- Title: Afghan artists paint on felt, aim to revive old traditions amid pandemic
- Date: 18th November 2020
- Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (RECENT - NOVEMBER 9, 2020) (REUTERS) CLOSE-UP OF AFGHAN ARTIST FAIQA SULTANI'S HAND DRAWING ON FELT AT NAMAD COMPANY'S GALLERY VARIOUS OF SULTANI PAINTING ON FELT SULTANI CHOOSING A PAINTBRUSH VARIOUS OF SULTANI PAINTING ON FELT (MUTE) TIMELAPSE OF SULTANI PAINTING ON FELT VARIOUS OF SULTANI PAINTING ON FELT (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) AFGHAN ARTIST, FAIQA SULTANI, SAYING: "Generally, when I paint, it is a kind of expression of my feelings on canvas, paper, or felt that I enjoy. Painting on felt means that we can revive the old traditions and show people that we can use our Afghan resources and make our lives more beautiful." BRUSH DIPPING IN PAINT VARIOUS OF SULTANI PAINTING (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) AFGHAN ARTIST, FAIQA SULTANI, SAYING: "The shock of the lockdown period was that we were a little depressed, and in addition to the economic blow, our souls and minds were tired from staying at home, but coming here to Namad (Company) and painting on felt made me feel better again and hope for the normalization of our lives." VARIOUS OF PAINTBRUSHES AND PENCIL VARIOUS OF SULTANI CUTTING FELT TO MAKE A PAINTING SURFACE SULTANI SPEAKING WITH COLLEAGUE / MAKING PAINTING SURFACE NAMAD COMPANY'S FOUNDER MARZIA PANAHI HOLDING FELT AND FRAME / TALKING WITH HER COLLEAGUES (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) FOUNDER OF NAMAD COMPANY, MARZIA PANAHI, SAYING: "The people of Afghanistan have a historical and cultural relationship with felt, and over the years and centuries, Afghan people have been producing felt, but now, felt production has decreased because there are fewer buyers of domestic products. We wanted to start a new way of using felt, which is painting on it to bring felt into people's homes this way. If they do not want to use felt as a rug as they used to, they can now support felt paintings." VARIOUS OF SULTANI'S COLLEAGUE STAPLING FELT TO FRAME PANAHI LOOKING ON PANAHI CUTTING FELT (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) FOUNDER OF NAMAD COMPANY, MARZIA PANAHI, SAYING: "The beginning of Namad Company coincided with the coronavirus period when we realized how much poverty can be fatal, and poverty that causes death is very painful. I put together a team of young people so that we could at least be useful to ourselves and those around us, and become entrepreneurs." VARIOUS OF PANAHI WORKING ON LAPTOP (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) FOUNDER OF NAMAD COMPANY, MARZIA PANAHI, SAYING: "Our customers are mostly people who value domestic production, are art-loving, and support the growth of Afghan culture because we do cultural work. We have been able to sell between 30 and 50 paintings recently, in the past one-and-a-half to two months, and the prices of our paintings are between $100 to $200 US dollars." SULTANI PLACING HER PAINTING ON TABLE SULTANI'S PAINTING VARIOUS OF PAINTINGS ON DISPLAY AT NAMAD COMPANY VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF NAMAD COMPANY
- Embargoed: 2nd December 2020 08:07
- Keywords: Afghanistan Kabul Namad Company art felt painting pandemic
- Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- City: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Arts/Culture/Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001D58E05H
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: At a small gallery in Afghanistan's capital, Faiqa Sultani carefully dips a brush in paint before applying it to a felt canvas propped up on an easel.
Sultani, 27, said she had been feeling depressed due to being out of work for nearly two months, a problem made worse by the coronavirus lockdown earlier this year, until she joined art enterprise Namad Company about a month ago.
Painting has helped.
"When I paint, it is a kind of expression of my feelings," said Sultani, who previously studied art at universities in Kabul and India and also works in fashion, painting on clothes. She noted that painting on felt is more challenging than other materials as she needs to apply more pressure to the paintbrush.
Reviving the use of felt, a traditional textile in Afghanistan, showcasing the war-torn country's creativity and attempting to provide employment and a creative outlet for young people hit hard by the pandemic were all goals for Marzia Panahi, 21, the founder of Namad Company. In Dari, "namad" means felt.
The international relations student launched the enterprise at the height of the pandemic in September after studying how to start a business and painting online. She established Namad Company with $100 that she had saved up from previous work.
Panahi currently employs 10 people, including three artists, and said she has sold dozens of paintings so far, ranging between $100 and $200 each, largely through word of mouth.
"Our customers are mostly people who value domestic production, are art-loving, and support the growth of Afghan culture because we do cultural work," she said.
Afghanistan, where more than 60% of the population is younger than 25, has always struggled with high youth unemployment, but the pandemic's economic impact has exacerbated economic problems, with the World Bank predicting more than 70% of the population will slip beneath the poverty line in 2020.
In addition to generating jobs, Panahi said that she had wanted to find a way to revive the use of felt, which has been produced and used in Afghanistan for centuries, especially in rural areas. It's made from animal wool, especially sheep wool. Namad Company sources its felt from a rural part of Jawzjan province, in the northern part of the country.
In the past, Afghans used felt to make carpets and mattresses.
"We wanted to start a new way of using felt," said Panahi.
She said she hopes Namad Company becomes a major handicraft company in Afghanistan in the future, and dreams of it expanding abroad within the next decade.
(Production: Aziz Mohammad, Hameed Farzad, Sayed Hassib) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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