|
Laila Mehreen Rahman "Come today in fetters to the marketplace, come waving hands, come exulting... |
|
|
|
|
Laila Mehreen Rahman "Come today in fetters to the marketplace, come waving hands, come exulting, dancing...." (Pakistan)
|
|
Article 20: The right of Peaceful Assembly & Association
|
|
275 x 275mm etching 607 x 428mm paper size
|
| |
| |
|
Artist Statement: Laila Mehreen Rahman
|
| "Not enough the tear-stained eye, the storm tossed life |
| Not enough the accusation of hidden love |
| Come today in fetters to the marketplace |
| Come waving hands, come exulting, dancing ..." |
| "These four lines from renowned Pakistani Poet Faiz Ahmeds Poem " Today Come in Fetters to the Market place", led to the making of this image. Faiz was a poet, who along with many others fought for democratic rights in Pakistan and paid for his struggle by being imprisoned for long periods. In this poem, he talks about the importance of citizens coming together in the public space to make their protest, even though they are in fetters, rather than endure confinement and pain in their private sphere. |
| This poem highlights the significance of the right of freedom of assembly and association in the struggle for democratic rights, and also for guiding democracy to a more humane stage. In Pakistan the struggle for democracy has once again allowed the principle of peaceful assembly and association to be invoked as a societal norm, but the reality of society restricts this right to only a few. However, it is by using this right that we can ensure that it is extended to minorities, women and others who are presently denied access to it, and by doing so, pave the way to a truly democratic system. |
| The composition of the print is an interplay between the human figures with nature and the circle with the square. The arms mirroring and repeating the movement and direction of the stems and flowers, signify accord and oneness and peaceful co-existence. The circle can be seen as one individuals’ space in the wider context of the universe. The title verse: "Come in fetters today to the marketplace Come waving hands, come exulting, dancing ...” Focuses attention on the constraints that are brought to bear on our state of living, i.e. chains of a physical, social or metaphysical nature which bind us. An awareness of history and of struggle and suffering is the first step towards the construction of an ideal world." |
| |
|
