I am like spring.
My hair full of blossoms,
My heart brightened with sunshine,
My eyes clear,
My feet full of energy and my hands filled with goodwill.
I am an Afghan girl.
– Daughter of Afghanistan, Shirin Zahra
I am waiting for a miracle
Till the scent of the dried leaves
Sings the melody of rain
To the ears of the wind
I am waiting for a miracle
The green miracle of spring
– Waiting for a miracle. For women in Afghanistan, Fevziye Rahgozar Barlas
In August 2021, five days after the fall of Kabul, Fatimah Hossaini was forced to leave Afghanistan and abandon her photo project. Given the dark experience of Afghan people with the Taliban regime, she knew what was waiting for Afghan women. They disappeared from society and can now only dream of freedom.
After meeting artists with similar life stories, Fatimah Hossaini set out to finish her photo collection Pearl In The Oyster in exile, shooting portraits that attempted to capture the beauty, femininity, hope and resilience of four exiled women artists. Une élégie pour un miracle (An Elegy for a Miracle) is her latest photo collection.
“I am the daughter of the sun, I am a woman from the mountains, I smell of Mashreqi oranges and I am the colour of Kandahar pomegranates.
Not homeless, not wounded, but a woman from the Buddhas of Bamiyan with a Khamak dress and a Topak hat.
I have the soul of Gawharshad and the words of Rabia Balkhi. I carry the power of the Panjshir mountains with a Kuchi dress full of mirrors and the clarity of the rivers of Badakhshan.
I am a woman from Bamyan to Badakhshan, from Kabul to Herat, from Kandahar to Qondoz. I am as blue as the Mazar-e-Sharif mosque and I know the smell and colour of the red Nangarhar roses.
I came from Bactria, the land of Rumi. I am a woman reborn to appeal to nature.
I am a woman from Afghanistan bearing untold stories from Ariana. My hair has the smell of Lapis and my lips, the taste of Herat’s grapes.”
– Fatimah Hossaini
Fatimah Hossaini (b. 1993, Iran) is in residence at the Cité internationale des arts through the programme for Afghan artists with the support of the French Ministry of Culture.