Shae Gill wows crowd at women festival

KARACHI:

The sixth edition of the Women of the World (Wow) Festival opened with a performance of singer Shae Gill in a soulful voice.

It was followed by a panel on women’s response to the floods with Quratulain Wazir, the ADC from Nowshera, social and tech entrepreneurs Ayesha Amin and Hira Wajahat, and climate expert Dr Fazilda Nabil.

It followed a film screening of a documentary on the history of dance in the Subcontinent, tracing it all the way to the dancing girl of Mohenjodaro.

The next discussion was on the misconceptions that drive the campaigns against the khwaja sira community with Shahzadi Rai moderating the discussion between Dr Mehrub Moiz and Reem Sharif. In a session titled, ‘Protecting Yourself Online’, Anushae Naveed and Dr Saiqa talked about how women could protect themselves online.

The programme for the festival, organised by the British Council Pakistan, is the most diverse and exciting since the festival began and includes dynamic panels, workshops, immersive performances, vibrant marketplaces and shows for children. Theme of the festival is ‘Ral Mil’.

Singer Zara Madani along with Shallum Xavier and Khalid Khan were among the top performers of the day. The singer trained a group of visually-challenged girls of Ida Rieu, a school for blind and deaf, who performed at the show.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2023.