RE-DIRECTING: EAST Conversations # 3:
Ayesha Omer (Pakistan)

June 19th 2013, Laboratory building CCA

RE-DIRECTING: EAST
Conversations # 3: Ayesha Omer from CSW TV. 

Ayesha Omer is interested in cultural policy and the formation of identity, particularly the identities of women and marginalized communities, through social movements.
This year alone nation-wide protests against Shia Killings demonstrated a new imagery of nonviolent struggle; a spirited voting campaign resulted in a record turnout of voters; independent candidates who identified with transgender, disabled and free labour have contested the elections. Citizens rallied for their right to a safe, free and fair elections following reports of rigging. Such forms of civic action have defined values of nonviolence, cross-sectarian, multi-ethnic, inter-faith, mixed class, and women-inclusive collectivity as an effective strategy for resistance.
Ayesha Omer will present reflections, performances and conversations about these shifts in Pakistan and what they will mean to artists. Graffiti art, political posters, digital art, public performances, and social media campaigns are emerging symbiotically with the rise of the civic sphere. Therefore her focus for the Re-Directing: East Conservations, will be the dynamics of this symbiotic relationship, and whether they can be nurtured or sustained in the typical constraints of cultural policy.