So before the word count lets have a quote shall we?
“I am from Afghanistan , the country which is famous by War-Bomb – …lets change the topic of news about Afghanistan . lets bring PEACE with art , lets make it famous by ART not by WAR.”— Shamsia Hassani
Ok the count starts below*:
Shamsia Hassani is a graffiti artist working in Kabul. She is afghan, but grew up in Iran where freedoms were limited because of her nationality. Shamisa was not allowed to study art until 2006 when her family moved to Kabul. As a girl Shamisa practiced art on her own, but gravitated towards graffiti after attending a work shop by a UK artist. Today she teaches at Faculty of Fine Arts, Kabul University and is a founder of Berang Arts Organization,.
Shamsia has four main reasons for making street art:
- Create positive and empowering imagery to “cover up bad memories” left after years of war.
- Introduce art to a community of people who have no other means accessible.
- Use meaningful images to express her messages because “the picture is more expressive than words.
- Create awareness of the plight of afghan women.
Standard subjects include women in Burqas, fish, and symbols representing ambient atmosphere. Her street art generats positivity in communities damaged by war. Of course she cannot freely express herself in this country because of censorship and the dangerous associated with voicing opposition. As a result one of her most well known projects is a collection of her preliminary sketches drawn over prints of pictures taken from different parts of Kabul she calls “Dream of Graffiti.”
Shamsia’s continued effort’s to exchange her street arts experiences with her students and present more artists to the community. She was selected as one of Top10 for the 2nd Afghan Contemporary Art Prize in 2009, and since then has been part of solo and group exhibitions inside and outside of Afghanistan (e.g. Germany, Australia, India, Vietnam).
Links:
http://www.streetartbio.com/#!shamsia-hassani-interview/c19pn
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shamsia-Hassani/252100761577381
http://artradarjournal.com/tag/shamsia-hassani/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/24/graffiti-street-art-kabul
*I didn’t really do a word count. I might be over 150.
Art for a Hungry ShareBear 