About this Event
A multi-disciplinary exhibition viewing opening up to conversations foregrounded on practices of women artists and peacebuilders takes SOAS South Asia Institute (SSAI Sanglaap Art and Culture Series) to a contemporary level of critical inquiry, based on decades of personal experience by artists, curators and writers from the region.
In collaboration with SSAI, South Asia Peace Action Network (Sapan), and Kultura Verse UK, we invite you to SOAS Wolfson Gallery for a guided walkthrough by Manmeet K Walia as exhibition co-curator of the art exhibit We Sinful Women, which is inspired by the title of the renowned poet Kishwar Naheed's poem Hum Gunahgar Auratein.
The viewing is followed by a contextual panel discussion on Gender, Media and Peace Building led by Dr Sanjukta Ghosh (SSAI) with Beena Sarwar (Sapan Co-founder, journalist and filmmaker), Mira Hashmi (literary critic and writer), Manmeet K Walia and Q&A.
Programme:
2:45 pm to 3:00 pm -- Meet and Greet at SOAS Main Building Reception**
3:00 pm to 3:30 pm -- We Sinful Women Wolfson Gallery Exhibition, Guided Walkabout
3:30 pm to 4:30 pm -- Gender, Media and Peace Building Panel Talks at the Djam Lecture Theatre, SOAS Main Building.
4:30 pm to 5:30 pm -- Discussion with Q&A and Networking
**essential for entry into the exhibition
Summary:
The event presents a guided walkthrough of the art exhibit We Sinful Women at the SOAS Wolfson Gallery, which brings together works of women artists from South Asia and the Middle East, featuring rarely seen art from the private collection of Taimur Hassan. The Library Project, co-curated by Salima Hashmi (Sapan Founder member) and Manmeet K Walia, highlights the role of artistic resilience, feminist solidarities, and poetic narratives, encapsulating the struggles of women through the decades of reflection.
A contextualised panel discussion on Gender, Media and Peace Building is then led by Dr Sanjukta Ghosh (SSAI) with Beena Sarwar, as the founder-curator of Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan), literary critic and writer Mira Hashmi and Manmeet K Walia. Through their unique artistic and media perspectives on feminism, non-Western arts and culture, and political policy, the conversation will explore the powerful intersections of solidarity, resilience and resistance across the region. It will delve into shared histories and the critical role of media in both, challenging oppression and building bridges, and offering a crucial lens on feminist peacebuilding praxis that connects local struggles to a boundary-pushing and collective vision for a just future.
An audience Q&A with special comments by Cllr Shahid Nadeem Sandhu, as the founding member of Kultura Verse UK.
is a multi-media journalist, editor, and documentary filmmaker from Pakistan who focuses on human rights, gender, media, peace and South Asia. She is a board member of the Sapan Foundation, launched in 2024. She is a founder member of the Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and a founder member of the Women’s Action Forum Pakistan. She also served on the elected Council of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for three consecutive terms. A 2023 Fellow at the Poynter Institute’s , she is based in Cambridge MA, but also calls Karachi and Lahore home.
Mira Hashmi is a Pakistani actress known for her roles in dramas Teen Bata Teen, Family Front, Taamak Toyian and has authored Gulzar's Ijaazat: Insights Into the Film in 2019, in memory of her grandfather Chaudhry Faiz Ahmad Faiz -- the celebrated writer of Urdu and Punjabi literature and dedicated to Faiz Festival.
SSAI Sanglaap Art and Culture Series presentation in partnership with Sapan News and Kultura Verse (UK).
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Djam Lecture Theatre, SOAS University of London, Thornhaugh Street, , London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00 to GBP 4.00
