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Congratulations to the ArtsLink International Fell

Congratulations to the ArtsLink International Fellow Yama Rahimi on the selection of his exhibition concept "Surviving Shadows - Afghan Art in the Face of Suppression" for the @apexartnyc NYC Open Call 2025-26!

This exhibition, curated by Yama Rahimi, will honor the resilience of Afghan artists, preserving their struggle, resistance, and hope amidst oppression and will showcase destroyed works, art left in Afghanistan, smuggled pieces, and creations by artists in exile.

The Taliban regime imposed strict censorship, banning music and performing arts, destroying cultural heritage, and endangering artists' lives. For Afghan artists, creating art has become both a powerful form of protest and a dangerous risk. Many fled to the EU and USA, often with only fragments of their work. Others stayed. Some were forced to destroy their artworks to protect themselves and their families. Yet, art endures—hidden, smuggled abroad, or preserved in documentaries.
Yama Rahimi (Afghanistan / Germany) is a filmmaker, photographer and curator. Since 2023, he has been co-curating a series of digital exhibitions for the Hidden Statement initiative featuring the work of artists in Afghanistan. His ArtsLink International Fellowship 2024 was hosted by Magnum Foundation in NYC.

We wish Yama(@yama_rahimi_artist) success in organizing the exhibition "Surviving Shadows - Afghan Art in the Face of Suppression" at apexart and will keep you posted about the timeline.

Image credit: Atina Sultani, Over a thousand, 2024

A compelling and timely piece to read about Ukrain

A compelling and timely piece to read about Ukrainian photography in the MoMA Magazine.
The visual and narrative story "Photos of Everyday Life During Wartime" is co-authored by a CEC ArtsLink alumna curator Kateryna Radchenko and features works by Lisa Bukreyeva, Vladyslav Krasnoshchok, and Elena Subach.

After Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, "Everyday life began to change quickly and radically, demanding that artists adapt just as rapidly and document these new realities. There is a desire to capture places and moments that might soon disappear. And there is an urgent need to collect evidence of this unjust war: the aftermath of Russian attacks; the destruction of cities, architectural heritage, and infrastructure; the bodies of killed civilians; torture and interrogation chambers," writes Radchenko (@radchenko_ua )

From black-and-white grainy shots of destroyed civilian structures by Vladyslav Krasnoshchok to the poignant images of sacral sculptures prepared for evacuation by Elena Subach to the quietly anxious scenes captured by Lisa Bukreyeva, the artists "are shaping a new aesthetic grounded in fear, post-traumatic stress, and daily struggle. This process is only in its infancy. And the war continues."

Follow the link at our bio to read the piece and see all the photos.

📷1: Lisa Bukreyeva. Mom and Daughter During an Air Raid in the Botanical Garden. 2023 @lisa_bukreyeva
📷2: Elena Subach. Untitled photograph, from Hidden. 2022 @elenasubach
📷3: Vladyslav Krasnoshchok. Untitled photograph. 2022 @vladyslav_krasnoshchok

Opening Today! Don’t miss a rare chance to see

Opening Today!
Don’t miss a rare chance to see a solo exhibition by the artist, writer, and filmmaker Mariam Ghani in NYC opening on Thursday, January 9th.

Counting, Accounting, Recounting
Ryan Lee Gallery
515 West 26th Street, NY 10001
On view through February 11th
@ryanleegallery

The show centers around the short film There’s a Hole in the World Where You Used to Be (2024) with accompanying sculptures. In Mariam's words, “[the film] is concerned with the way grief can feel simultaneously personal and political, individual and collective; each absence felt as both a wound in the heart and a hole in the world.”

"This is the most personal work I've made in a while, including a new short film about grief, black holes, and war at a distance (also on view through January 25th in the beautiful, defiant show Sea and Fog at Kunsthalle Baden-Baden). I made objects for this solo for the first time in quite a few years, so I am very curious/terrified to see how it all lands," shares the artist.

A CEC ArtsLink alumna, Mariam (@mostlywindows) works at the intersections of language, loss, migration, memory, and history. Her films, public projects, photographs, and installations have been presented and collected worldwide.

28 Hubert Street, FRNT 1
New York, NY 10013

TEL: (US) 1-212-643-1985
EMAIL: info(at)cecartslink(dot)org