Freedom to Create

You must be in a pretty horrific situation if you perceive that setting yourself on fire is the only way to escape from it. The aftermath of attempted self-immolation by some Afghani women is documented in photographs by Lynsey Addario, showing at a new exhibit in New York.

The art on display at the Freedom to Create exhibit at the Ana Tzarev Gallery is not limited to these terrible experiences though. The exhibit which opened with a forum about empowering women through creativity showcases art by women from countries such as Iran, Iraq, Nepal, Pakistan and Lebanon. Some of the work is an affirmation of being human in a society that may try to prohibit that expression. For example, Salome, a Iranian rapper and poet, is keen to point out that she is not a "feeble woman struggling to fight for her right to sing" in a country where arts and culture are heavily restricted, especially for female performers. She says she wants to be recognised for expressing herself creatively and not as a struggling woman in an oppressive society.

Freedom to Create which is a non-profit organization based in Singapore was established in 2006 to "harness the power art and culture to build more creative and prosperous societies" and since 2008 has been awarding prizes to artists, too.

Vice president, Priti Devi, told me the organization believes in building societies from the bottom up.  She says: "We want people to use their talents to express themselves and to have the right to be creative that everyone must have."  If people are able to express themselves they have the confidence to use it and do other things with it, such as using it in an entrepreneurial way and this can reap financial reward for the individual, the larger family and then society, according to Freedom to Create.

Devi says if this can happen the world's attention can become focused on their activities which can help funnel in more money to their societies. She points out the recent events in Egypt as a broad example of people being forced to live "smaller" lives and not being part of a global economy. "They realised they were left out of prosperity and they realised they wanted to be a part of that. Flourishing is not just the right of a few people."  This is Freedom to Create's role, adds Devi.

Muslim Women's Film Festival

Tomorrow in Los Angeles, hundreds of films from around the world by women living in Muslim majority and western countries, will be shown. These women's voices will be added to a global discourse that usually lacks them. The Muslim Women's Film Festival will be a part of a wider initiative to get these women’s stories heard by a New York-based charity called Women's Voices Now.

The 98 short films in the festival (available online), focus on stories about and mostly by women and girls living in Muslim majority societies and those living as minorities around the globe.

The mixture of fiction and documentary films looks at the lives of Iran’s first female bus driver, two women married to the same man, and an all-female Tae Kwon Do group in Afghanistan.

The aim of the festival is to allow Muslim women to tell their stories by themselves through citizen journalism and the Internet, so their voices and perspectives register on the western public consciousness.

Catinca Tabacaru, a lawyer and head of Women's Voices Now, says: “The content of the films is surprising to western audiences who are not used to seeing Muslim women portrayed as heroes and changemakers."

The festival is not a one-off but a year-long campaign with focused events planned in other countries (a UK visit is in the works, too), beginning with the festival. The organization plans to travel to Muslim majority countries and show these films. Tabacaru says that the festival and campaign is not about fixing these societies but “creating a platform” for women’s stories.

Radio Bruce

Today I co-hosted Dave Marsh's morning show on E-Street Radio, a Bruce Springsteen radio station (yes, such a thing exists), talking about my essay that will be pubished in a book about the rock musician in May.

My contribution was based on a presentation I gave at a Bruce Springsteen Symposium in 2005.

My relationship with Springsteen's music has changed since that time but the essay gives a snapshot of how my fandom developed.

Some have viewed my fandom with mocking scepticism. Why turn to a rock star who is so far removed from your day-to-day life for inspiration and guidance, some would say to me? Isn't that what we all do as teenagers and then grow out of it?

I can understand this point of view but Springsteen's music is not just for teenage phases - or only for men for that matter, the gender that makes up most of his audience. I believe it is for anyone stuck in a spiritual rut.

Springsteen once said it wasn't his job to carry the dreams of his fans, only to inspire them to carry their own. I am sure he feels the pressure from fans and his own image to act a certain way. Who knows what its really like for it to be routine to have hundreds of thousands of people screaming out your name, on a regular basis since you were 25 up to your sixties?

It's a completely different world to the ones fans usually inhabit despite his regular Joe Schmoe image. But Springsteen never asked us to trust him in the same way he asked us to trust his music. I feel some fans find it hard to extricate the two - not that it's an easy thing to do.

My relationship with his music has changed because I have. I don't listen to his music manically anymore and I don't feel the need to queue for three days to get a front row position at one of his gigs. But his music is a tool that I have used to find my place in the world.

In a way, that's what all art should do. Rather than try and enchant us with the cult of personality that surrounds its maker. Even if this is so enmeshed with art in modern times.