Sayed Muhammad Hussainy says it is his duty to help strengthen the voices of women living under the Taliban’s rule.
When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, thousands of Afghans fled the country fearing curbs on freedoms. Cartoonist Sayed Muhammad Hussainy was one of them.
The 29-year-old artist, who has taken refuge in Germany, said he feared the Taliban would target him for working with the previous West-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani.
His sketches portrayed women as confident, colorful and playing important roles in society: athletes, doctors, teachers, engineers, and officers.
But Afghanistan’s new rulers do not seem to see women from these lenses. Instead, they have incrementally been pushing Afghan women out of public roles in society and barring them from having access to education.
The group has said the clampdown falls within its interpretation of Islamic laws, despite being the only Islamic country banning women from pursuing education. Most Muslim-majority countries have criticized the Taliban for imposing curbs on women.
Prior to the Taliban takeover, Sayed’s art channelled Disney-eque qualities, with imaginative characters beaming with infectious smiles and wide-eyed gazes. He would depict women with hope and a confident sense of purpose, often draped in the red, green and black colours of the Afghan flag adopted under the previous West-backed government. The Taliban has adopted a new flag.
Now Sayed’s striking and unapologetic art has become mired with muted faces looking blankly back at the viewer as the chaos swirls around them, portrayed by strong downpours of rain or menacing men engulfing all of the space.
“You can see the difference between my art before and after the Taliban took over,” said Sayed. “It’s like night and day.”
In one of the sketches shared last April on his Instagram with a following of more than 18,000, several men encircle a woman. With weapons in their hands, they forcefully place a veil over her. Their muted tones are in sharp contrast to the woman’s bright colours and hue. She is sad, but her grip on her books is strong and unwavering.
Sayed, who drew the picture from an undisclosed location in Afghanistan knowing full well his life was at risk for his actions, knows his blunt images might make viewers uncomfortable. But he says it is his duty to help strengthen the voices of those standing up for women’s rights and educational freedom in Afghanistan.
The art also mirrors Sayed’s internal struggles coming to grasp with the reality of what people in Afghanistan are going through today, which includes growing levels of poverty and food insecurity.
