Her name is Sughra, it means “small”, which is fitting as her head barely reaches my shoulder. She speaks softly and tells us her story. How when she tells people she’s Afghan she has to immediately follow with, “I’m not Taliban.” She says when she tells people she’s from Afghanistan she watches their eyes grow wide, “as if I’m going to explode.” She is an artist, formally trained by Turquoise Mountain, an organization aimed at transforming Afghanistan through artists.

Sughra and I

Sughra and I

 

I met her through my friend Sush, who owns and runs Studio Pause, the gallery that hosted the poetry/art show my sister and I collaborated on back in April. Sush met Sughra at Freer Sackler Gallery in DC, where Sughra’s artwork is featured. The two started talking, started bonding, and soon an idea was born – Sush would gather the poets she knew who would write poems on identity and she would send them to Sughra in Afghanistan where she would add artwork to each poem. Eventually the poems will be bound into a book and this book will be sold during National Poetry Month in April 2017.

Sush reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in joining the project. I immediately said yes. In October I was lucky enough to meet Sughra and see her beautiful art.

Sughra talking about her art

Sughra talking about her art

 

This project will be a collaboration like no other I’ve done and I cannot wait to see the finished product. The goal of the book isn’t just to share poetry and art, the goal is also educate people on the beauty that exists with such collaborations – that Afghanistan doesn’t always mean Taliban, that it can mean peace and beauty and poetry.

Sughra's art

Sughra’s art