Afghan artist Murad Sharifi’s works capture the trauma and pain of women under Taliban rule

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<strong>Going through hardships, as an artist Murad Sharifi has not lost his artistic touch and sensitivity to the issue of gender parity. As a refugee from Afghanistan, he earns his living by working in a kabab place while living in a home for the homeless located in Budapest’s outskirts yet his small room is filled with dozens of paintings reflecting the plight of women in his country.</strong></p>
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All the women don black burqas and are surrounded by men who are hostile.</p>
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He fled his country in 2015 along with several thousands to Hungary but the concern for his countrymen remains in his heart. He feels that it is a “obligation” to show the plight and oppression the women face in the nation, taken over by the Taliban.</p>
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In his words, his artworks are created “to express women’s pain, and my own feelings" as he sits in his room surrounded with canvases.</p>
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<strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/culture-news/pioneer-of-kabul-murals-saddened-after-taliban-whitewashed-his-artwork-113260.html">Pioneer of Kabul Murals Saddened after Taliban whitewashed his artwork</a></strong></p>
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Most of the works give the picture of the harsh and stark reality of Afghanistan. For example, one illustrating the oppression the women face shows a female figure in a meat grinder with a bearded man squeezing her neck and pushing her down.</p>
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Likewise, another one portrays a woman with long hair with men queuing up while eyeing her suspiciously. Talking to Reuters, he said: “In a country where men rule over women, women are deprived of their right to speak freely.”</p>
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Not all his works are sad as some reflect joy too like the one showing couples among trees.</p>
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The artist hails from the Hazara community and is a Shi’ite Muslim, who are repressed by the Taliban, who are Sunnis.</p>
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Sharifi’s paintings are part of an exhibition which has works by three other refugees too.</p>
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<strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/culture-news/fear-anguish-and-a-sense-of-betrayal-looms-over-artists-of-afghanistan-108745.html">Fear, anguish and a sense of betrayal looms over artists of Afghanistan</a></strong></p>
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According to Marta Pardavi, who co-chairs the Helsinki Committee, which is a non-government organisation which helped in putting the exhibition together, paintings help the refugees deal with their traumas and also have a “therapeutic" influence on the viewing public. She said: “Because this artwork can convey the traumas, and can make them far more understandable.”</p>
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Ever since the Taliban has started ruling Afghanistan, women are confined into their four walls, and have been forced to quit work and education.</p>