“I want Afghanistan to be famous for its art, not its war.”
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times (2016) about how dangerous it can be for a woman to draw graffiti in a public place in Kabul, Shamsia Hassani said: "Right now, the situation is not good. Very dangerous. Bombings can happen anytime, anywhere. People who live in seclusion don't like art and think it's not a good thing - especially for girls. Girls make art - and they are very sensitive.
In Afghanistan, when doing street art, I was always scared because the situation was quite bad especially when facing closed people who might harass me. If I were a guy, I'd probably be OK with painting on the street. No one would tell me anything if I were a guy. But since I'm a girl, I'll still have to do what others say even if I'm not active in art. And if I do make art, they'll come and harass me."
During the war, Hassani spent her childhood in Iran where her parents temporarily immigrated. Shamsia Hassani loved painting since she was a child, but in Iran, Hassani was not allowed to attend art classes because she is Afghan. When she returned to Kabul in 2005 at the age of 17, she attempted to pursue an art degree. Shamsia Hassani then graduated with a BA in Painting and a Master in Visual Arts from Kabul University.
In December 2010, Hassani started her exposure to street art from a graffiti workshop in Kabul, organized by Combat Communications - an art advocacy group from the UK. After the workshop, Hassani realized that street art was very relevant to the society in Afghanistan, since art on the streets is easily accessible to everyone - and because the country does not have art galleries and people don't go to the exhibitions either. The artist believes her art can change the perspective of the city, by adding color and masking bad memories of the war.
Through Berang Arts - the contemporary art organization that Hassani co-founded in 2009 with other Afghan artists, and with the support of the Prince Claus Foundation (based in the Netherlands), Hassani promoted the creation of the first National Graffiti Festival in Afghanistan in 2013. She popularized street art in Kabul, inspiring women around the world and giving new hope to female Afghan artists.
Hassani spent her time encouraging others to unleash their creativity through graffiti festivals, art classes in Afghanistan, and through exhibitions in many different countries around the world, including Vietnam and the US. , Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Turkey, Italy, Canada, India, Iran. In November 2014, Foreign Policy magazine named Shamsia Hassani one of the "100 Leading Global Thinkers 2014" (2014 Leading Global Thinkers).
As a female Muslim graffiti artist, Hassani ventured to create graffiti on the streets of Kabul to raise awareness of the war years. She uses walls of abandoned buildings damaged by bombs to depict Afghan women in traditional dress, with musical instruments and often surrounded inscriptions in her mother tongue. Hassani had to create her pieces within 15 minutes to avoid being harassed by the public, who thought her "graffiti on the wall" was "un-Islamic".
Hassani used the power of art to fight for women's rights, reminding people of the tragedies that women have faced and continue to face in Afghanistan. Through her art, Hassani portrays Afghan women in a male-dominated society. She portrays them to not only be unhappy but also with the spirit of struggle, thirst, and hope. Her art presents Afghan women with strength, consistency and readiness. The woman character in her artwork represents a proud person who wants to raise her voice and bring positive change to people's lives.
In an interview with Art Radar magazine (2013), the female artist shared: “I want to mask the bad memories of the war on the walls, and if I color in these bad memories, then I will erase [war] from everyone's mind. I want Afghanistan to be famous for its art, not its war.”
Speaking to The Guardian (in 2015), Hassani said she wanted to "show that women have returned to Afghan society with a new, stronger form. It's a new woman. An energetic woman who wants to start over."
In December 2012, at the 7th Triennial Asia Pacific Exhibition (Australia), a collaboration between female artists El Mac and Shamsia Hassani was announced while the two were in Vietnam. The work, titled "Birds Without a Country", was on display at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), from December 8, 2012 to April 14, 2013. The character in the work is based on a portrait of Hassani, and is accompanied by a line of poetry written by herself:
ای ا ل ای اندن ارن
Translation:
Birds of no nation
Are all captive
Like me
With no voice for singing
Birds without a country
All are imprisoned
Like me
No more vocals
Source: Arrestedmotion.com
“Birds Have No Country”
Oil paintings, which Shamsia Hassani calls herself "The Birds Without a Country", were displayed in the exhibition "Imagine" in 2016, held at the Seyhoun Art Gallery on Melrose Avenue (Los Angeles, United States of America) and curated by Maryam Seyhoun; owner of the Seyhoun Gallery.
Source: Shamsiahassani.net
And she also explained in an interview with Street Art Bio (2017): "I believe there are many people who have forgotten all the tragedies that women face in Afghanistan; that's why I'm using my paintings as a means of reminding people the problem in society through pictures appearing everywhere, that reflect women in burqas. Trying to appear bigger, more than they actually are, and in modern forms, shaped in happiness, in motion, and perhaps looking stronger. To see them differently."
But now, this is no longer a nightmare, in Afghanistan 2021.
According to Art Republik Vietnam
