ARTISTS TALKING
Visual art exhibitions and events with a platform for critical writing
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The seeds of change
Edoardo Malagigi visited Afghanistan to research the working conditions of artists there. Here, he reports on some of the issues affecting artists living there, and on the planned Centre for Contemporary Art in Afghanistan, Kabul.
When a country’s identity and people have been defaced by war, it’s hard to imagine where to start recovering dignity. Perhaps one of the most startling truths emerging from this recovery process, is the role that art and culture play in reconnecting people to their core by rediscovering dignity beyond survival, towards freedom of expression and creative engagement with one’s own community. In this respect, art can often reach where politics can’t. As part of my collaboration with Afghan artists and local Ministry of Culture officials, I was invited to lead workshops at the Faculty of Fine Arts and to visit the UN-led, School of Hope, both in Kabul, to assess the possibilities of contemporary art regeneration in Afghanistan. What I saw gave me sufficient motivation to try to independently explore the possibility of a project that could help rebuild what war had taken away in terms of cultural expression. From the first few days, it was obvious that the country’s education system was in need of modernisation, particularly in the artistic department. Currently Afghanistan has four art institutions: two Fine Arts faculties located in Kabul and in Herat, which...
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