Art exhibition focusing on violence against women continues in capital

Islamabad
Reaffirming its commitment to efforts aimed at eliminating violence against women, Nomad Gallery is currently hosting a thought-provoking exhibition, organised as part of a series of events planned to commemorate the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence campaign.
Titled ‘Tashadud Namanzoor,’ (No to Violence), the show was inaugurated by Australian High Commissioner Margaret Adamson at the gallery’s picturesque Saidpur location. Other events during the fortnight included an advocacy campaign titled ‘Art for Social Change, Peace and Activism.’ Themes such as cyber-violence targeting girls and women, child abuse, violence against women in various forms, and empowerment and awareness of women and youth in various marginalised communities also find a special focus on this yearly observation at Nomad.
Umari Ghani has been photographing apathetic social trends that lead to violence against women and children in the Pakistani society. “One can observe open invitations to assault and abuse everywhere. It is on the street posters, cinema hoardings, commercial advertisements, and media talks. Political elite support this and religious extremism glorifies it. Parents allow their kids to buy guns with their Eid money and the society unconcernedly encourages a growing culture of lethal weapons and sexual aggression,” Umair stated.
The photographer believes that governments, out of sheer incompetence and injustice, stay anesthetised over these highly sensitive issues, which inevitably lead to tragic disasters. “A child’s mind is too fragile to hold onto these conflicting notions. It is not just women and children that are exposed to harassment and abuse; more appallingly, women and children are also being used as bait for religious, political and social cruelty and violence too, which is more horrific reality of abuse and exploitation,” Umair stated while elaborating on this work.
Amna Yaseen’s present work shows children living in poverty, marginalised communities, and women exposed to social threats. “I believe they are most exposed to every possible form of abuse from stalking to sexual assaults, from drug use to murder. Unless we educate our children on such issues, unless we make them aware of such possibilities of abuse, we’ll be only encouraging harassers by hiding the truth and forbidding children by saying “never tell this to anybody.” Let the flowers bloom and say ‘NO’ to abuse and exploitation, loud and clear,” Amna maintained.
Child abuse, Amna stated, is a common evil prevalent in the Pakistani society where in many cases, children are threatened or are too scared of telling family elders about their exploitation, and the harassment continues. “When such victims reach the age of puberty and realize what had been done to them, it critically effects their life and behaviour, often culminating in revenge or endless suffering,” the artist regretted.
Other artists whose symbolic and feminist installations, paintings, and prints are included in the show are N H Kazmi, Zia Zaidi, Farrah Mehmood, Tayyaba Aziz, Riffat Khattak, Abbas Shah, Shireen Rasool, Maani, Maham Khan and Fizza Siddique.
The exhibition is a plausible attempt at highlighting violence against women and certainly deserves appreciation.