Rada Akbar
ABARZANAN – Exhibitions

To counter the global perception of Afghan women as victims, Rada Akbar launched the Abarzanan project in 2019, which translates to Superwomen.
In 2029 and 2020, she directed and curated two exhibitions coinciding with International Women’s Day, in the format of «wearable monuments». Each piece carried a story of Afghan heritage and female strength, and featured traditional Afghan practices that are at risk of being lost, such as embroidery, tile patterns, and jewelry design. Rada Akbar designed the patterns and materials of each piece, and collaborated with Afghan artists and artisans for their crafting (Ali Baba Awrang, Kabir Mokamel, Derya Ayvaz, Sabri Tunca, Qasem Sarwari, Mohsin Tasha and Sima Shahmoradi).
In 2021, the most recent Abarzanan exhibition, was launched on March 8 with a performative speech which paid tribute to eight remarkable superwomen who gave their lives fighting for women’s rights, children’s rights, nature, and art. For security reasons, Rada Akbar hosted the speech in an empty Kabul hall, as it was too dangerous to have audiences attend. This exhibition was also a platform for her to vocally oppose the oppression of Afghan women by the Taliban and other extremist groups.