When we hear someone talk about Afghanistan, the conversation is often peppered with words like “war.” “conflict,” and “tragedy.” But there is another world in Afghanistan, one of every day life. Afghanistan as Afghans live it.
This fall, Mountain2Mountain, a non-profit that develops voice and value for women and girls in conflict zones, is bringing the touring cultural exhibit Streets of Afghanistan to Kabul, Afghanistan for a groundbreaking exhibition of life-size photography that captures the beauty and the heartbreak of this region; Afghanistan as Afghans see it. This unique collaboration of Afghan and Western photographers immerses the viewer in the landscapes and faces of Afghanistan, transporting them directly into the culture and mindset of the country’s people.
Photography has always been a form of expression, but more than that, around the world photography is used as a form of activism. Photography is voice.
Created around that idea, as well as intending to connect communities through art, Streets of Afghanistan opened at the Denver Art Museum in April 2011, and this fall the traveling exhibit will return to the place where the photos originated, bringing the images home to the literal streets of Kabul and allowing the project to come full circle. In a city surrounded by concrete blast walls, public art is rarely, if ever, seen by Afghans. There are no magazines, no public art, no art galleries. The grassroots art scene is limited to a select few, risking their lives to use their voice.
“The photographs in this exhibit do more than substitute for words. Each beautifully represents and conveys the story of a community transformed by helping hands. Mountain2Mountain has been so successful at bringing positive change because it respects and celebrates this local cultures,” said Parag Khanna, Director of the Global Governance Initiative at the New America Foundation.
This project is made possible by public support, engaging artists, activists and individuals through a Kickstarter campaign that will fund the production of 3 exhibitions in Kabul. You can support the project through September 15, 2012 and be a part of bringing voice to the people of Afghanistan.
“These images have allowed the voices and stories of the Afghan community to be heard, unedited, in the United States. Presenting them on the streets of Kabul to share with the Afghan gives back to a people from which so much has been taken and used to fulfill a particular narrative. The power of public art ignites conversation, community, and opens our eyes to both the beauty and the heartbreak seen every day throughout Afghanistan,” says Mountain2Mountain founder Shannon Galpin.