Young Afghan woman opens art gallery to create jobs, and hope, in pandemic

In a small artwork gallery within the Afghan capital, Marzia Panahi watches as one of many younger artists she has simply employed applies paint to a framed felt canvas propped up towards a easel.

Panahi, 21, arrange the Namad Gallery on the top of the coronavirus pandemic in September.

Her goal was to revive using felt in artwork, to showcase her war-torn nation’s creativity and to attempt to create jobs for younger folks hit arduous by the pandemic and the financial disaster it has brought on.

“When Covid-19 cases increased in Afghanistan, I saw how unemployment was getting higher, and when we realized how deadly poverty can be…I put together a team of young people so that we could at least be useful to ourselves and those around us, and become entrepreneurs,” she stated.

The worldwide relations pupil’s firm now employs 10 folks, together with three artists, and sells work to native artwork lovers for between $100 and $200 every.

Afghanistan, the place greater than 60% of the inhabitants is beneath the age of 25, has struggled with excessive youth unemployment.

The pandemic has exacerbated its financial issues, with the World Bank predicting that greater than 70% of the inhabitants will slip beneath the poverty line in 2020.

In addition to producing jobs, Panahi stated she wished to discover a means of reintroducing felt to conventional arts and crafts in Afghanistan. Historically it had been produced to make carpets, she stated, however in recent times its use had declined.

“Because people have turned to a more modern life and are no longer buyers of felt products, we wanted to make it possible to re-use felt in a variety of ways,” she defined.

Faiqa Sultani, a 27-year outdated artist, stated she had initially felt depressed as a result of lockdown and lack of alternatives, however since becoming a member of Namad her temper had improved.

“When I paint, it is a kind of expression of my feelings on canvas, paper, or felt that I enjoy,” she stated.

“Painting on felt means that we can revive the old traditions and show people that we can use our Afghan resources and make our lives more beautiful.”

(This story has been printed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content.)

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