Handkerchiefs of hope
Image: Three handkerchiefs from the Handkerchief Project Collection.
| During the Afghanistan war, a group of Australian women exchanged messages of optimism, defiance, and ambition with a group of women in Afghanistan using a simple square of cloth as their medium. They embroidered, painted, and wrote with images and words, and with emotional candour, turning these cloths into artworks.
The 40 beautiful handkerchief artworks that resulted from The Handkerchief Project have recently been acquired by the Australian War Memorial’s National Collection, ensuring the preservation and allowing access to these poignant artefacts.  “The objective of the project was to support women in Afghanistan in their quest to acquire and use literacy skills,” says artist and printmaker, Gali Weiss who founded the project. “As Australian women living in privileged circumstances, in a country whose military was involved in Afghanistan, we felt a responsibility to connect with Afghan women living in circumstances of war and immense hardships.” Weiss enlisted another 19 Australian woman artists to be part of the project. Each artist created a design or imprint or some form of marking on a handkerchief, something that defined their living experience. These handkerchiefs were then delivered to Organisation for Promoting Afghan Women’s Capabilities (OPAWC) in Kabul, which was running literacy and vocational classes. Women in the OPAWC vocational centre then responded to what they saw on the handkerchiefs in whatever way they wished, that is, embroidery, writing, painting on or around the original message. The handkerchiefs were returned to Australia, bearing messages such as: “My aim is to become a judge”; “Our country needs peace”; “I wish to see my family healthy”; “I want to live in freedom forever”; and “I hope that no more Afghan mothers shed tears from the loss of their children”. Director of the AWM, Matt Anderson, believes the Memorial is the right home for The Handkerchief Project. “These universal messages of hope, the pain of war, and the resilience of women are a treasured addition to the Australian War Memorial.” www.awm.gov.au |
