ARCH discusses Cultural Heritage with Rahraw Omarzad, Director for the Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan

There is one person in the Kabul art scene that you will repeatedly bump into when trying to find out more about the young artists of today’s Afghanistan. His name is Rahraw Omarzad. At a recent event at the embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C. one woman in the audience rightly pointed out: “He’s exceptionally humble.” That however will not stop us from introducing him here to everyone who has not yet heard of Mr. Omarzad and most notably his students.

Mr. Omarzad is an artist himself, who studied drawing and painting, and later moved on to also make use of other artistic mediums, such as video and photography. He recently exhibited works at documenta 13. As he explained, he learned much from being exposed to works of art he encountered on his trips to Europe and other destinations. He is also the founder of the art magazine Gahnama-e-Hunar; currently the only art magazine in Afghanistan. He teaches art at Kabul University and is the director of the Center for Contemporary Art Afghanistan. He has curated numerous exhibitions, with a special focus on the work of female artists. The wife of the Afghan ambassador, Mrs. Hakimi, introduced Mr. Omarzad to a small crowd of art enthusiasts and especially highlighted his support for women.
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