Staring Into the Abyss is the debut solo UK exhibition by Hashem Shakeri, an award-winning Iranian artist, photographer and filmmaker, which documents everyday life under the Taliban. Some visitors may find this content distressing.
Shakeri’s images capture an atmosphere of uncertainty and ambiguity as ordinary Afghans deal with numerous restrictions and violence reintroduced after the Taliban’s return to power on 15 August 2021. The Taliban return was widely expected. The pace at which it occurred caught many off guard with the Taliban entering Kabul before U.S. and NATO forces had fully withdrawn. A chaotic evacuation occurred; embassies scrambled to extract their staff while Afghan citizens desperately attempted to gain access to the limited airlifts taking place.
Following these events, Hashem Shakeri travelled to Afghanistan, arriving after the international news media had largely moved on to other stories, and the country’s diplomatic isolation intensified. His images capture daily life as the country readjusts to life under the Taliban. Afghanistan is currently the only nation where secondary and higher education is forbidden to girls and women. The ban affects 1.4 million Afghan girls, according to Unesco.
Shakeri’s images document an end to 20 years of conflict, the return of restrictions and the ongoing threat of violence. His images avoid the monumental, instead focusing on how communities survive in the wake of global history.
Text from Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Image: Hashem Shakeri. Photograph of Hasti, Tahereh and Fatemeh who are all 13 years old, are secretly practicing circus sports with their teacher in Bamyan. After the Taliban regained power, all sports schools and circuses were closed to girls, and many of them burned their belongings out of fear of the Taliban so that no trace of them remained. Today, months later, they are sneakily rehearsing again, 2022, Afghanistan © Hesham Shakeri
