BALADK Street art festival 2019 : Art empowering women

In the streets of Amman, there are some surprises in the works for the capital’s residents as the city prepares to host the Baladk Festival. Since 2013, this street art festival, organised by the Al Balad Theatre, has sought to empower citizens and boost artistic expression, specifically through street art and graffiti.
After partnering with the previous edition, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has decided to renew its support for the festival by helping to finance the creation of a mural by French artist Dire 132 (his real name is Bruno Frédal), in collaboration with French-Jordanian artist Ibrahim Tonnerieux. The two taggers chose to focus their work on an essential theme: access to mobility for women in Jordan.  
With an AFD employee in Amman, Yara Karadsheh, as their model, their work represents a proud and independent Jordanian woman making her way freely through public transport. Their goal is to raise awareness among the urban population of harassment in public transport, while promoting women’s access to public transport as an essential means of empowering them and giving them access to employment. This is a major issue in Jordan, where the rate of working women has not exceeded 18% for the past decade.

©AFD2019