ART FROM FIRST STREET ARTIST IN AFGHANISTAN REVEALS HEARTBREAKING MESSAGE
As the Taliban regain power in Afghanistan after 20 years, there is genuine dread and anxiety in the country. The treatment of women is especially concerning, considering the violence they endured during the previous Taliban government. The first female street artist in Afghanistan, Shamsia Hassani, is expressing her feelings through her work and has shared several devastating pictures on social media. When the Taliban still controlled Afghanistan in 1998, Hassani was born as a refugee in Iran. In 2005, she went back to her own country to use art to heal the wounds caused by conflict.
As a street artist, she dared to display her mostly female-focused artwork in public areas. By doing this, she gained recognition on a global scale as a model for a new generation of Afghan women who are breaking new ground. She talked about her decision to prioritise women in her art in a 2013 interview. Women were excluded from society in the past, and the goal was to forget about them and keep them at home. I now want to remind people about women through my art," she said. "I've altered my photos to highlight women's joy and strength. There is a lot of movement in my artwork. I want to show that women have returned to Afghan society with a new, stronger shape. It’s not the woman who stays at home. It’s a new woman. A woman who is full of energy, who wants to start again. You can see that in my artwork, I want to change the shape of women. I am painting them larger than life. I want to say that people look at them differently now.”
Now that women are once more in a vulnerable situation, Hassani's most recent paintings appear to be losing their hue. Titles like Nightmare and Death to Darkness make it clear how she feels. The Taliban are portrayed in her works as ominous, dark entities who tower over the landscape. Her paintings feature blue-clad women wearing burqas or headscarves. There is a black container with a dandelion in two parts. Perhaps representing a wish that is blowing out of reach, dandelion whisps fly away.
At a recent public appearance, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's spokesperson, stated that women will be respected under their rule, although he did not provide any details. According to the Associated Press, women are currently being urged to go back to school and work; however, some stories dispute this. Regardless of what the Taliban openly states, many women are afraid for their future and have good reason to be concerned, given the Taliban's previous actions. In Kabul, a group of women protested in the streets, calling for their exclusion from public life.
Hassani is still creating new art in the interim, presumably from her Kabul studio. She is making sure that her voice and the voice of Afghan women will be heard by doing this. Women for Afghan Women and Flyaway: Emergency Afghan Rescue Mission are two groups to think about if you want to support women in Afghanistan. In order to carry out emergency rescue flights for people who want to leave the country, the mission is gathering money.