Paris show spotlights Afghan women who 'lost hope'

PARIS

Posing in a pink hijab in front of a window, 14-year-old Muska will soon be married "in exchange for a well and some solar panels," explains the caption on her photograph.

There are dozens of images of Afghan women and girls like Muska at the Paris exhibition "No Woman's Land," which offers a glimpse into their private lives, despair and rare moments of joy.

Iranian-Canadian photographer Kiana Hayeri, 36, lived in Kabul for seven years and has regularly contributed to outlets including the New York Times and National Geographic.

Many tough stories are told in the exhibition but Hayeri said her feelings had been worsened by the changes in Afghanistan during the six months she worked on the project.

"Some of the women that, even two and a half years into Taliban's returning to power, were still trying to do things and making it happen... well they also lost hope," she added.

The photographer worked with French researcher Melissa Cornet, 32, to interview over 100 women and girls in seven Afghan provinces.

"One of the questions we asked the women was: '"Do you have any hope that your situation can improve under the Taliban?'," said Cornet, a lawyer who lived in Kabul for over two years until the hardliners reclaimed Kabul.

"And almost systematically the answer was no."

Cornet said the haphazard layout of the exhibition, running until Nov. 18 at the Refectoire des Cordeliers in Paris, recalls "how confined (Afghan women) now are to these interior spaces," Cornet said.

"All of the women we met, except for a couple of encounters, it happened in their homes or at our home for security reasons, because there's just no third places where we could safely meet," she added.

Some photos show women or teenagers smiling, dancing or celebrating a birthday indoors.

Such moments claim "their right to joy, to freedom and to the celebration of their femininity," one caption reads.

Other pictures focus on silent acts of resistance, such as study in underground schools. Most photos simply show how tragic everyday life can be for Afghan women.