Searching for an Olive Branch

Searching for an Olive Branch #1 and
Searching for an Olive Branch #2
Plexiglas, hand-drawn rub-on transfers, vinyl lettering,
maps, and shadow box
16" x 20", 2007
(A BIG Thank You to Auto Custom Graphics Inc. for doing a great job on the vinyl lettering!!)

Afghanistan has experienced continuous war and political and religious struggle throughout its existence. The al-Qaeda led terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 brought this mountainous country to the forefront of everyone’s attention. It’s no longer just a remote place that can be ignored, it’s a land where our own loved ones have fought and died in an effort to bring justice and peace.

My husband and I both joined the Army soon after 9/11 and since that time I have become shockingly aware of the atrocities and general state of affairs within Afghanistan, particularly the plight of the Afghan women. Violence, illiteracy, poverty and extreme repression continue to characterize reality for many Afghan women, especially those living outside of Kabul. My heart goes out to these women who experience restrictions on their freedom and violations of their human rights. Under the threat of the extremist Taliban force they weren’t allowed to have jobs or go to school, they were brutally beaten, stripped of their dignity and made to feel like they don’t exist.

I recently read Unveiled, Voices of Women in Afghanistan by Harriet Logan. The book is a collection of photographs and interviews of women who she met in 1997 when the Taliban had just taken control of Afghanistan from the Mujahideen and other warlords. The women were hopeful and relieved that the bombing and warring had stopped. They had no idea of the road they faced under the repressive Taliban rule. Logan went back after the Taliban’s defeat at the end of 2001 to do a follow-up with the same women. It saddens me to think that those women who were so hopeful at the thought of gaining their freedom, are still prisoners in their homes; their voices smothered under suffocating burqas. Even now, in 2007 Afghanistan is still under heavy oppression by Taliban insurgency. And while there has been some progress, particularly in Kabul, many women are wary and continue to meet opposition from men who are hesitant to change.

Worse than the Taliban brutality is the abuse these women face from their own husbands, uncles and brothers. Such is the case with Nadia Anjuman, a 25-year-old woman from Herat, who was beaten to death by her husband. In 2005, Anjuman published her first book of poetry, Gul-e-dodi (Dark Red Flower), which quickly became popular in Afghanistan and neighboring Iran. Before getting her formal education she was involved in the famed Sewing Circles of Herat, a group of women who risked their lives to study and write during the Taliban era. The group met in secret under the guise of sewing lessons at the Golden Needle Sewing School, where they were taught literature by a professor from the local university. Sewing Circles of Herat, by Christina Lamb chronicles this underground network of brave professors, writers, poets and students.

In the piece Searching for an Olive Branch #1, I used the following lines from one of Anjuman's ghazals (lyric poems) which speaks eloquently of the oppression of Afghan woman:

I am caged in this corner
full of melancholy and sorrow ...
my wings are closed and I cannot fly ...
I am an Afghan woman and must wail.

I decided to use another excerpt from one of Anjuman’s poems, Nazm, for the piece Searching for an Olive Branch #2. It basically sums up my exact thoughts on the situation for women in Afghanistan:

Will the sun rise?
Will the memories rise with it too?
Those memories that are hidden from our eyes
And while frightened from the flood and the rain of cruelness
Will the light of hope appear?

Each of these pieces are constructed of layered Plexiglas. I wanted to create a “God’s eye view” with the first layer of birds. The viewer is able to observe the birds from above as they search the land for any signs of peace. The maps are actually aeronautical operational navigation charts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The lettering of the poems is nearly transparent and intentionally difficult to read. I wanted to create a situation in which the viewer would have to really take a good look at the piece and absorb the full meaning behind it. Lighting is a key element in the design of both pieces. When properly lit, the birds and the words cast a shadow on the terrain beneath. To me this was an important element which represents the oppression that overshadows those countries. I chose the titles Searching for an Olive Branch #1 and #2 because the olive branch has always been a symbol of peace; from its origins in Greek mythology and ancient Rome, to the biblical story of Noah and the Ark in Genesis. While there are various theories as to why it came to represent a gesture of peace, a likely explanation centers around the idea that the cultivation of olives is something that is nearly impossible to do in time of war.

While there has been some progress made by the Afghan people over the past five years with the help of the United States and its NATO allies, it seems that they will always struggle to keep their country free from extremist rule. I can’t help but wonder if Afghanistan ever be able to sustain a strong government and if Afghan women will ever experience a true sense of freedom and security.