Mahtab Karami

This PhD project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH). It employs mixed methods research to investigate an often-overlooked or misunderstood area of contemporary and postmodern Middle Eastern painting, with a particular focus on Afghan (female) artists. The project aims to develop new comparative aesthetic theories in contemporary Afghan painting, within the extensive backdrop of three Middle Eastern countries: Iran, Iraq, and Egypt, exploring the intersection of painting aesthetics, politics, and gender. A curated digital library of images received from Afghanistan will be created, forming a permanent and vital collection of artworks otherwise currently being physically destroyed and disappeared under the brutal and misogynist Taliban regime.

The timely project will establish a substantial numeric database combining Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and Afghan painting aesthetics, along with artists’ biographical details. This database will be a springboard for statistical analysis, qualitative research, and interviews, building on my prior study and training in statistics and art evaluation. The statistical analysis, which is crucial in uncovering what is not immediately visible to the naked eye, is often overlooked in the visual arts. It is specifically helpful in protecting artists’ information during data gathering and analysis stages and will be anonymised into numeric cases (e.g., Artist’s name: 1, 2, 3, etc.,), thus addressing any ethical concerns toward Afghan people involved in the research (whether inside or outside their home country).

The research is crucial amidst the rapidly worsening conditions for women under Taliban-rule, where they are oppressed, their artistic value eradicated, and their societal contributions brutally restricted to forced subservience. It forms an important, impactful, and original contribution to knowledge, providing an urgent and powerful platform for oppressed Afghan (female/artists’) voices.

Names of Supervisors: 

• Dr Helen Gorrill (principal supervisor)
• Dr Abdullah Yusuf (2nd supervisor)