Nov. 18, 2023 - Feb. 4, 2024
Lecture and Reception: Nov. 18, 1-3 pm
Foote Gallery | Free Admission

The exhibition features brilliant photographs of Afghan life and beautiful regional paintings by Afghan artists in exile and/or in peril.

The artists in this group exhibition are influenced by German Realism, Impressionism, and Abstraction. They studied art and made their living as artists, something that is no longer possible. Some of these artists are internally exiled in Afghanistan under extreme pressure from the Taliban. They are constantly surveilled and much of their artwork has been destroyed. It would not be wrong to label them “endangered artists.”

The University of Kabul Fine Arts Department, which trained many artists, was closed by the ruling Taliban in 2021. Regressive policies against art and education make life more difficult, indeed impossible, not only for artists, but for every Afghan. Afghanistan has become “Banistan,” where music, art, kite flying, poetry, free speech, women’s rights, civil rights - all basic human rights - are banned.

Co-curated by Wahid Omar and Jennifer Heath. www.thelovelandmuseum.org/afgan-art/