Afghan women artists are playing a vital role in the women's movement resisting Taliban abuses, and their contributions-and art-should be recognized, Human Rights Watch said today in a new web feature.
The feature, published at the end of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, is titled "A human being is more delicate than a flower and tougher than a rock," after the Afghan proverb. The feature honors two Afghan women artists in exile who protest through their work and who voice their beliefs through the art they create with patience, creativity, and passion. Their art depicts and challenges the oppression women and girls face under Taliban rule.
"A resistance movement is shaped, empowered, and maintained by those who support it in different capacities," said Sahar Fetrat, women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Women artists, much like the women protesters who marched with the slogan 'bread, work, freedom,' demand dignity and equality for all, and play a vital role in shaping this grassroots movement."
Since taking over Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, the Taliban have systematically violated the rights of women and girls and imposed rules that not only violate their right to education, but also to employment, freedom of movement and speech, to bodily integrity, to participate in public life, to access health care, and even to speak, read, and recite out loud.
The project features Rada Akbar, a conceptual artist, and Fatima Wojohat, who creates art both with chalk and digitally. Both artists' work touches on themes of women's resistance to oppression, and both artists contribute to Afghan women's resistance movement, even though they have been uprooted from their homeland. They share their artwork and messages of solidarity and hope, and they want to reach girls and women inside Afghanistan whose access to the creative world and art have been cut off due to the Taliban's oppressive bans and restrictions.
Akbar said she feels a profound responsibility to dedicate her work to honoring the courage and resistance of Afghan women.
Wojohat said her work reflects her deep concern for the erasure of freedoms and opportunities for Afghan women and girls: "Through my art, I strive to amplify their voices and stories, presenting their dreams and struggles to the world."
Afghan women have bravely resisted Taliban abuses by taking to the streets, organizing indoor protests, singing, and making art, and they have continued to find creative ways to oppose the Taliban's oppressive policies.
"While Afghanistan remains the world's gravest women's rights crisis, it is crucial to acknowledge the Afghan women's grassroots movement and those who nourish it with their wisdom, bravery, and art," Fetrat said. "Rada Akbar and Fatima Wojohat, among many others, empower the women's resistance movement by creating art, meaning, and symbols that leave a powerful legacy."
