I have a piece in this new show at The Women's Museum of California

              As inspired by Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" each night stand in the exhibition suggests a woman, real or imagined, who sleeps next to it.

             My piece, Malala’s Dream, honors Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 because of her public support for the education of all girls in Pakistan. Malala almost died from severe brain injury as a result of the attack. An international coalition was able to transfer her from Pakistan to Birmingham, England where she continued treatment that saved her life.

 After extensive rehabilitation therapy and the support of her family, who also eventually joined her in England, Malala continues to speak out for education for girls all over the world. On October 10, 2014 Malala became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

                I conceived this piece as a representation of Malala’s dream for world peace and education for all. I imagined her with a night stand full of books that she is always studying in her pursuit of knowledge. Her love of family and her home in the Swat Valley of Norther Pakistan are represented in the photos. The scarf is symbolic of her words and her accomplishments. As a Muslim woman Malala is shown wearing her hijab or headscarf. I incorporated a scarf with the night stand to reference her identity and the accomplishments of her life. I embroidered many eloquent declarations about her determination to fight for world peace and education. One of her most famous quotations is written and embroidered in 15 different languages:  “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.”

                As we all do when we set aside the cares of the day and lay down to sleep, I imagine Malala setting aside her hijab, her books and her pens to dream of her home and the friends she left behind in Pakistan, and a future where all girls are free to pursue their goals.