When walls disappear
Updated:
Updated:
February 18, 2021 13:56 IST
The Artlords of Afghanistan paint on thick concrete barricades, hoping to turn Kabul back into the city of culture that it once was, from the fortress it has now become
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People painting on a street in Kabul
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The Artlords of Afghanistan paint on thick concrete barricades, hoping to turn Kabul back into the city of culture that it once was, from the fortress it has now become
“The wall disappeared after I put up our first mural, because I was looking at the image,” says Kabir Mokamel. It was 2014, when Artlords, the organisation he had co-founded, made its first move into the streets of Kabul. Through a slow process of connecting the community in the conflict-ridden capital, it began painting the blast walls, to make a political point. After the US intervention in 2001, thick grey concrete walls had come up to shield government buildings embassies and private residences for the wealthy, turning the city into a fortress.