Thah

In Pakistan during the turbulent years of the early 1970s, which saw the Bangladesh War of Independence, the third Indian Pakistan War, as well as the transition from a military government to a republic, a new movement in art was born that went beyond modernism. Leading this movement, Mian Ijaz-ul-Hassan combines the enlarged film poster image of Pakistani actress Firdaus, and that of a mother fighting the Vietnam War. The image of the mother appeared in a collection of reproduction prints themed on the Vietnam War entitled "Letters from the South" (1965), and is originally based on a woodcut print by Chinese artist Lin Jun. Reprinted throughout publications in the west, this image became a symbol of international solidarity for the women's liberation and anti-Vietnam War protest movements. Considering its close relationship to the global situation of the time, as well as the contrast between the sensual female image produced due to male desire, and the female figure fighting a war independently, from a gender perspective, this piece raises questions still relevant to us today. (KR)