{"id":37431,"date":"2026-02-20T15:00:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/?p=37431"},"modified":"2026-02-20T15:07:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:37:48","slug":"how-afghan-women-are-helping-to-keep-a-centuries-old-artistic-tradition-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/how-afghan-women-are-helping-to-keep-a-centuries-old-artistic-tradition-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"How Afghan women are helping to keep a centuries-old artistic tradition alive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ghazaal Mohammadi<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the ancient citadel that towers over the historic Afghan city of Herat, a group of women sits at a table, paintbrushes in hand and heavy in concentration. Under the expert tutelage of a master painter, they are learning to create miniature paintings in the style of Kamal al-Din Behzad, a prominent artist working in the 15th and 16th centuries who is renowned as a pioneer in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These women, aged between 18 and 32, are continuing a centuries-old tradition of miniature painting in Herat, a centre of Persian arts and culture whose ancient grandeur can still be seen in its exquisite architecture and intricately-tiled mosques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city was once home to Behzad, whose lively, animated style influenced miniature painting across the region<\/a> and who remains a revered figure, his memory surviving in the delicate motifs that adorn the blue tiles covering the central mosque.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young women in this once-vibrant city have always studied painting. But since the Taliban returned to power and blocked access to almost all educational and professional opportunities for women, they have turned to it in ever larger numbers, seeking in creativity the fulfillment that\u2019s denied to them elsewhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So a decision in December by theUnited Nations\u2019 cultural agency UNESCO<\/a> to place this Herat-linked style of miniature painting on its list of intangible cultural heritage worthy of preservation has been particularly warmly welcomed by women artists, who hope it can bring fresh attention and recognition to their work.
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\u201cI feel very positive about it, because it\u2019s become global,\u201d says Narges Azimi, a Herat resident who has been painting miniatures for six years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She says she feared the style of painting was in danger of being forgotten, adding, \u201cI wanted to revive and globalise it so that everyone would recognise this style.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many Afghan artists, Nawid Mashouf, a miniaturist and former lecturer at Herat University, now lives in exile. Afghanistan under the Taliban has become a hostile place for artists, who are no longer allowed to depict human or animal figures \u2013 a key part of traditional miniatures \u2013 in their art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He played a role in preparing dossiers for the registration of Behzad-style miniature art with UNESCO and believes that women are now the ones sustaining it in Herat, making it a form of living resistance to the strictures the Taliban imposes on art, culture and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You are narrators of a history that makes the world realise that in the twenty-first century, there were people with rotten ideas who felt guilt and danger even in the face of the smallest things,” he told Rukhshana Media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n