Women from Afghanistan have shared their stories of living under Taliban rule for a new exhibition.
Window to the Soul Afghanistan launched on Friday, at Jerwood DanceHouse in Ipswich, and will be displayed for four weeks.
The project team spent the last year creating a secure platform for women still in Afghanistan, and those who had left, to share their stories of life before and after the Taliban
Nageena, 17, who fled Afghanistan and moved to England three years ago, worked on the project and said she missed her home.
The exhibition includes artwork made by people who still live in Afghanistan [Aziza]
The Taliban, a hardline Islamist group, took control of Afghanistan in 2021 and under its rule women and girls have been subject to strict and oppressive laws.
Nageena and her family fled Afghanistan the day the group took over, which she said was “a very bad day”.
She still has family there and said her female relatives, over the age of 12, were not allowed to attend school due to the Taliban’s ban.
She stressed the importance of education and said it was “not only about what boys and men can do”.
Now living in Suffolk, Nageena is studying a college hairdressing course, but she admitted she still thought about her home.
“I miss my country because it is my home, but I can’t go home,” she continued.
“When I think about my country I feel very broken in my heart and it’s very sad for us.”
She said the exhibition had made her feel brave and that she was capable of anything.
Hannah Aria said the exhibition was about “using art for social justice and human rights advocacy” [Jamie Niblock/BBC]
Hannah Aria is a local artist who helped set up the exhibition.
“I started off working with refugees in Ipswich,” she explained.
“As you gain more connections with people, you connect with the stories and then you want to do something positive to help.”
She was introduced to a contact in Afghanistan and through them, met others who shared their stories.
The exhibition makes use of virtual and augmented reality to tell the stories of “people from Afghanistan in an amazing game-like format”, Ms Aria said.
She added the exhibition aimed to apply for more funding to expand it further and tell more stories in the future.
“We want to change the world,” she said.
Rona Panjsheri said it was important to share Afghan women and girls’ stories who did not have a voice in their own country [Jamie Niblock/BBC]
Rona Panjsheri, from Afghanistan, also worked on the project and said talking about women in Afghanistan made her emotional.
“It’s really sad to talk about them, all negative things, [but] there are some positive things that I am really proud of them [for],” she explained.
“They stand up and they still have a little hope three years after Afghanistan fell at the hands of the Taliban.
“We hope that one day they get free and we talk more positive things about Afghan women and girls.”
She added that women and girls in Afghanistan “have no freedom of speech”, therefore it was important to “keep telling their stories”.
Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
