Afghani War Rugs Re-imagined

“Afghani War Rugs Reimagined,” a thought-provoking visual art exhibition by artist Ghafar Tajmohammad ran at the Yorkton Workshop in Hackney from June 19th until June 24th 2023, commissioned by Counterpoints Arts, supported by Arts Council England and partnered with Afghan Association London Harrow.

The exhibition invited visitors to explore Ghafar Tajmohammad’s personal reinterpretations of Afghan War Rugs. Through a unique blend of art and oral history the exhibition showcases expanded paintings, handwoven rugs, and engaging audio and text narratives that go beyond the pictorial symbols of conflict and violence, to examine instead the lived migration elements of the Afghan diaspora in the UK.

This exhibition serves as a response to the events surrounding the Fall of Kabul in August 2021, aiming to preserve memories and encourage dialogue between cultures.

About the artist

Ghafar Tajmohammad is a visual artist who works primarily in painting, but extends beyond the conventional practice and into the realm of expanded painting; allowing the artwork to exist as installation pieces. This approach allows the artist to stress the inherent textile materiality of raw canvas and connect with the rich culture of textiles and carpet weaving. Within the artwork, recognisable motifs, imagery, and geometry fuse to form narratives suggestive of dual identities from lived experiences.

Conceptually, the artistic practice reflects upon the idea of home for migrant communities. It express the abstract search for belonging and the experiences of those made to relocate. As a British Afghan who was displaced as a child, Ghafar’s work is community-orientated focus and in his first solo exhibition chooses to advocate for the Afghan diaspora voices so often unheard.

Ghafar Tajmohammad on living in the UK during the ‘Fall of Kabul’ on August 15 2021:

“The news headline THE FALL OF KABUL was displayed in the digital billboard at Charing Cross station just above the entrance for platform 1.

Seeing that broke me.

Until then, I kept maintaining to everyone that I was okay and that my family was okay. I shrugged off a comment a few days ago by a visitor calling me ‘whitewashed’ for not being angry enough. I nodded understandably as a charity that worked on the grounds in Afghanistan, told me that we would have to cancel our part time design project due to the growing turmoil. I ignored messages of support from friends.

But seeing that headline brought me right back to my 9 year old self who knew little about the war, but even less about his home.”