Young Afghan Artist Creates Emotional Painting of Her Country’s Fall to the Taliban

Emotional Painting of Afghan Girl by Sara Rahmani

The Taliban's seizure of Kabul has not only put the well-being of the people in Afghanistan at risk but it has also broken the hearts of Afghans living abroad. One such case is San Diego-based civil engineering student and part-time painter Sara Rahmani, who moved to America with her family four years ago on Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs).

When she found out about what was happening in her homeland, she changed her work in progress from a portrait of a young girl to a more layered piece about the grievous situation in Afghanistan. “I just started this painting of [a] beautiful girl as usual, because I love to show the beautiful sides of my people, my culture, and our beautiful kids over there,” she says. “I started sketching and just painting, and colored the eyes. After a couple [of] days…they took over Kabul and I had such pain in my heart.”

The acrylic painting features several different elements which are symbolic of the culture and what is currently happening in the country. “This is the portrait of the girl that I started, and it really turned sad,” Rahmani continues. She altered her portrait of a young Afghan girl by painting parts of the face in black and white and adding a tear to one eye. “You see the good side when she has a splinter of light—it's all about the good side of my Afghanistan before the Taliban took over our country,” Ragland explains. “She's a happy girl and she has dirty hands from playing with other kids.”

At the bottom of the painting are two Afghan women in vibrant clothing placed against the colors of the country's flag. One figure is writing “peace” in Farsi, while the other is performing a dance traditionally performed at weddings. Then, in the other corner is a solemn depiction of parents passing their kids to U.S. military personnel. “I want the world to know that…there are innocent people who are getting killed. They lose mothers, they lose kids…when is this going to end?” Rahmani pleads.

You can purchase merchandise with Rahmani's design via Kabul Comedy—100% of the proceeds are donated towards Afghan people in need.