AAAWA – Page 3 – Afghan American Artists and Writers Association

October 2, 2015March 25, 2021

Distant Attachments: Unsettling Contemporary Afghan Diasporic Art

Over the course of three nights in October 2015 in NYC’s east village, AAAWA hosted a multimedia and multidisciplinary forum for artists, writers, and performers from throughout the diaspora. “Distant Attachments: Unsettling Contemporary Afghan Diasporic Art” was sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and City Lore in New York. The series reflected on what it means to be categorized as part of a particular cultural community (“Afghans”, “Afghan Americans,” the “Afghan diaspora”, etc). Through the series we complicated the assumption that the Afghan diaspora’s way of approaching and producing art is universally the same. We questioned the idea that Afghan Americans hold the same kinds of emotional and sentimental attachments and commitments to Afghanistan (i.e. to its reconstruction, rehabilitation, and redevelopment).

Through bringing together art, writing, film, and other visual forms, the event unsettled the idea that diasporic creative expression begins from the same types of emotional attachments. The series highlighted the tension that animates art coming out of the diaspora: a tension between the desire to remain connected to but not pinned down by particular histories, groupings, and recognitions of Afghanistan as a point of origin. Through “Distant Attachments,” we moved toward a more uncertain, dubious, and liminal imaginary of culture. The curated pieces and an interdisciplinary panel discussion provoked the audience to question their assumptions around migrant diasporas. As a group who has occupied a very specific place in the American public consciousness over the past 13 years, Afghan Americans showed the complexities of their everyday lives as migrants, citizens, and community members.

March 15, 2012June 14, 2020

Statement Against the Massacre in Kandahar

March 15, 2012,

We, AAAWA (Afghan American Artists and Writers Association), a NYC based group condemn the March 11^th massacre of innocent Afghans in the village of Panjwai, Kandahar province. We demand a full investigation of the events and full disclosure of all information. The US Army’s explanation that a lone mad gunman was responsible is unacceptable not only because it is not in keeping with witness accounts but also because it evades the larger problem.

As recent incidences of Quran-burning, Kill Team, and urinating on the bodies of deceased Afghans demonstrate, this tragic killing of innocent Afghan villagers is endemic of the institutionalized racism and Islamophobia that is embedded in the overall culture of war that the US Army breeds in Afghanistan. There is a general lack of cross-cultural understanding and cultural sensitivity whereby Afghans are dehumanized.

We demand that the US Army take full responsibility and accountability, charge all those implicated in the chain of command (not only low-level army personnel like the cases in Iraq and Guantanamo), and pay reparations to the families of the victims. The army also must re-assess its failed counter-insurgency policies of launching aerial bombings and night raids against small villages which has caused the loss of innocent lives. This policy will only create more support for the Taliban and other extremists. We are calling for respect for the lives, dignity, and culture of Afghan people.

Signed,

Wazhmah Osman

Sedika Mojadidi

Sahar Muradi

Laimah Osman

Zohra Saed

October 2, 2011March 30, 2021

Afghan Americans: Ten Years Later

“Afghan Americans: Ten Years Later” took place on October 7, 2011 at the Mandragoras Art Space in Long Island City, New York and was sponsored by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and 10 Years and Counting. The event fell on the 10^th anniversary of the US-led war in Afghanistan, and brought together people from throughout the Afghan diaspora in New York as well as the local LIC community. It was a multimedia interactive exhibit featuring live musical and spoken word performances. The event was meant to show how Afghan Americans use creative expression to critique US policy in Afghanistan and its ongoing war. We explored the entangled histories of both countries, and the role of the diaspora in political and social critique.

Yusuf Misdaq doing a live poetry reading

The event featured live poetry readings, documentaries, and musical performances. Wazhmah Osman, who is a filmmaker and professor of media communications at Temple University screened her film “Postcards from Tora Bora” which chronicled her and her families’ return to Afghanistan shortly after 2001, and the disorientation of that experience.

Musician Zakarya Sherzad at Afghan Americans: 10 Years Later

March 2, 2010March 30, 2021

A New Day: Readings by Afghan and Iranian American Writers

“A New Day: Readings by Afghan and Iranian American Writers” was one of AAAWA’s first events, and marked the first time we collaborated with Iranian American writers. Featuring live readings of poetry and short stories, it took place in March 2010 at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York, right at the cusp of the Afghan and Iranian New Year, or Nowroz. At the time, the event was unprecedented in how it brought together different writers in the diaspora who as of yet had still been at the margins.

The event also served as a fundraiser for the Committee to Protect Journalists in Iran and Afghanistan. Additionally, there was a panel discussion about negotiating gender as a writer.

October 23, 2009March 30, 2021

Witness to War: Afghan Poetry & Narratives

One Story, Thirty Stories: An Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature

In October 2009, AAAWA hosted its first event, “Witness to War: Afghan Poetry and Narratives” at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York. The event celebrated the launch of One Story, Thirty Stories: An Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature (University of Arkansas Press), co-edited by Zohra Saed and Sahar Muradi. The event featured readings from Afghan American writers who identify as survivors of war, refugees, repatriates, and those who remained in exile or resettled in the US. Featured writers included: Masood Kamandy, Naheed Elyasi, Zohra Saed, Afifa Yusufi, Sedika Mojadidi, and Sahar Muradi.

From left: Zohra Saed, Naheed Elyasi, Afifa Yusufi, Masood Kamandy, Sahar Muradi, Sedika Mojadidi

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