thoughts

christina hallmann

christina hallmann was born in hamburg, germany. christina is a musician and studied sound engineering. after moving to cologne and having her daughter in two thousand and six she started working as an illustrator and graphic designer. in january twenty thirteen she founded kabul art project.

mustafa kazemi

mustafa kazemi is an independent war correspondent and combat journalist currently reporting out of afghanistan. kazemi has previously covered afghanistan for various news outlets including afp, skynews, dpa, nato tv and pajhwok afghan news. he has previously worked with the united nations, afghan election commission and served in the afghan national army special forces. kazemi currently reports on afghanistan through his popular twitter feed @combatjourno.

visuals

ali akhlaqi

ali akhlaqi is a painter, who studied at the faculty of fine arts, kabul university.

having searched for eighteen years, i realized there is a close relation between me and lines and colors.

akram ati

akram ati is a painter living in herat, afghanistan. he was born in ghazni in 1985. he graduated from the faculty of fine arts, herat in two thousand and nine. akram's artistic style is contemporary realism. creating his own paint from mud and all different kinds of stones led him to his unique style - mud and stones paintings, where the paint falls on the canvas like rain. akram's subjects are mostly traditional such as afghan village sceneries, people’s everyday life, the afghan national game “buzkashi” or the dervishes whirl. his artworks were exhibited in herat and kabul with support of the united states embassy and in hamburg, germany with kabul art project.

mumtaz khan chopan

mumtaz khan chopan was born in ghazni province. due to the civil war and mounting pressure of the taliban, he left to pakistan. educated at noor school, mumtaz discovered his fondness for painting in his teenager years. he trained under hassan ali hatif and participated in a number of national group exhibitions. he later studied at kabul university at the faculty of fine arts. mumtaz has also been involved in photography since two thousand and eleven.

shamsia hassani

shamsia hassani born in nineteen eighty eight (iran) is an afghan graffiti artist, and teacher at the faculty of fine arts, kabul university. in her graffiti, shamsia often paints women in burqas, and fishes, symbols of the atmosphere flowing around her and her own life experiences. she was selected as one of top ten for the second afghan contemporary art prize in two thousand and nine, and since then has been part of solo and group exhibitions inside and outside of afghanistan. teaching at the fine arts faculty of kabul university, shamsia, who is also one of the founders of berang arts organization, puts her best effort into exchanging her contemporary arts experiences with her students and presenting more artists to the community.

hamed hassanzada

hamed hassanzada is a painter, drawer and sculptor, born in kabul, afghanistan in nineteen eight sevne. his time as a refugee in tehran, iran influenced his expressionistic and symbolist artworks. hamed's work reflects the experiences of a whole life surrounded by war, the people's and his own struggle, with themselves and a deeply religious and conservative society.

nabila horakhsh

nabila horakhsh is a contemporary artist from afghanistan, who works in the mediums of painting and photography. after returning from pakistan to kabul she chose art, which she considers a “holy way to reach one’s self, true love, peace, and god.” nabila aims to reflect “suffering from the lake of humanity,'’ humanity’s pain , alienation from their origins and endeavoring to reach that origin. she joined the center for contemporary arts afghanistan in two thousand and seven. she was one of the top ten for the second afghan contemporary art prize in two thousand and nine. her works have been exhibited around the globe. nabila founded berang arts with nine other young artists two thousand and nine, in order to develop afghan contemporary art and she is currently one of directors of the berang arts organization, where there is focus on drawing in more artists, holding more art events, and assisting the country’s youth to become more familiar with arts, and encourage the enrichment of culture. a graduate with a bachelor of arts in literature and language from kabul university, nabila’s works have connections with modern poetry, especially dari.

mohsen hossaini

mohsen hossaini is a kabul-based painter, who has a bachelors in directing from the college of television iran. he was born in nineteen seventy six in kabul. shortly after the revolution and communist takeover he fled to iran with his family on foot. his childhood was spent going to school, working in a clothing factory and painting. he took first place in a citywide painting contest but did not have a chance to train. after watching a fellini movie he decided to pursue cinema. after college he returned to kabul where he has been living since two thousand and six. he’s worked producing television graphics, television series and advertisements.

jahan ara rafi

jahan ara rafi, an artist, photographer and a film maker was born in october nineteen seventy nine. jahan started her artistic activities back in the year two thousand and increased her activities after graduating from the fine arts faculty at kabul university. jahan has participated in many art exhibitions both in afghanistan and beyond, in countries such as germany. jahan has also participated in different world class training workshops and has built a good network, with well-known local and international artists.

rashed rahmani

rashed rahmani is a freelance artist and arts teacher living and working in herat, afghanistan, born in nineteen eighty two. his watercolor and oil paintings show traditional and modern afghan everyday and cultural scenes in contemporary realism, which come to life by the skillful use of light and harmonic range of colours. rashed rahmani’s works were exhibited in several group and solo exhibitions in herat and kabul, as well as in hamburg, germany with kabul art project.

malina suliman

malina suliman is a painter, sculptor and graffiti artist from kandahar, one of the most conservative and dangerous places in afghanistan. she was born in nineteen ninety. as a refugee in pakistan she gained a bachelor of fine arts from the art council karachi in twenty ten. after returning to afghanistan she was introduced to contemporary and graffiti art and joined the berang association in kabul. her art often reflects the vices of the society she lives in and the struggles of her generation. malina suliman is currently studying in a masters program in the netherlands.

words

taqi akhlaqi

taqi akhlaqi was born on a snowy day of nineteen eighty six. he started writing on a windy autumn day fifteen years later after reading a short story by maxim gorky. he decided to remain a writer for the rest of his life on a cloudy night in summer (he doesn’t remember the year). he realized writing can’t be an easy job, especially in afghanistan, and it is much more difficult than he could ever have imagined on a rainy afternoon five years ago, when he received the first threats for what he published.

shots

yama azizi

yama azizi is a twenty five year old photographer, who was born in mazar-i-sharif, afghanistan. he’s been taking photos for over two years and does not limit himself to any particular style. he has a bachelor of economics and is now pursing his masters. whilst hiking in nature, he captures portraits, landscapes and the beautiful nature of afghanistan. at other times he takes photographs of the street life close to where he lives.

nazir ekhlass

nazir ekhlass is afghan lens, kabul-based freelance photographer who’s been capturing poignant moments in afghanistan, along with the attention of people across the globe. ekhlass was born in kabul but spent a great deal of his childhood in pakistan as a refugee. when he’s not shooting what’s happening on the streets, he works as a research project manager. whether it be a panoramic of the city at night, a baker in the marketplace or a young hawker trying to earn a dollar, ekhlass’ shots take you deep into daily life of modern day kabul.

naseer fedaee turkmani

the photographer naseer fedaee turkmani was born in the parwan province, afghanistan. during the taliban regime he was forced to live in quetta, pakistan as a refugee. there he became interested in arts and photography. naseer returned to kabul to complete his education. his aim is to catch every moment of the changing afghanistan in his documentary and contemporary photographs.