Mahtab Karami

The central focus of my PhD is the study of gendered aesthetics in Afghan painting after 1970. This research emerges from my personal experiences and professional journey as an Iranian female artist and researcher, which have strongly shaped my perspective and my academic research direction.

My PhD project employs a mixed methods approach to investigate an area that has often been overlooked or misunderstood in scholarship: contemporary and postmodern Afghan painting, with a particular emphasis on the work of women artists. I am interested in how political instabilities, authoritarian regimes, and long-standing conflicts have shaped the production of art in Afghanistan. At the same time, I situate Afghanistan’s visual culture within a broader comparative framework that includes Iran, Iraq, and Egypt, to explore the intersections between gender, politics, and painting aesthetics across these countries. I chose the post-1970 period because it encompasses pivotal moments in Afghanistan’s history—from the Soviet invasion (1979-1989) to the Taliban’s return(August 2021) —that have profoundly influenced the country’s cultural and artistic life.  

One of the important outcomes of this project will be the creation of a curated digital library of Afghan paintings. Many of these artworks are currently at risk of destruction or erasure under the Taliban’s misogynistic regime, which seeks to erase women’s visibility and suppress their artistic expression. By collecting and preserving these works digitally, the project contributes to safeguarding cultural memory and making these invaluable artworks accessible for future scholarship.

This research is especially urgent given the rapidly worsening conditions for women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Afghan women today face severe restrictions on their freedoms, their creativity is suppressed, and their cultural contributions are systematically denied. In my project, I use postcolonial and intersectional feminist theories to critically examine how women artists navigate these conditions, asserting agency in contexts where it is constantly undermined. At the same time, I challenge Western-centric narratives that too often portray Afghan women solely as victims in need of external rescue. These narratives, rooted in what is sometimes called “white feminism,” have contributed to policies and interventions that prolonged war and instability in Afghanistan and Iraq. By contrast, my work highlights the resistance, creativity, and agency of Afghan women artists, who deserve to be understood on their own terms.

Names of Supervisors: 

• Dr Helen Gorrill (principal supervisor)
• Dr Abdullah Yusuf (2nd supervisor)