Photography, Voice, and Hope in Afghanistan

The Streets of Afghanistan was a project based in hope.  Using photography as voice, and art as activism, we set up a series of street art installations in Afghanistan.  Red Reel was with us to document five of the seven exhibitions.  We can now share with you the beauty of the country, the reactions of those that saw the exhibition, and the place that art has in conflict zones.  It was such an honor to bring this exhibition to Afghanistan and to share it with Afghans.  We return in the spring for a finale exhibition in a secret location, and then distribute the photographs to orphanages, girls schools, women’s groups, Kabul stadium, and the Mayor’s office as a thank you for his office’s support of this public exhibition in the Kabul locations.  Thank you everyone that supported this project, we couldn’t be prouder.

Hipstamatic Biking in Kabul

6:00am in Kabul.  A light rain was falling, but Georgian photographer, Mikhail Galustov and I agreed, rain or no rain, let’s go for a bike ride.  Our destination?  Kabul’s historic Darulamon Palace.

Streets of Afghanistan Exhibitions a Success

“Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.”  - Joel A. Barker

Against the odds, Mountain2Mountain completed 5 public exhibitions and 2 photo stagings at historic sites over the past two weeks in Afghanistan.

The first was a staging at Kabul’s historic Darulamon Palace.

A Garden of Photography for Women in Kabul

Women were a rarity at the three public exhibitions in Afghanistan.  While many families attended Babur Gardens, only a few saw the exhibition in Istalif and the Kabul Zoo.  Therefore, it was a pleasure to bring the exhibition to the Women’s Garden in the heart of Kabul.

Street Art Amazes at Kabul’s Babur Gardens and the Kabul Zoo

Over 1,000 Afghans came through to Babur Gardens on the second day of Eid celebrations – making for enormous crowds at our first Kabul exhibition. The majority of the crowds were men and boys, but families did arrive and several groups of women joined the throngs. It was a lively event with many Afghans taking their photos in front of the images with cellphone cameras.

‘Streets of Afghanistan’ Exhibit in Istalif

Yesterday we premiered the Streets of Afghanistan exhibition in the village of Istalif, a remote village in the Shomali Plain north of Kabul. Four years ago, I envisioned a collaborative photography exhibition between Afghan photographers and Western photographers that had deep affection for this country. Instead of a gallery show, I imagined surrounding the viewer in the image to bring the art off the wall, and into the viewers world.  I wanted to see people’s reaction as they interacted with lifesize images and hoped that it would change American perspectives of Afghanistan – that if we saw it as a country with a beautiful spirit and culture that we would be more invested in it from a humanitarian perspective.

Yesterday I saw that vision come full circle as we brought the exhibition TO Afghanistan, among Afghans themselves to surround them with the beauty and spirit of their country and communities.  28 photographs lines the market streets outside of the mosque on the first day of Eid in the village of Istalif and the reaction was nothing short of amazing.

Sneak Peek at Kabul’s Darlumon Palace

29 life-size photographs made it all the way from Colorado through Kabul airport for a series of public art exhibitions in Afghanistan.  Other than getting our roll of duct tape confiscated in Dubai security – everything arrived intact.

Today, was the sneak peek at Kabul’s historic Darulaman Palace. Stay tuned for what comes next!

Streets of Afghanistan – A Cultural Exhibition

One of the most important things we can do as a non-profit organization is to make a connection. Not just between donors and projects, but between communities and individuals. Working in Afghanistan makes that connection very difficult to achieve.

Time and time again, people travel to the far-flung corners of the world, and come back changed forever. Touched by the people they met, the smells, the food, the landscape, they become connected in a visceral way. The people that have lived and worked in Afghanistan have that visceral connection, but it is not a place we can take donor trips to or host student exchanges.

Couple the lack of security with the media coverage of the war on terror, and the stereotypes built around a nation that has endured nearly forty years of conflict, and it becomes even more difficult to connect to the real Afghanistan. Mountain2Mountain was founded on the idea that we can create a ripple effect of change and compassion by connecting communities and cultures.

Out of that founding principle, Streets of Afghanistan was born. A multimedia exhibition that unites Afghan and Western photographers and videographers to bring a little piece of Afghanistan into our world for one night. Visitors walk amongst 10×8 foot high images and video projections that recreate the market streets in Kabul. The rolling green hills captured by photographer Beth Wald, look more akin to Norway than Afghanistan until you notice the yak train in the corner. It creates a different sense of place than the deserts and dusty landscapes usually associated with the region. The beauty, and the dichotomy of that beauty, set against the destruction and history takes your breath away.

The signature image of the exhibition, is a woman covered in a burqa sitting with her child in her lap, begging in the middle of the road. The image captures both the pain and beauty of Afghanistan; juxtaposing the dream-like quality of the country and its residents, against the ravaging effects of three decades of conflict and war. Photographer Tony Di Zinno captured the image from an oncoming car — lensing the feeling of impending contact. In reality, the driver stopped when he came to the woman and handed her some food from the kebab stand he had just visited for lunch.

Interspersed amongst the landscapes and streets, seven-foot-high portraits of women greet visitors. Images of teachers, students, police officers, ministers of parliament, mothers, and victims of self-immolations show the diversity of the women of Afghanistan — their beauty and strength in a country known for its oppression. Walking, ghost-like, through the crowd the images, and the video projections of market scenes and rural life, are real women dressed in the different colored burqas of Afghanistan.

Art has the power to change. Streets of Afghanistan aims to do just that; open hearts and minds in an effort to combat apathy with compassion. “Dare to believe in our common humanity” is not just our tagline — its a call to action. Come join us!

Streets of Afghanistan opens in Denver with a one day event at the Denver Art Museum on April 28, 2011, followed by an event at the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art as it begins its journey as a traveling cultural exhibition.

 

photo by Di Zinno

Streets of Afghanistan Launches

On my first visit to Kabul I met up with the Afghan photographers of AINA Photo Agency.  It was my hope that we could create a collaborative photography exhibit featuring top Western conflict photographers alongside emerging Afghan photojournalists.   We met with all the photographers and looked at their top ten best.  There were a handful of talented photographers with unique viewpoints into their own country.

I was determined to find a way to showcase Afghanistan from a variety of perspectives in order to break stereotypes, tell stories, and connect cultures.   Finding Afghan photographers working to create a living out of their craft in a country that has few outlets for photography, made me acutely aware of the importance of creating an outlet that would give them a voice.   I knew that I wanted to use powerful and stirring images to provoke discussion and use that as a launching off point to share the vision and mission of Mountain 2 Mountain in Afghanistan.  We are working in a country that does not allow for much face to face cultural exchange.

Upon my return, I realized that the hard part was raising sponsorship money for the exhibit.   And how to connect the gallery exhibit to our fundraisers in a format that would involve the participants.

I focused on projects and programs in Afghanistan, fundraising, and the overall organization of our non profit.  Then, a little over a year later, a generous angel sponsor from Colorado Springs feel into our laps, interested in giving breath to the exhibition so that we could take photography beyond galleries and tie it closer to our ethos of connecting communities of cultures.

Streets of Afghanistan is a collaborative multimedia exhibition, combing large format photography, video projection, music, and humans themselves, to create a wholly unique and innovative photography experience.  Unlike anything done before in the non profit realm, Mountain 2 Mountain will launch this exhibition with a sneak peek in Denver on April 22 at Suite 200 in downtown Denver, Colorado.

Seven foot high banners will re-create Kabul’s city streets and Afghan rural roads to create walkways that visitors can ‘walk through’.  Interspersed throughout are both still and video portraits that introduce female teachers, members of parliament, doctors, streetchildren, prisoners, and students as living, breathing individuals, each with a unique story of life in Afghanistan for women. Additional 10 foot by 6 foot images preside as larger than life photography.

Audio speakers play recorded sounds down the ‘streets’ and women dressed in burqas wander aimlessly throughout the crowds.  Hundreds of Afghan kites creates canopies of color and symbolize the hope of the Afghan people.

All of this creates the experience for an educational, interactive, and immersion style fundraising event that connects our supporters, donors, and community members closer than ever possible to our projects and communities in Afghanistan.

Our unique collection of Western and Afghan photographers includes; Seamus Murphy, a VII photographer, is arguably one of the top photographers of Afghanistan in the world.  Travis Beard is a conflict photographer having lived and worked in Afghanistan since 2001.  Beth Wald shoots for National Geographic and has spent extensive time in remote regions of Afghanistan with nomadic tribes.  Tony Di Zinno is an international sports photographer and adjunct professor at the prestigious Art Center College of Design.   Five Afghan photographers represent their country burgeoning talent behind the lens, Wakil Kohsar, Mariam Alimi, Gulbulddin, Najibullah Mustafer, and Farzana Wahidy.

Mountain Culture Continues to Support M2M

Mountain 2 Mountain was founded on mountain sport and culture.  Literally the organization was founded with the idea of creating a trail race in the mountains of Breckenridge as a fundraiser three years ago. Overnight that idea blossomed into a full blown non profit working in the mountains of Central Asia.   Yet the idea of mountain sport and culture remains as a way to tap into the energy mountain folk have and use that energy to fundraise.  Specifically harness the energy of climbers, bikers, runners, and skiers to help support our projects in Afghanistan.

This year alone, Mountain 2 Mountain started a mountain biking team, Team M2M, in which members raised money for projects and rode in the team jersey at races to spread awareness.  We hosted the 2nd annual Race for the Mountains trail race here in Breckenridge, raising enough money to sponsor a computer lab.  Mountain 2 Mountain was also recipient of both the Breck 100 bike race, and the 2nd annual Climb for Literacy.   Thane Wright, director of the Breck 100 generously donated $1000 by pledging a percentage of race entries to our cause.  Ellen Miller and Larry Moore of Vail, Colorado co-created the Climb for Literacy last year to support literacy and education non profits like ours through the energy of competitive climbers.  Climbers got sponsors to pledge a certain amount per vertical foot and then climbed their butts off on the Vail Athletic Club’s indoor climbing wall in a series of sponsored days of climbing with the Vail climbing coaches and supporters cheering them on, raising serious cash for great causes in education like ours.  We hope to take their model and apply it in other climbing communities!

Word spreads beyond the mountains, and its not just mountain lovers that now support our efforts.  Road bikers in New Jersey are sponsoring a ride to support education in Afghanistan.  After discovering that the Taliban had banned all sports, including kiteflying, when they were in power, two girls in North Dakota decide to rally their elementary school to build their own Afghan kites.  They are using the project to help fundraise for building a school with us.  Word spread to another school in New York City and a 4th grade class is set to do the same thing in an effort to sponsor a computer lab.

Photography has also been part of our cultural exchange and ethos from the beginning.  We started with using photography as a backdrop as an author event with Greg Mortenson with photographer, Beth Wald who had travelled with Greg in Afghanistan.  That evolved into our first collaborative photography exhibit, Views of the Himalaya, that stood on its own as a gallery exhibit.  This past year we created an entirely new exhibit with Dreams of Kabul, a photography exhibit based soley on the work of Tony Di Zinno who travelled with founder, Shannon Galpin, on her first visit to Afghanistan.  This exhibit combines the experience of an art show with the purpose of a fundraiser.  Combining culture and outreach in the form of storytelling to connect our communities across the world.

While much of our fundraising comes the old fashioned way with fundraisers, grants, and the generosity of the public at large….its fun and exciting to see individuals and communities do what they love in an effort to support our projects.  So to those of you using your creativity and your muscle power to find unique ways to raise money and awareness for our efforts – we thank you!!