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Photos by Gervasio Sánchez and texts by Mònica Bernabé
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The Association for Human Rights in Afghanistan (ASDHA) exposes the difficult circumstances that women in Afghanistan face 13 years after the fall of the Taliban regime in an exhibition featuring photographs by Gervasio Sánchez and texts by Mònica Bernabé, on display on the first floor of the Palau Robert between 29 October 2014 and 15 February 2015.The Palau Robert is the first venue to host the "Women. Afghanistan" touring exhibition, part of a project of the same name that consists of the exhibition, a large-format book and a forum for dialogue and conferences. The Association for Human Rights in Afghanistan (ASDHA) is the co-ordinating body behind the project. Barcelona City Council is financing the project and the Government of Catalonia is contributing to raising awareness of it by means of this exhibition.The images in the exhibition were taken by the photographer and journalist Gervasio Sánchez, a specialist in armed conflicts. The texts were written by Mònica Bernabé, the only Spanish journalist reporting from Afghanistan on a permanent basis.
The exhibition shows that the violence perpetrated against women in Afghanistan is an endemic and structural social problem exacerbated by the war. It exposes the widespread impunity that exists, the lack of education, the use of religion as a pretext for the abuse and the country's misogynistic laws.The exhibition, which includes more than 150 photographs, and the book are divided into six sections. The main themes covered are forced marriage and child marriage; running away; drug addiction; suicide; supposed legal advances and the reality; and the consequences of impunity and the war. Women who defy the status quo are also featured; women who, despite the circumstances they live in, have managed to make themselves heard in this climate of hostility or who have succeeded in establishing themselves in public life, a male-only preserve in Afghanistan.
A long time coming
It took six years for this project to come to fruition, from the first photographs taken in 2009 to the last ones shot in 2014. To produce it, the photographer Gervasio Sánchez has made eight extended trips to Afghanistan; Mònica Bernabé has developed the insider knowledge and expertise she has acquired during the almost eight years she has been living in the country; and the only Spanish body working in Afghanistan, the ASDHA, has provided its support.
This project is being presented at a time of major change in Afghanistan: the international troops are in the process of being withdrawn and at the end of September 2014, after an electoral process that lasted six months, Ashraf Ghani was named president, taking over from Hamid Karzai, who held power for 13 years.The large-format, hardbound, book of photographs in colour (published and distributed by Blume) will be presented in the Palau Robert on 30 October. There will talks and a round table on the realities of the lives of women in Afghanistan in the afternoons of 29 and 30 October.
Update:
16.10.2014