Womens Empowerment

Building a brighter future

Our Women’s Project offers a place for Afghan women and other isolated groups to share their experiences and build their confidence. Weekly workshops teach basic skills, English language classes improve speaking and writing abilities, and discussion of current affairs.

Wednesday’s 12.30 – 3.30pm.

Hanging by a Thread Mosaic Project: ACAA partnered with the British Association of Modern Mosaic in an international project called ‘Hanging by a Thread’ which invited mosaic artists from across the world to create a textile-inspired mosaic to raise awareness of the plight of women and girls from Afghanistan. Our female participants, with the support of workshop facilitators Tamara Froud, Alex McHallam and Tatiana Froud, produced mosaic pieces which were joined together to represent a scarf: symbolising culture, traditions, and textiles. These mosaics were exhibited across the world. ( https://mosaicandglass.com/2022/11/hanging-by-a-thread-mosaics-for-afghan-women/)

Paper Storytelling: We conducted a “Weaving Stories of Arrival” workshop for refugee women and asylum-seekers from Afghanistan and Central Asia with the Meghalaya and London-based artist Synchar. Participants got the opportunity to creatively explore the possibilities of paper made from a very special fibre: Eri silk. The tribal artist, Synchar, used paper storytelling to explore the complex issues related to colonial histories, encouraging participants to weave stories that often go unwritten and unheard. 

Community Art Table Initiative: With Art Refuge, a UK based charity, supporting displaced people through art and art therapy, we conducted an eight-week project, where a community art table was set up, allowing participants to be creative and participate in a variety of different activities, including blackout poetry, cut-out poetry, creating animations of word sequences, etc. These sessions were supported by animation artists, poets, and art therapists, culminating into creation of an animation video on ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ which was screened at the ACAA’s International Women’s Day event in 2023 at the Royal Albert Hall. https://youtu.be/G7riQr0OI-w?feature=shared

Hounslow Action for Youth (HAY) Poetry Workshops: Our partnership work with Hounslow Action for Youth (HAY) enabled refugee women from Afghanistan and Iran to participate in a series of poetry workshops conducted over 4 weeks. Participants engaged in a postcard poetry writing session, where photographs on postcards were used as stimuli to produce poems. These were printed on postcards designed by the ACAA and exhibited at our 2023 International Women’s Day event. Hounslow Action for Youth also published a separate series of poems called ‘The Afghan Women’ on love, displacement, homeland, and conflict in 14 Magazine, a publication of Vanguard Editions. Either we can link it: https://richardskinner.weebly.com/14-magazine.html 

Refugee Women’s Lived Experiences Exhibition: ACAA collaborated with Alan Compton, an award-winning humanitarian photographer who did a photoshoot of our women and girls at Gunnersbury Park Museum to show the rich contributions that refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls can bring to life in the UK. Alan Compton captured these beautiful women in traditional Afghan and Iranian dresses as a symbol of reclaiming their identity and cultural preservation in the UK. The exhibition also showed portraits of girls participating in ACAA’s Muslim Girls Football Club which provides them with a safe space to engage in sports, challenge stereotypes, and build confidence. The photographs were first exhibited at ACAA’s International Women’s Day event at RAH and then re-exhibited at Watermans Art Centre. 

Arts Initiative with the Empty Wall Project: ACAA partnered with the Empty Wall Project for 4 weeks to deliver a series of creative workshops for refugee children at our centre. These included sessions on pottery and ceramics, still life painting, colour theory, and charcoal sketching. These workshops helped children of different age groups to come together and engage in art, while also improving their mental health and building new social connections.