Shamsia Hassani

Shamsia Hassani was born in 1988 in Tehran, Iran, where her parents had temporarily immigrated from their native Kandahar.  As the first female graffiti artist in Afghanistan, she has been featured in numerous publications, including the LA Times, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and Vice.  In addition to her art, she is a fine arts lecturer and associate professor of sculpture at Kabul University.

Through her artworks, Shamsia portrays Afghan women in a male-dominanted society. Her artworks give Afghan women a different face – a face with power, ambitions, and willingness to achieve goals. The woman character used in her artworks portrays a human being who is proud, loud, and can bring positive changes to people’s lives.

During the last decade of post-war era in Afghanistan, Shamsia’s paintings have brought in a huge wave of color and appreciation to all the women in the country. Her graphical works have inspired thousands of women around the world,and has given a new hope to female Afghan artists in her country. She has motivated hundreds of Afghans to celebrate their creativity through her graffiti festivals, art classes, and exhibitions in nine countries on three continents around the world.