Another blow for female artists in Afghanistan

Sara’s art institution was thriving until Taliban officials locked the doors and sent her colleagues home

Illustration by Lana Al Jaf

The call came in the morning when Sara* was getting ready for work. Her colleague sounded panicked as she explained that their workshop was about to be shut down. She arrived to find that Taliban officials had already ordered the women to go home. “They told my colleague to close the doors, or they would lock them inside,” the 23-year-old says.

Sara’s workshop was among several female-led art and handicraft centers closed that day, forcing more than 100 women out of work. For many, this was more than income—it was an escape from the reality of life as a woman in Afghanistan.

“I don’t just work for me; I work for women who are banned from everything. This is the only way they can earn and create,” Sara told us last summer, when an Innovation Hub grant enabled her to expand the center, taking on female teachers and art students who were no longer allowed to study at Afghan universities. 

Together, they had built it into a thriving cultural institution, honing their skills in traditional arts, including calligraphy, painting, illumination, and gilding.

Many supported their family on the proceeds, selling their work to tourists and online. “You won’t find this art elsewhere; we have this knowledge within us. It is unique to Afghanistan,” she told us at the time. Soon, the women began to heal, finding new purpose after being stripped of their rights by the ruling regime. 

With the center closed, 26 women lost their livelihoods, and Sara felt responsible.  So, she went to the Taliban official and made their case. “I said, please don’t do this, we support our families, but he didn’t accept it and told me to take care what I say; we know who you are.” 

The next day, she received a text message from the Taliban’s vice and virtue police warning her to stay at home. The message, which disappeared soon after she read it, contained details of her father’s workplace and her home address. “I feel I’m at risk. They said if I go out, then the consequences are on me,” she says. 

After hiding at home for a week, Sara slipped out to meet her colleagues. Walking through the city, she was nervous, afraid that at any moment, she could be stopped. “I really feel in danger now. The Taliban can do anything they want; there is nothing to stop them hurting me or my family,” she says. 

Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, Afghanistan has suffered an economic downturn, and ordinary Afghans struggle to make a living. For those in the creative industries, life is particularly hard, even where they have been allowed to continue their work. “While some art forms have been left alone, such as pottery and glassmaking, the Taliban has no intention or interest in helping them out,” says Ahmad Mansoor Ramizy, Afghanistan program director at Ideas Beyond Borders.

Other artists, including musicians, painters, and writers, have been forced to flee, seeking refuge abroad before they could be hunted down and punished for their work. “During the previous Taliban regime in Afghanistan, any form of self-expression was condemned and prosecuted, including but not limited to television, cinema, arts and crafts, poetry and music,” Ramizy recalls.

Hopes that the new Taliban, which has embraced social media and television interviews, would be less restrictive than the first regime soon faded as they moved to ban music in public. Artists began self-censoring their work, burning books, and destroying paintings as reports emerged of people being arrested, tortured, and executed for their art.

“The importance and relevance of media for disseminating their propaganda campaigns makes them vital to the Taliban, so they have been allowed— under the strict control of the Taliban Intelligence Services. However, no forms of art, music, or self-expression are allowed to take place on TV or elsewhere,” Ramizy adds.

Yet art has a way of enduring in difficult times. Despite the setbacks, the artistic community in Afghanistan is finding ways to flourish in secret, performing music, composing poetry, and painting the subjects that inspire them. “My musician friends play underground in soundproof environments to record our precious traditional music, and I have friends who blast off Afghan pop music during weddings at home to resist the Taliban's ban,” Ramizy says.

“I still see communities coming together to have tea, chat, and paint… and we still have poets who write about the situation and criticize the government,” he adds. 

Through the Innovation Hub, Ideas Beyond Borders channels support to art and cultural initiatives across Afghanistan, helping women to develop new skills, earn a living, and find an outlet for expression amid the restrictions that govern their daily lives. “We cannot change the restrictions or stop the human rights violations taking place under this despotic regime,” says Faisal Al Mutar, President of Ideas Beyond Borders. “What we can do is help women access opportunities to achieve their potential by supporting art clubs, libraries, handicraft centers, and other platforms.”

Sara is hoping to set up a new center and begin again under a different name. Much of their equipment remains locked inside the workshop, so they are unable to create, even from home. She is also considering traveling abroad to support her colleagues remotely by sending them materials, exhibiting their work, and raising their voices—something they cannot do in Afghanistan. 

“I feel responsible for them. Art was like our therapy,” says Sara, who watched the women flourish as they found a new purpose in her workshop. Now, stuck at home, she chases away despair by planning what she will do next. “We try to be strong, we try to smile, we try to be happy, even now.”

This article was written by Olivia Cuthbert.

*Ideas Beyond Borders uses pseudonyms to protect our partners in Afghanistan.