Exhibition sheds light on role of women in peace-building

Students produce paintings calling for peace in society

ISLAMABAD:

A one-day painting exhibition titled 'Uks-e-Aman' was organised by PeaceFlix in collaboration with the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) and the Women Journalist Association of Pakistan on Thursday.

Uks-e-Aman is a peace-building activity organised by peace-builder Asma Bashir Kundi as a member of the PeaceFlix initiative by Global Neighborhood for Media Innovation (GNMI). The programme is designed to promote peace, inclusivity and social cohesion in local capacities. The programme's core objective was to create discourse around women's role in peace-building in Pakistan and around the globe.

In the first phase of the project, female journalists from across Pakistan, who have covered war, conflict and violence in the field of journalism, shared stories they covered with art students. Art students were selected from various art institutions, including the Fatima Jinnah University Rawalpindi, the Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad and Islamabad Model College for Girls Korang Town. The brilliant students painted the shared stories on canvas.

As many as 17 art students participated in the project activity and produced 16 paintings and a 3-D project to represent the stories highlighting the need and ways for peace in society.

PNCA Director General Ayoub Jamali said that the basis of peace was trust. “The foundation of trust is transparency, and the base of transparency is shared inner experience. Art is a powerful tool for expressing inner expertise to build trust and peace,” he said.

He added that the PNCA has supported promoting exhibitions and the best modern and contemporary art nationally and internationally.

A painting by Roshan Bakht, titled 'Carving Fate', drew visitors' attention. The painting represented a story of a street boy named Noman Khan from Peshawar who worked as a servant while he joined free art academy and successfully made his art career. Khan changed his fate through hard work and exhibited his paintings at 16.

The story was done by a woman journalist from Peshawar, Fatima Nazish. Bakht said, "Through this opportunity, I learned a lot about painting techniques. As an artist, I believe my primary duty is to promote peace through my artwork.

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