Fresno State’s Department of Art and Design in collaboration with the Center for Creativity and the Arts will present, “The Other Eye on Afghanistan: Photographs by Farzana Wahidy,” Oct. 9 through 26 at the Phebe Conley Art Gallery in the Conley Art Building on campus.
“The Other Eye on Afghanistan” is a series of photographs taken by Farzana Wahidy in Afghanistan that focus on women, their humanity, beauty, life, hardships and joys. Subject matter ranges from images of daily life to the devastating effects of war.
“I think of photography as an international language,” Wahidy said. “I find it as a way to express myself as a woman being raised during civil war and the Taliban regime and also to share stories of women from my country to the world.”
“The Other Eye on Afghanistan” is an invitation to re-evaluate what we think we know about the life and people of Afghanistan.
The exhibition includes an artist talk from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12, in the Peters Business Auditorium, (Peters Building, Room 191). The talk will be followed by an artist reception from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Conley Art Gallery.
Gallery Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
In conjunction with the exhibition, CineCulture will screen the film “Frame By Frame” at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, in the Peters Education Center Auditorium of the Student Recreation Center. Wahidy will be the discussant for the screening, which is co-sponsored by Asian Pacific Islander Programs and Services at Fresno State, the Cross Cultural and Gender Center and the Department of Communication.
Wahidy was born in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 1984. Her formative years were influenced by the Afghan civil war and the Taliban’s rise to power in 1996. Despite the restrictions on women and education under the Taliban, Wahidy secretly attended an underground school. After the Taliban was defeated, she enrolled in a two-year program sponsored by the AINA Photojournalism Institute. The AINA Photojournalism Institute empowers and educates Afghans, particularly women and children, in the use of communication and media.
Wahidy, a respected photojournalist and photographer, has received numerous international awards and recognition. She became the first female Afghan photographer to work at an international wire service when she joined Agence-France Presse and later the Associated Press. Her photographs have been exhibited in Afghanistan, Canada, the United States, India, Pakistan, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, China and Finland. Most recently, Wahidy has established the Afghanistan Photographers Association, which promotes and advocates for photographers inside and outside of Afghanistan.
CineCulture is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Joan Sharma jksharma@csufresno.edu.
