Tuesday
30
APR

05:15 PM

Pardes - Stories of Pakistani Migrant Workers to the Gulf States

Imran Nafees Siddiqui (Pakistani artist, researcher and writer)

In this modern world, work plays a key role in survival—an instinct deeply rooted in our humanity. Despite challenges like inequality, oppression, and control, our lives revolve around work, shaping our emotions and relationships. Human connections, crucial for our well-being, navigate these complex conditions. Intimacy, a source of solace, shifts drastically in difficult work environments. Structural inequalities and economic control create false hopes of a better life, driving people to work for dominant economies and seek elusive opportunities through migration. The result? A life of uncertainty and a sense of displacement. This session will present the hidden stories of Pakistani migrant workers in the Gulf States. It aims to involve participants in the lives of these workers, exploring their desires for home, belonging, intimacy, and love as they navigate foreign environments.
Imran Nafees Siddiqui is a Pakistani visual and perform(ance)ing artist who believes in the power of art for social and political change. His association with a variety of projects is based on the basic premise of disrupting status quo and questioning power structures. As an artist he has turned his vulnerability and sensitivity into an epistemological position that leads to the production of artistic knowledge which is complex, multilayered, and encourages dialogue.
Imran has pioneered platforms for expression, which have been instrumental in channelizing the talent and ‘need to express’ for many people including women, children, and marginalized communities. Presently, He is also the founder of Dugdugi – an artist collective, part of the resistance base creative group ‘Laal Hartaal’, and a gender trainer, researcher, writer, and creative consultant.

Address

4010

010.01.05 (Hörsaal)

Voßstraße 2

69115 Heidelberg

Organizer

SAI, Abt. Ethnologie

Homepage Organizer

https://www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/ethno/

Contact

Dr. Philipp Zehmisch