UN Women promotes an art exhibition on women and social cohesion in cooperation with Darat al Funun

April 23 - May 6 2016: UN Women, in cooperation with Darat Al-Funun, contributed to the exhibition titled ‘Linear Transparency’, launched at the Darat Al Funun art gallery on April 23 and open to the public until 6 May 2016. UN Women’s contribution is the result of an art workshop “Mapping Stories and Destinations” organized with women – Jordanian and Syrian refugees - from the Governorate of Zarqa and generously funded by the Government of Japan. The three-week workshop was held at the Khawla Bint Al Azwar Association, under the artistic guidance of Turkish actress Ms. Cansu Çakar. This initiative is aimed at using art as a tool to boost social cohesion in Jordanian host communities as well as to establish collaborative activities to support Jordanian and Syrian women in local communities.

‘It is truly inspiring to see the interest and the enthusiasm of both Jordanian and Syrian women in to working together, using art as an outlet for engagement, collaboration and recreation,’ affirmed Ms. Rachel Dore-Weeks on behalf of UN Women Jordan.

Ms. Hala Lattouf, the managing director of Aya Consultancy and Development affirmed “Boosting societal cohesiveness while strengthening the social fabric within Jordanian societies that host large numbers of refugees can only be achieved through the use of more creative and innovative methods to bolster the much needed psychological support for women and girls.”

Commenting on the “Linear Transcendency” exhibition, Ms.Çakar added “Our borders were once expressed in the form of rivers, mountains and seas, but where are our borders now? When we work to subdivide our small world and express it in terms of lines, we become more inconsequential and irrelevant.” For three consecutive weeks, Ms.Çakar worked with students, refugees and women on the importance of collective work and breaking the chains restricting their boundless dreams and creativity in order to build this exhibition.

This initiative is part of a larger UN Women programme, which aims at boosting social cohesion in the Governorates of Zarqa and Irbid through improved and equal access to basic services for both Jordanian and Syrian women and girls living in host communities. By creating a better understanding between the two communities, the programme supports the construction of ‘safe heavens’ in cooperation with local community community-based initiatives, in order to alleviate causes of distress in the daily life of women and girls and by providing leadership and technical skills to support women’s access to livelihood and income generating opportunities.