Artwork highlights women participation in public life

Islamabad: A three-day art exhibition on the women’s participation in public life opened at the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) here on Wednesday.

The event was organised by the Shirakat -- Partnership for Development, a non-governmental organisation working on human rights and women’s rights in the country. The artwork displayed there was created by the National College of Art, Rawalpindi, students under the 'collaboration for change, transforming lives and minds for equal citizenship' project with the support of the European Union, Norwegian Church Aid, and Peace & Developmental Organisation.

“The collaboration for change contributes to the realisation of equal citizenship through the women's empowerment and active participation in public life. The action meant to develop a model of the women's meaningful participation in public sphere will help them remove hurdles to their participation in public life through the leadership training for 200 women, summer camps for children, capacity building of the men supporting women leaders, and help for the students in research projects,” said Shirakat executive director Bilquis Tahira during the exhibition opening ceremony.

She also said the Shirakat had established a web TV – Nissaaee Awaz (women’s voice), to telecast among other programmes the success and motivational stories of women leaders and male members of community supporting them.

The Shirakat executive director said she was hopeful that the art exhibition would support the students creating art pieces on the women’s participation in public life.

The NCA students said their paintings highlighted the women’s participation in public life, their leadership, and challenges for them in public life. They praised the Shirakat for its support to exhibit their artwork and said they were amazed to have such an opportunity and platform for expressing their views regarding the women’s participation in public life.

Student, Maheen Afridi, said her work was all about the women and their strengths. “I strongly believe that women are very strong and powerful. At the same time, they’re empowered in their own way and therefore, they don’t need to ask anyone for own development,” she said adding that she was inspired by her ‘very strong’ mother.

Senior artist and member of the NCA faculty, Ayesha Durrani, highlighted the importance of the women’s participation in public life and the role of art in changing the people's approaches, especially the men’s, towards it.

She said she strongly believed that art could play a vital role in changing the society’s overall behaviour toward the women's participation in public life. Also in attendance was Anne Marchal, deputy head of the European Union delegation to Pakistan, who highlighted the women’s participation in public life and actions required for transforming the lives of working women in public spaces. She said a piece of art and creative work could speak louder than the words. The guests later visited the gallery and examined the art pieces put on display.