{"id":4826,"date":"2017-11-06T09:37:34","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T07:37:34","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-01-29T12:09:14","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T10:09:14","slug":"azizi","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/faces-stories\/azizi\/","title":{"rendered":"Azizi"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Azizi\"
Azizi (Afghanistan)<\/em>, 2017,\u00a0Gicl\u00e9e fine art print, 120 x 177 cm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u0391zizi<\/strong>
\n32 years old<\/strong>
\nAfghanistan<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I\u2019ve been in Greece with my family for two years. I visited the Museum of the Acropolis once and I liked being able to see in person all the things I had learned in Afghanistan about ancient Greek history and civilization. When they informed me about the programme at the National Museum of Contemporary, I thought it\u2019d be great to be a part of it, since I saw it as a chance to learn new things.<\/p>\n

At the Museum1<\/sup> we saw an artwork that was called Swedish Flying Carpet<\/em>2<\/sup>, which I thought represented the marriage of two civilizations, Asian and European. We saw another artwork with a loom3<\/sup>. I grew up in a village in Afghanistan and I used to see how it was used in the old days. I remember our mothers and grandmothers sitting at the loom, weaving. The situation in the country was better back then because things were safe, and I have good memories of those days. But now all that\u2019s just a memory because sadly, because of the war, the situation in Afghanistan has completely changed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really hard to be young and not able to find a safe place to live in your country. I realize that nowadays a lot of people from other countries and not just Afghanistan are facing the same problem. But bear in mind, I was two years old when the war started in my country and as I grew up, I saw one war after another break out and the country reduced to rubble. It\u2019s painful to see the civilian population suffering, on the one hand, and on the other, the bombs that keep falling. We used to hope that the war would end one day, but that never happened. That\u2019s why we were forced to leave and become refugees and how we wound up here.<\/p>\n

Afghanistan is considered a rich country. It has a great number of mines that could provide a decent life for its citizens. But unfortunately, the war has brought us to where we are today. I agree with Yaser4<\/sup> when he says that if there were peace and safety in our countries, if we had the same opportunities as citizens in European countries do, we, too, could make progress. But perhaps it\u2019s hard for someone who hasn\u2019t been through what we\u2019ve been through to understand what we\u2019re talking about. I mean, someone who hasn\u2019t lived in Afghanistan can\u2019t really grasp what it means to leave your house for a short walk and not be sure you\u2019ll come back alive. People take these things for granted here, which is why they can\u2019t appreciate them in the way we do. It\u2019s the same reason they can\u2019t appreciate the freedom they have as citizens and the services the state provides.<\/p>\n

However, I don\u2019t want to be discussing the war all the time and the consequences it\u2019s had on people\u2019s lives. It gets to me when I do, and I come back home upset.<\/p>\n

The artwork with the loom is about dreams, which the artist has embroidered on the blanket. I think about my two children and the dreams I hope they have when they sleep at night. More than anything else, I hope that they can sleep peacefully, go to school and move on with their lives, and not think about the problems that weigh on my mind. I also hope that in their sleep, a light blanket with cheerful colours covers them and they dream of a bright and hopeful future.<\/p>\n

We hope that one day things will change in Afghanistan and we\u2019ll see peace and safety in the country. Until then, I\u2019ll try and make a life for me and my family, in a quiet country far from wars and bomb attacks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1\u00a0<\/sup>Refers to the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>Refers to Kostis Velonis\u2019 Swedish Flying Carpet<\/em>, 2001.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>Refers to Janine Antoni\u2019s Slumber<\/em>, 1994.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>Yaser, who\u2019s 27 years old and from Syria, also took part in the programme.<\/p>\n

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Audio Files<\/strong><\/h5>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]\u0395\u03bb\u03bb\u03b7\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u03ac<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

English<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/mp3\/Azizi-E.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/mp3\/Azizi-A.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u0641\u0627\u0631\u0633\u06cc<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/mp3\/Azizi-F.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
\n[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″]Slovensk\u00fd<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/mp3\/Azizi_34_Afganistan.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1511022388651{margin-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text] \u0391zizi 32 years old Afghanistan I\u2019ve been in Greece with my family for two years. I visited the Museum of the Acropolis once and I liked being able to see in person all the things I had learned in Afghanistan about ancient Greek history and civilization. When they informed me about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":18,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4826","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4826"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7949,"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4826\/revisions\/7949"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}