Chimes of Freedom

The room on the right too has series of photographs,paintings and video installations,portraying other such social and political stories. Some of them narrate a violent episode in recent history; some highlight people speaking up against atrocities,and others bring out ugly truths such as the 1968 student massacre in Mexico that was suppressed by the then government.

All these visuals and artworks opened for public viewing on Thursday evening at the gallery as part of the Freedom to Create exhibition. Freedom to Create is an international initiative started in 2006,with headquarters in Singapore,to use the power of art to effect social awareness and change. Five years on,they have held exhibitions in London,Cairo,Kabul,Harare,New York,and now Mumbai — reaching out to countless people from all over the world. The city gallery will host the show till June 2 and later it will travel to Sarajevo.

Photographers Abir Abdullah and Laura Boushnak are currently in Mumbai with their contributions to the exhibition. Abdullah,a Bangladeshi photographer,was horrified at the spate of acid attacks on women in his country and began working on raising awareness against them. His collection,titled Shattered Faces,did not come easy,however. “These women don’t want to be photographed,” he says. “To be able to photograph them,I have to first develop a relationship with them as a friend,and this isn’t easy to do.”

Boushnak is a Palestinian woman looking to further the cause of Arab women attempting to educate themselves. The men in their society rebuff the idea of female literacy. A startling illiteracy rate of nearly 50 per cent amongst Egyptian women over the age of 15 drove Boushnak to create this series of photographs,titled I Read I Write. “The women were hesitant to go on record at first,” she says. “Only after one woman agreed and they saw the prints did they become more open to the idea.”

Till now,the participation of Indian artists has remained negligible. For the latest exhibition,Bombay Flying Club has put up a multimedia installation on how coal fires are affecting life in east Indian villages. The organisers,however,have recently appealed to Indian artists to contribute more. They are also seeking Indian entries for the Freedom to Create Prize 2011. The prize was established in 2008 to award the artists for fighting social injustice.