BAHARIN LEHIB

Herat- Despite Taliban pressure, Afghan women are determined to participate in all facets of life. Engraving is one of the ancient arts in Herat province of Afghanistan. When you go there, you can see many engraving workshops, where women produce decorative accessories by carving on wood, stone and metal. The owners of these shops are mostly women. Mallika Sedat and Soraya Sedat are two of them.

They teach girls how to engrave

Mallika Sedat has been an engraving artist for three years. She works with Soraya Sedat at the workshop and they have taught this art to 21 girls until now. They decided to open the workshop for girls after the Taliban banned them from education. The artists aim to promote Nuristan style hand engraving in Herat.

“Nuristani engraving originally comes from Nuristan province. We know many artists working on wood, stone, metal and various objects in Afghanistan. Soraya Sedat and I are the first engraving artists in Herat. We have taught this art to many girls until now. Like millions of Afghan girls, I could not continue my education due to the Taliban,”Mallika Sedat told NuJINHA.

Many journalists from different countries, especially European countries, go to the province to interview female engraving artists in Herat. “The Taliban allows me and other women to work in order to hide their crimes against women,” Mallika Sedat added.

She has deprived of education for two years

Mallika Sedat called on all Afghan women to “keep learning. I have been deprived of education for two years but I keep struggling. Afghan women should struggle because nothing lasts forever. We must improve our skills because we will finally have a space to reveal our skills.”