The Guardian: United by Blood: Afghan Artists Come Together for Iran Exhibition

An exhibition in Tehran showcasing Afghani artwork has shed light on a deep-seated problem in the country: the marginalization of Afghani peoples. Saeed Kamali Dehghan, writing for the Guardian, describes Elyas Alavi’s performance piece: He “invites participants to give blood. Samples are taken by a professional nurse and splashed on the wall next to each other.” Alavi was inspired “after his sister, one of at least 3 million Afghan refugees living in Iran, was blocked from getting a kidney transplant because she is a foreigner.” The Nimrouz exhibition critically assesses Iran’s societal and political attitudes toward its substantial Afghan population. During the last decade Iran has supported Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria and “controversially recruited Afghan refugees to go to fight there, rewarding them with money and documentation.” Iran has made some efforts to reduce such marginalization – for example, an intervention by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has allowed education for refugees. Alavi, among 50 Afghan artists from around the globe featured at the exhibition, expresses hope that attention is drawn to repression of Afghanis living in Iran. –YaleGlobal

The Guardian: United by Blood: Afghan Artists Come Together for Iran Exhibition

An art exhibition in Tehran featuring Afghani artists from around the globe sheds light on the plight of Afghan refugees and community in Iran
Saeed Kamali Dehghan
Thursday, November 16, 2017
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