1st Poster with Jinnah's speech
During a time of severe Islamization under the military dictatorship of General Zia Ul Haq in 1980s Pakistan, which fostered an increasingly oppressive environment for women, Lala Rukh involved herself with the women’s movement, co-founding the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) and commencing a life-long commitment to political activism. Rukh was proactively involved in the Forum’s activities when local printers controlled by the government in Lahore refused to print their protest materials and newsletters. Rukh began screen printing, designing and producing many of the WAF’s provocative posters that called for the equal rights and freedom of women. 1st Poster with Jinnah’s Speech is the first poster Rukh made for the WAF. Reproduced on the poster is an image of Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan along with his sister Fatima Jinnah who introduced the womens right movement in Pakistan. The text on the poster is in Urdu and is a quote from a speech Jinnah gave, which translates as "It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up between the four walls of their homes like prisoners." By harking back to this passage WAF wanted draw attention to the fact that Pakistan was founded with the extremist ideology of the Haq government which has theocratic views.
Artwork Details
- Title: 1st Poster with Jinnah's speech
- Artist: Lala Rukh (Pakistani, Lahore 1948–2017 Lahore)
- Date: 1982
- Medium: Screenprint
- Dimensions: 31 1/16 × 21 5/8 in. (78.9 × 55 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of the Estate of Lala Rukh, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.403.7
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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