Since 2021, mosaic artists around the world have been working together to draw attention to the plight of Afghan women under Taliban rule. Initiated by the Tunisian mosaic artist Bady Essid Jaballah, the community project sees artists contribute small glass mosaic squares, which are joined to make a scarf. Over 1,200 artists from 46 countries have contributed their work.
In Australia, too, the mosaic community mobilised. “Australians and New Zealanders made a third of the world’s contributions,” Kristin Wohlers, who coordinated the local group, shares. The community ethos was strong, with donations making up much of the materials used.
Throughout 2022 each participating state held exhibitions showcasing their work. It was also the International Year of Glass, and a time when Wohlers connected with Aimee Frodsham, the artistic director of Canberra Glassworks. The resulting partnership exhibition brings all of the Australian mosaic contributions together for the first time—in a show curated by Wohlers and Behishta Anwar—to show the breadth of national support for the cause. “Working with different cultures is deeply embedded in the glass making process,” Frodsham says. In this spirit, the exhibition will also include workshops to allow visitors to learn these skills.
The mosaic designs are inspired by traditional Afghan patterns from 14 ethnic groups; Wohlers worked with community consultants to ensure cultural sensitivity. When connected—a process which Wohlers and others undertook over many hours, experimenting with configurations—the pieces make a kaleidoscope of colour and style. “Every one of those 420 pieces is different,” Wohlers says.
Three years on, mosaic artists continue to support Afghan women through art. As Frodsham says, “It’s really been such an exciting, amazing thing that they have pulled together as a community.”
Hanging by a Thread: Mosaics for Afghan Women
Canberra Glassworks
On now—22 October
This article was originally published in the September/October 2024 print edition of Art Guide Australia.
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