The rich colours and intricate compositions of traditional miniature painting is an unlikely form of war documentation in the age of embedded journalism, selective briefings and non-stop cable television.

A. Karim Rahimi is a master of Afghani miniature painting, now resident of Sydney, and Elizabeth Ashburn is a Sydney avant-garde artist who studied miniature painting under Rahimi. Ashburn and Rahimi are interested in art’s role in defining social values. More particularly, because of Australia’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan - in invasion, occupation and reconstruction - they assert that the fates of these countries are now part of our lives. Their images question the human and cultural impact of the twenty-first century’s first imperial wars, seeking to return meaning to places of devastation and trauma.

The Afghan war is widening, with growing anxiety that an Iraq-style conflict is developing in the run-up to Afghanistan's parliamentary and provincial elections on 18 September. In Iraq, current argument over the drafting of a constitution reflects the unraveling of the delicate balance of power between Sunni and Shia. Observers decry a loss of tolerance and diversity in the Middle East after more than a decade of crisis and invasions based on lies and misunderstandings.

Hajji Abdullah Wakil Zadhah and Family
Chireh Hunting Cloths of Herat
Curated by Andrea Nield

Painted Chireh is a vernacular art form unique to the Hindu Kush. The custodians of this ephemeral painting tradition are Hajji Abdullah Wakil Zadhah and family of Herat. During a hunt for wild game, painted cloths served as lure and camouflage, and then for transporting the carcasses. The images depicted the wild animals being hunted (Snow Leopard, Lynx and Asiatic Lion with ground birds) in their habitat.

Deforestation over 25 years of war has meant the large cat population is nearly extinct. However, Hajji Abdullah Wakil Zadhah and family are adapting the village craft to depict contemporary events.

Like most artisans in Afghanistan, Hajji Abdullah and his family can no longer survive by practising their craft and are forced to turn to other livelihoods. Curator Andrea Neild and H.E.M. Saikal, Afghan Ambassador to Australia, are undertaking a project to support the recording of Afghani craft traditions for future generations. These cloths are a valuable record of the culture of the Middle East and a living record of the social and cultural life of Herat.

Royal Australian Institute Of Architects (NSW Chapter)
‘Tusculum’, 3 Manning Street, Potts Point
Saturday 20 August 2005
Silent auction: all proceeds from Chireh sales to other artisans of Herat.

Thanks to: Andrea Neild; Anjalika Wijesurendra; Dr Alison Broinowski; H.E. DR. A. Abdullah, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan; H.E. M. Saikal, Afghan Ambassador to Australia and architect; John McInerney, Deputy Lord Mayor City of Sydney; Stuart Rees, Royal Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter); and City of Sydney Council.

ELIZABETH ASHBURN

Outrage at the wilful destruction of world heritage and religious buildings, and the looting of museums during the invasion of Iraq, led Elizabeth Ashburn to study aspects of Middle East culture. (The Geneva Convention ordinarily protects cultural property in armed conflict.) Taking advantage of A. Karim Rahimi’s course in miniature painting (at College of Fine Arts, University of NSW), she learnt a little of the techniques. Her miniature paintings of war and occupation contrast this heritage with the ugly realities of everyday life in Iraq.

Every major conflict brings with it photographs that set the stage for how the conflict is judged and remembered. As Susan Sontag argues, the Western memory museum is now mostly a visual one. (‘Regarding the Torture of Others’, New York Times, 23 May 2004.) In reviewing images of the war that the United States launched pre-emptively in Iraq in 2003, Ashburn seeks universal scenes, not propagandistic or triumphal moments. The solemn renderings of her small vignettes oppose the depravity of depicting carnage as if a fireworks carnival.

Elizabeth Ashburn is an artist and teacher who also writes and curates on art and politics. She is an Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Newcastle.

ABDUL KARIM RAHIMI

Rahimi had a distinguished academic and artistic career in Afghanistan. He began his training in Herat, a town famous for the vivid and humanised nature of its miniature painting, and then completed degrees at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kabul. He was Associate Professor at Kabul University (for 14 years until 1992) where he wrote several books on Afghani miniature art. In 1990 Rahimi was awarded the title ‘Distinguished Cultural Figure of the Republic of Afghanistan’.

During the time of the Taliban, artists in Afghanistan could not include depictions of living beings—animals or people. Rahimi and family lived in Pakistan for several years before migrating to Australia in 1998. Rahimi now lives in Rooty Hill, Sydney, and his works incorporate images of his new country and its contradictions, landscape and suburban life, into the rich colour and design of miniature art. He has held over 45 group and solo exhibitions in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Australia. After learning English, Rahimi completed a Masters in Art at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW. He now teaches an adult education course in miniature painting (at COFA, UNSW) and is artist in residence for the Rajput: Sons of Kings exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW and was a finalist in the Archibald Prize. Rahimi hopes that his unique training and experience of displacement and migration can add to a truly multicultural perspective for Australia.

Elizabeth Ashburn - Iraqi Man (Abu Ghraib prison), 2005

Elizabeth Ashburn - Crowd outside Christian Monastery (Baghdad), 2005

Elizabeth Ashburn

All miniature paintings, watercolour on paper.                                

ABDUL KARIM RAHIMI

Miniature paintings, watercolour and gouache on paper.