Bente Aika Scheller: "Afghanistan needs more civil projects"

Political empowerment of women cannot be made possible without changing the patriarchal mindset within political parties, participants at a consultation on “Gender Action Manifesto” highlighted. The consultation was held in Karachi on April 20, 2017as part of a series of such activities being organsied by the Heinrich Boell Stiftung (hbs) at provincial and national level under its “Gender Action Manifesto” project.

Under the umbrella of the Regional Green Dialogs project and in collaboration with Vasl Artists’ Collective, from April 6th to May 12th, 2017 an arts residency with five artists from Afghanistan and Pakistan is taking place in Karachi. For six weeks, the participants explore the concept of Social Sculpture that evolved from the broad understanding of art of the German artist Joseph Beuys who said ‘Every Human Being can be an Artist’. Professor Shelley Sacks, Director of the Social Sculpture Research Unit at Oxford Brookes University, UK is mentoring the residency. The artists’ works were installed on public places in Karachi and involved the general public.