Building a Culture of Peace and Reconciliation through Art at the International Peace Institute (IPI)
- EMPOWERMENT COLLECTIVE
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
In the early days of spring, the Empowerment Collective stepped onto the world stage through two landmark events: an International Peace Institute gathering that showcased Nasreen's and the Collective’s work at the intersection of art and activism, and the Grace Farms Design for Freedom (DFF) Summit, where a conversation with Nasreen became the centerpiece of a breakout session on social entrepreneurship. These moments mark important milestones in the parallel journeys of Nasreen and the Empowerment Collective. The IPI event unveiled The Veil to the public for the first time and featured the inaugural reading of Nasreen's poem, A Table for Peace. Meanwhile, the DFF Summit—where, a year earlier, Nasreen delivered the speech that inspired her poem—became a platform to rally support for the TransparaTrade initiative.
These events cultivated space to reflect on the past and unveil Empowerment Collective's current projects and vision for the future. Continue reading for more detailed chronicles of last week's events →
On March 26th, IPI and Grace Farms co-hosted the second Art for Peace series event featuring Empowerment Collective's Founder, global human rights advocate and artist Nasreen Sheikh.
This event debuted The Veil, a textile-based wearable art piece crafted from second-hand doilies, traditionally handmade by women for the purpose of table setting—a nod to the idea of a table for peace. The Veil, symbolizing protection and honoring the anonymity of survivors of modern slavery, will be integrated into Nasreen's groundbreaking documentary, ANAVARANA (meaning "unveil" in Nepali). ANAVARANA explores modern slavery’s impact on women, its connection to the global climate crisis, and the emergence of a powerful survivor-led grassroots movement to advocate for supply chain transparency and an end to all forms of exploitation.
The event also featured the first-ever public reading of Nasreen's poem A Table for Peace. A Table for Peace was born out of Nasreen's keynote presentation at the 2024 Design for Freedom Summit at Grace Farms, where audience members resonated deeply with the metaphor of a global table where people could come together in the spirit of collective unity. This poem came to life in October during an artist residency at Grace Farms where Nasreen, alongside poet laureate Marilyn Nelson, explored how poetry could convey this vision of a universal gathering place for peace and collaboration. This work serves as a hopeful plea to unite our collective voices around a shared table, where solutions for freedom and environmental stewardship can be created for the well-being of present and future generations.
The reading of A Table for Peace was followed by a conversation between Nasreen and Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, President and CEO of IPI. During this discussion and a subsequent audience Q&A segment, Nasreen shared the deeply personal story and meaning behind The Veil and its role in ANAVARANA, illustrating vision for how the wearable art piece will contribute to a global culture of transparency and peace through storytelling that prioritizes survivor needs and safety. In this discussion, she also told of the journey that led to the final poem, explaining her choices behind using the Mandākrāntā Chanda Style, a classical Sanskrit meter, as the rhythmic foundation of A Table for Peace.
The audience was incredibly moved by both the art pieces themselves and Nasreen's explanations of what they mean and how they evolved. The event programming was followed by a lively reception that buzzed with inspired and engaged discussion about how attendees could collaborate and take action to support this emerging movement.
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