Komal Salman

Komal is the founder of Folkloristan, which she founded in November 2021, with the aim of documenting and digitising Pakistani folklore. Whilst she has documented, translated and retold several stories for Folkloristan, “Heartstrings of the Khyber” is Komal’s debut for translating, compiling and partially illustrating a book. 

Folkloristan is currently partnering with the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford to reconnect objects in their collection to local folklore, in a series “The Folklore of Resistance”. In 2023, Folkloristan displayed Pakistani folklore in 100 artworks at the Centre of Folklore, Myth and Magic in the UK. Earlier this year, in April 2024, Folkloristan took over the Lahore Heritage Club for a week. The itinerary included “Hazaaron Saal Pehle” a four-day art exhibition, two days of Dastaangoi, and two art workshops. 

Particularly interested in leveraging emerging tech for heritage conservation, besides working as the Policy Advocacy Lead for Web 3.0 at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, her illustrations of folktales were also selected to be displayed at NFT Karachi. Furthermore, she also spoke on “Cultural Identify and Representation in the NFT Space” at a panel at the Islamabad Binance Community Meet in 2022.  

Komal has also discussed folktales, and the future of storytelling, at several events including the Digital Festival of Islamic Arts and Culture, +92 Disrupt Islamabad, the Asian Study Group, and with Romancing the Gothic. In addition to this, she is also the co-founder of the Ethnology and Folklore Guild South Asia, a digital platform intended to bring together people and scholars interested in the intangible cultural heritage of the region. 

Komal and her family live in Islamabad. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the National University of Science and Technology after which she has worked as a creative professional across several industries.