Afghan Graffiti Art

Graffiti art brightens war-torn Afghanistan

Ommolbanin Shamsia Hasani uses graffiti art to express the purity of women. PHOTO: REUTERS LIFE

December 21, 2010 - KABUL: A new Afghan art collective called Roshd, or “growth”, has brought street art and graffiti to the conservative capital of Afghanistan, starting with a 10 feet high mural on a wall in an industrial park, the group seems to be painting the town red with their unique sense of expression.

The artistes eventually want to take their creativity and commentary to the dusty city centre, where blast walls, scrawled advertisements, political propaganda and armed guards tend to be the norm.

Ommolbanin Shamsia Hassani, 22, who is due to start teaching fine arts at the Kabul University, paints a burqa-clad group in oceanic colours on the streets of Kabul to reflect the pure essence and subservience of women in Afghanistan.

“Water is always associated to cleanliness and I want to show that women are clean too,” said Hassani. “It was the first time I was painting a big wall, I have always painted on small pieces of canvas, and now I have become very tired because the wall was much bigger,” comments Hassani after having completed her first wall graffiti. {continued}