Quick answers about our work, our approach, and how to get involved.
Cultural Heritage Research and Documentation Initiative Pakistan (CHRDI-Pakistan) is a research and documentation initiative dedicated to identifying, studying, documenting, preserving, and promoting the rich cultural heritage of Pakistan.
Our mission is to research, document, preserve, and promote Pakistan’s diverse cultural heritage through community-based research, systematic documentation, digital archiving, and knowledge sharing.
Our documentation aims to support researchers, heritage professionals, educational institutions, cultural organizations, communities, and future generations.
We follow a research-based, field-oriented, and community-centered approach: Research, Field Survey, Community Engagement, Recording, Documentation, Verification, Digital Archiving, and Knowledge Sharing.
We document tangible and intangible cultural heritage, including historic architecture, cultural landscapes, traditional crafts, oral traditions, folk culture, indigenous knowledge, local languages, and performing arts.
We document heritage through field surveys, photography, videography, interviews, oral histories, drawings, mapping, archival research, and written records.
Yes. We document traditional crafts and the knowledge of master artisans, including their techniques, tools, materials, training systems, and creative processes.
Documentation goes through a verification stage before it is archived and shared, so that the material we publish is credible and reliable.
We believe that communities are the primary custodians of their living heritage. Our work emphasizes participation, consultation, and recognition of local knowledge.
We record the knowledge, skills, stories, and experiences of artisans, craftsmen, artists, elders, and tradition bearers, and recognize them as custodians of that knowledge.
Our work seeks to respect the knowledge, dignity, intellectual contribution, and cultural identity of the communities and individuals whose heritage we document.
We use digital technologies to organize, preserve, and present cultural information through digital archives, databases, maps, photographs, videos, and online exhibitions.
We aim to build a comprehensive and continually growing digital knowledge repository of Pakistan’s cultural heritage, including photographs, interviews, oral histories, drawings, manuscripts, and other cultural evidence.
Add access details here (for example: open access, registration required, or on request). You can also contact us for help finding material.
We encourage students, young researchers, artisans, cultural practitioners, and community members to take part in heritage research and documentation. Contact us to learn about current opportunities.
We work with researchers, institutions, cultural organizations, and communities. Please get in touch through our Contact Us page and tell us about your idea.
Yes, we welcome heritage material and stories. Contact us first so we can discuss how it will be documented, credited, and used.
Can’t find what you are looking for? Our team will be happy to help.
Add office address here
Islamabad, Pakistan
Phone & Email
info@chirdi.pk
+92 000 0000000
© 2026 CHIRDI Pakistan. All rights reserved.
Cultural Heritage Research and Documentation Initiative
