The lovers’ laughter, an Afghan epic – Pavillon Carré de Baudouin

In 1991, 30 years before the Taliban returned to Kabul, The Lovers’ Laughter by Sayd Bahodine Majrouh, the great Afghan poet of the 20^e
century, was published. This emblematic text celebrates the strength of friendship and love in combating tyranny. This universal and timeless message constitutes the backbone of this exhibition.

The works on display resonate with the text The lovers’ laughter by Sayd Bahodine Majrouh and lead the visitor, whether from here or elsewhere, in a luminous epic.

The exhibition
the Lovers’ Laughter, an afghan epic contributes to this fight of life for life. Women and men, poets, writers, authors, artists, photographers are fighters. Their vulnerability is immense, but they are all invincible because they forever embody the beauty of flowers and the laughter of lovers.

Le Rire des Amants, an Afghan epic, these are 6 talented women and men who invite us to enter into resistance by making the Pavillon Carré de Baudouin shine the power of creation in the face of persistent violence.

Through the exhibition and the meetings, visitors are invited to come back to part of the history of Afghanistan and to try to capture the experience of the Afghan people who alternate between resignation, survival, doubt, hope …

Visitors to the exhibition are therefore invited to explore the worlds of these artists:

Some of these artists have lived in exile for a long time, others have just been exfiltrated from Afghanistan and are looking for a new lease of life in us. Their images, faithful to the complexity of the Afghan reality, were produced in different contexts, between 1983 and 2021.

For many Afghan women and men who have become imprisoned in their own country, the present day resembles the darker hours of our own Middle Ages.

Roya Heydari is a 27-year-old Afghan photographer and videographer. Born in exile, she returned to Afghanistan at the age of 10. She wanted to study political science before recognizing in the visual arts, a way to show the reality of her country. She seeks to share a new perspective on Afghanistan and to bear witness to the actions of NGOs on the ground. She was exfiltrated to France in 2021 when the Taliban arrived.

Fatimah Hossaini is an Afghan artist born in Tehran, Iran, photographer, exhibitor and founder of the Mastooraat organization. A graduate in photography and industrial engineering, she taught at the art faculty of Kabul University defended the rights of women and refugees through her actions.

She tells through photography powerful stories of identity and femininity staged in Afghanistan. His work has been featured in art exhibitions and festivals around the world. It is published by the international press.

Roshanak is a photographer and painter. Born in Tehran, she has lived in France since 1991. The courage of women in the face of life’s difficulties is at the heart of her work as an artist.

In 2001, in a country liberated from the Taliban, she moved to Afghanistan. She launched Parvaz, a children’s magazine within the Aina association, and developed an original artistic approach, imbued with poetry and hope, which underlines the determination of Afghan women to participate in the reconstruction of their country.

His black and white photographs, painted by hand, come alive with vivid, dazzling colors, in small touches. Interior scenes, traditions, family, happiness and sorrow … A mosaic of unique moments captured to life, a subtle metaphor for the condition of these women who emerge from the shadows to gradually rediscover the colors of life.

Afghan photographer. Naseer Turkmani started photography when he was a student in Quetta, Pakistan. Since then, he has documented the daily life of the people around him.

After graduating, he returned to his home country of Afghanistan, where he joined the 3rd Eye Photojournalism Center (Cheshm-e Sevum) in Kabul in 2010.

In 2012, he participated in a Master class for photography given by Jan Grarup, member of Noor Images. He is a member of the Association of Afghan Photographers. He was forced into exile in France at the end of August 2021. He looked intimate and full of poetry in black and white on his country.

Afghan photojournalist born in Kabul, Massoud Hossaini is trained in photography within the Aina association in Afghanistan. He has worked for Agence France-Presse since 2007.

On December 6, 2011 in Kabul, he photographed a scene of an attack which left 80 dead and during which he himself was injured. Her photograph of Tarana, an Afghan girl in tears after the attack, won the Pulitzer Prize for topical photography in 2012.

On August 15, 2021, while the Taliban invaded Kabul, Massoud Hossaini embarked on one of the last regular flights to flee certain death because he had become a priority target. He is now a refugee in the Netherlands.

Her Instagram account is a daily newspaper model trying to overcome horror with the beauty of the simple.

A photographer, in exile from his native Iran since 1981, Reza has since shown his attachment to Afghanistan. He has traveled over a hundred countries, photographing conflicts and human disasters. His testimonies are disseminated in the international media and in the form of books, exhibitions, documentaries. More than a photographer, Reza has been volunteering since 1983, putting informal visual education of young people and women from weakened civil societies at the service of a better world.

In 2001, he founded the Aina association in Afghanistan, which trains populations in the information and communication professions. While continuing to report, Reza offers training programs in the language of the image (concrete and virtual) carried by its association Les Ateliers Reza. The beneficiaries of its interventions are refugees, young people from the suburbs of Europe and those from precarious backgrounds.

For 40 years, he has shared his vision through various installations in public spaces and exhibitions in France and around the world. Author, with Rachel Deghati, of 33 books, he has won numerous awards during his career.