Achievements: She received her bachelor’s degree in Arts in 2010 and master’s degree in Visual Arts in 2014 from Kabul University in Iran, where she is now a professor. She is a co-founder of Berang Art Organization, an artist-run group that promotes contemporary art and culture in Afghanistan through programs, workshops, seminars, and exhibitions. She had an artist residency at University of California, LA, in 2021. Her work has been shown all over the world. She was named one of Foreign Policy’s 100 global thinkers in 2014. | About the Artist: Hassani is the first female graffiti artist of Afghanistan. Hassani, like many Afghans of her generation, grew up as a refugee in Iran because of decades of war, and had returned to Kabul after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. About the Artwork: Hassani became well known through her colorful graffiti on buildings in Iran. She said that she started painting on buildings because her city does not have art galleries since the Taliban took over and she wanted to share her work with a lot of people. Through her artworks, Shamsia portrays Afghan women in a male dominant society. Hassani aims to destigmatize the misperceptions of Muslim women and states that removing the headscarf is not the same as liberating women. The woman character used in her artworks portrays a human being who is proud, loud, and can bring positive changes to people’s lives. Through her work, Hassani hopes to present a different view of Afghanistan. During the last decade of post-war era in Afghanistan, Shamsia’s works have brought in a huge wave of color and appreciation to all the women in the country. Much of her work has also been erased. |
Sources:
https://www.shamsiahassani.net/
https://hammer.ucla.edu/artist-residencies/2016/shamsia-hassani
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/oct/23/we-planted-a-seed-the-afghan-artists-who-painted-for-freedom
https://www.shamsiahassani.net/
https://hammer.ucla.edu/artist-residencies/2016/shamsia-hassani
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/oct/23/we-planted-a-seed-the-afghan-artists-who-painted-for-freedom