While art serves as an inspirational catalyst, motivating individuals to take action and contribute to positive change, by promoting local arts, and empowering small artists, community centres offer a platform for growth beyond their communities, an expansion that enables these artists to amplify their voices to raise awareness about local issues. Community-driven promotion of arts and cultures becomes a key driver for awareness and progress in a society

Earlier this month on International Human Rights Day, Mehrdar Arts and Production hosted an exhibition and film screening to spark a conversation on gender violence against women in Pakistan. The exhibition titled Dazgwar-e-Tawar — The Voice for Sisterhood’ aims to highlight the violence faced by Baloch women in local communities of Karachi, through a survivor-centric approach.

Mehardar Arts and Production is a community space and a studio in Lyari that has been hosting cultural events, taking social development initiatives and leading community engagement among the youth of Lyari. In the last few years, they have taken over 300 social initiatives and told 100 meaningful stories.

The art exhibition presented a group of young artists who brought together a strong visual story to speak against gender violence in Pakistan. An oil painting by Anushah Khowaja was a commentary on child marriages in Pakistan. This issue is still widespread in Pakistan despite all the measures and laws taken by the governments, non-governmental organisations and individual levels. Almost 19 million girls in Pakistan are child brides, which means that 1 in 5 girls fall victim to this vice.

These statistics are disturbing since child marriages often coincide with high levels of domestic abuse reports. As these girls are not allowed to continue their education and it leads to them becoming completely dependent on their husbands. In cases where the marriages turn abusive, these women cannot escape their marriages because of financial dependency. Also, when these girls remain uneducated, their children often become part of the illiteracy cycle.

Anushah’s painting uses strong colours with dark contrasts to bring attention to the dark reality of child marriages in Pakistan.

“Art has the extraordinary power to transcend barriers and communicate complex issues in a way that resonates universally,” shares the curator, Tehmina Maknojia, talking about her ideas behind curating this exhibition. “This exhibition at Mehr-Ghar aimed to break the silence surrounding gender-related challenges, offering a space where people from different communities could engage with the artworks and, in turn, create meaningful conversations.

Through the universal language of art, we bridge communication gaps, enabling the community to comprehend complex issues surrounding gender with empathy and openness. The exhibition on gender-based violence was a testament to the efficacy of this approach, fostering awareness and understanding among the diverse audience that visited Mehr-Ghar. As the curator I am privileged to share the impact of this groundbreaking event, with over 200 spectators visiting this exhibition, I think we played our part in amplifying the voices of young activist and artists from Lyari.”

In her second work, Anushah Khowaja chooses to depict the topic of child abuse. Her visual language used dark themes to talk about this prevailing issue in our part of the world. Child abuse is a vice that unfortunately is seen way too often in Pakistan. From the cases of child sexual harassment to child labour, the supposed bright future of this country often finds itself on the dark side of this world.

Another artist, Dua Mehmood Khan, uses the medium of digital illustration to speak about victim blaming against women that we often witness whenever cases of rape and harassment come forward. To recall an instance, when the very unfortunate case of sexual assault on the Islamabad expressway came forward in 2020, one of the highest-ranking police officers in the province came forward making a statement that implied that it was the woman’s fault for going alone without a male companion.

These disgusting instances are not uncommon. If one takes a scan of social media debates that spark after such instances come forward, we can see that the majority feel righteous about blaming the victims of domestic and sexual abuse.

Many other artists came forward with a strong narrative work in regard to Baloch missing persons and gender violence in Baloch society. Exhibitions like these are of utmost importance because they bring to light the issues that plague local communities. These arts emerge as voices who can authentically talk about their communities and experiences within them.

We often see these social topics being spoken about on a commercial art level where professional artists use their skills to masterfully express their feelings about such atrocities. However, what is special about spotlighting young, aspiring artists from the grassroot community level is that the work that they create also resonates with their own communities. While the works that they create may not always have the visual language that is taught in art schools as a result of their modern/post-modern art teachings, the works by these young artists do the necessary job. They create awareness and become icons in their own community.

Community centres such as Mehrdar are not only important in the promotion of local artists, filmmakers and writers, but also bring out the voices from within local communities as they closely work in collaboration with them. While art galleries often only work with recognised talents or recent graduates of popular art schools, community centres are hubs for cultivating of new alternative talent. This does not mean that the new talent is worth any less than mainstream artists, but their work speaks to a different audience that the galleries often do not cater to.

When community centres continue to promote local arts and cultures, they bring limelight to the small artists and give them a platform to become bigger, to grow out of their communities so that they may be able to take these voices and stories on a national and international platform where more awareness can be created about issues that are faced by our local communities. We cannot deny that the works created by the Baloch artists featured in this exhibition portray an authentic voice and experience. Similarly, these artists may also create works that celebrate their diversity and uniqueness which also serves as a catalyst for growth for local communities.

As for the issue of violence, it has been prevalent since a long time in our society. Bringing young, powerful voices to the front means a larger discourse keeps happening on this issue. While further work needs to be done on a law and policy level to combat these problems, one cannot underestimate the role of arts and writings in creating spaces where discussions can take place so that policymakers become aware and find better ways to combat violence. Local community centres such as Mehrdar Arts and Production continue to play a central role in making safe spaces for these difficult conversations to take place. One cannot underestimate their impact, as Faheem Shad, the CEO of this space is part of the Global Shapers programme and takes the voices of his community on an international level, creating a lasting impact on Lyari's social fabric.

“Art provides a safe and empowering platform for young women to express themselves without the fear of judgment,” says Shad. “Over the past eight years, we have witnessed the transformative impact of artistic expression in facilitating conversations that might otherwise remain unspoken. Our art exhibitions serve not only as a showcase of creativity but as a catalyst for change and understanding.”

Lulu Lokhandwala is a visual artist and researcher. You can follow her work on Instagram at @luluwa.lokhandwala

All facts and information are the sole responsibility of the writer