“We are equal, Pasha" and "I won't give up" are two eye-catching phrases written on the wall of a street in the downtown Cairo district of Abdeen, where a group of artists were working on a huge mural, arousing the curiosity of passersby. When the artists had finished the mural, people realised that it was a cry for help from women victims of violence. The artists who painted this moral belong to ‘Mashroo' Hagar', a project whose purpose is to raise awareness of people in the street via art. ‘Mashroo' Hagar (Hagar's Project): Art Empowers!' is a dynamic artistic project co-funded by the European Union and Darb 1718, whose purpose is to discuss the role of art in women's empowerment, gender equality and human rights. The project, which is offering a series of free art workshops and info sessions with NGOs in June and July at Darb 1718 for interested artists, wants to foster the emergence of a post-January 25 generation of visual artists by helping to enhance their freedom of expression on a specific subject – women's empowerment. "The project mainly focus on young artists who can benefit from technical training in the arts to best express their message through the privileged media of the revolution, i.e. video art, photography, graphic design and street art," says Mina Boktor, the operations manager of Darb 1718 Contemporary Art and Culture Centre. The project also aims to initiate dialogue among artists on how art empowers; provide technical training via workshops that result in original individual or group art works; and disseminate the outcomes of this dialogue via an itinerant exhibition that takes place in Cairo, Alexandria and Aswan. "We want to 'use' art in order to inspire people. We are defending and supporting women's freedom, which is why we chose the name Hagar for our project," adds Mina. According to Islam, Hagar is the mother of the prophet Ismail (Ishmael), and she is honoured by Muslims as a wise, brave and pious woman. The incident of her running between the Al-Safa and Al-Marwah hills is recalled by Muslims when they perform their Major Pilgrimage (Hajj) at Mecca. Part of the pilgrimage involves running seven times between the hills, in commemoration of Hagar's courage and to symbolise the celebration of motherhood in Islam, as well as the leadership of women. The project consists of three phases: virtual and actual discussion platforms (info sessions with prominent women's empowerment NGOs, associations and public figures); workshops for young visual artists (given by professional European curators/artists); and the itinerant exhibition.
