Abarzanan

We'r right to b angry 4 d teachers, the students, the polio vaccinators, the journalists, who braved threats of rape and violence to move this country forward, only to be met with global indifference. We are righteously enraged at the silent disregard for our voices and stories.

This righteous rage doesn’t come from nowhere. It comes from centuries of women’s voices and needs being put on the bottom of the to-do list. It comes from the blood of Rabia and Malalai Kakar. It comes from the stones hurled at Rukhshana.

It comes from media coverage of political men smirking as we drown in our own blood. It comes from generations of powerful men telling us to wait. Wait for the right to go to school. Wait for the right to be seen as a human being.

Wait for the right to custody over the children you birthed into the world. Wait for the right to hold positions of power. Wait for your turn. This exhibition is a response to those powerful men. They want us to remain within the boundaries they negotiated for us.

They want us 2 remain silent, obedient, fearful. We'll not. If there’s anything we can learn from d history of women’s struggles in AfG and in d region, it is that even the most oppressive regimes were not able to poison the seeds of rebellion and freedom that grow in our hearts.

We’ll not go back. We will not submit to the boundaries others create for us. We will not be silent. Now is our time. Now is our turn. We will teach our daughters about Khalida Popalzai and her dream for every girl to play sports freely and without fear.

We will teach our sons about Forogh’s poetry, about loving without confinement. We will teach our children about Asma, about fighting for freedom even if you are imprisoned. We will teach our children about Rukhshana, who preferred death to being enslaved.

We'ill honor these women & their dreams by continuing our fight 4 a better world, a world where no girl feels less than& no woman is prohibited 4rm being her true self, her most free self. It’s an honor & a privilege 2 share d stories of sixteen powerful women from AFG&d region.