A new exhibition at Pasadena City College will offer a glimpse into the lives of Pakistani women, showcasing their struggles and triumphs in the face of cultural restrictions.
“Women Without Borders: A Visual Study of Pakistani Women’s Lives” is set to open on June 26 at 4 p.m. at the college’s Boone and V Galleries.
The exhibit is the result of a five-week journey across Pakistan in 2023 by Altadena filmmaker Jennifer Hall Lee, who interviewed women about feminism, patriarchy, and their visions for the future.
Lee collaborated with Munazza Yaqoob, Ph.D., of the International Islamic University, Islamabad, members of the Critical Thinking Forum of the International Islamic University, Islamabad, and Hina Abidi, past President of the Pakistan Arts Council in Pasadena.
The team conducted interviews from the mountains of Chitral to the deserts of Umerkot, resulting in photographs printed on jute with hand-sewn borders by women employed at Behbud Crafts of Islamabad.
“This show is the result of a ten-year friendship with Dr. Yaqoob that included multiple international visits and an unfinished Fulbright award,” Lee said. “I believe this work is extraordinary. Now that women’s rights are being revoked globally, including the United States, it gives me a deeper perspective as to how patriarchy thrives.”
Yaqoob emphasized the collaborative nature of the project, noting that Lee had visited Pakistan three times over the past decade, while she had traveled to Los Angeles and Pasadena.
“Through our collaboration, we gathered a wide range of stories highlighting the challenges encountered by women in Pakistan and their ability to confront the numerous restrictive cultural standards imposed by the patriarchy,” Yaqoob said.
The exhibition was previously shown at the Pakistan Council of the Arts in Islamabad in November 2023, where it was well-received by Pakistani civil society. Minister of Arts and Culture Jamal Shah made remarks at the opening reception.
The Pasadena City College showing marks the second exhibition of this work, made possible by a Community Excellence Grant from the college’s foundation and additional support from the United Nations Association-Pasadena.
At the opening reception on June 26, Lee, Yaqoob, and Abidi will be joined by local officials. Pasadena Unified School Board Trustee Michelle Richardson Bailey is expected to read a personal letter about the exhibit from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The free exhibition will be open to the public weekdays from June 26 through Aug. 2, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., at the college’s Colorado Campus in the Boone Family Gallery (CA Building) and the V Building Gallery.
Pasadena City College, founded in 1924, has a long-standing reputation for academic excellence. It offers a variety of degrees, transfer programs, certificates of achievement, and occupational skills certificates, and is consistently ranked among the top colleges in California for transfers to California State University and University of California systems.
