between the European Union & the Ministry of Human Rights. Seema works with the UNDP, National Commission for Human Rights & the European Union as well as EY as a Strategic Communication Expert. She also works with Globesight Dubai as a Strategic Communications Advisor.
Seema has served as a jury member for global advertising events including the Cannes Lions Festival of Advertising Awards, Spikes Asia Advertising Awards, Drums Advertising Awards and the Effies Awards. She also played a pivotal role in organizing Adasia 2019 in Lahore and serves on the EC of the Pakistan Advertising Association.
Seema holds board positions at Circle Pakistan, an organization dedicated to women’s empowerment & digital skills & Aahung, an NGO focused on reproductive health rights as well as RLCC, The Rana Liaquat Craft Colony. Seema is a Trustee for the Karachi Biennale Trust & has served on the Executive Council of the Indus Valley School of Arts & Architecture.
Seema is strongly committed to Women Empowerment and Human Rights.

Amin Gulgee (b. 1965 Karachi, Pakistan) is a visual artist and independent curator living and working in Karachi. He received a BA in Art History and Economics from Yale University in 1987 and won the Conger B. Goodyear Fine Arts Award for his senior thesis on Moghul gardens. He works primarily in sculpture, installations and performance.

Amin’s praxis investigates unlikely connections to uncover alternative narratives, resisting conceptual categorization. His non-dualistic approach manifests itself in the materiality of his metalwork and is reflected in the philosophy behind his performative and curatorial practices. Amin has shown widely both nationally and internationally. His solo exhibitions include “The Spider Speaketh in Tongues” South Asia Institute, Chicago, USA (2022); “7” Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Roma Capitale and “7.7” Mattatoio, Rome, Italy (2018); and many more. His international group shows include “ENTRELACS/INTERLACED” Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France (2022); “Rites of Passage” Ostralé010, Dresden, Germany (2010); and more.

Amin has worked extensively with performance, both as a practitioner and a curator. Over the past two decades, he has presented over 35 performance works of his own both at home and abroad. He has also curated numerous group exhibitions at his eponymous non-commercial gallery in Karachi and elsewhere and was Chief Curator of the Inaugural Karachi Biennale in 2017. Among Amin Gulgee’s many public works are Steps in front of the Pakistan Parliament in Islamabad and Reaching for the Skies at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York. His work is in important international collections, including the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.