Rahraw Omarzad is an artist, independent curator, writer, and professor from Kabul, Afghanistan, working mainly with video and photography. He has taught Fine Arts at the University of Kabul for 20 years, before having to leave the country due to the assumption of power by the Taliban in 2021. In his broad range of cultural activities, Omarzad is committed to socio-political topics: He founded the CCAA Center for Contemporary Art Afghanistan including the Women’s Center for the Arts, which is dedicated to teaching and promoting the advancement and empowerment of Afghan women artists and is also the founder of the Afghan art magazine, Gahnama and Hunar, amongst others. His artistic work focuses on the portraiture and reflection of Afghan society. Existing in the interspace between politics, war, and personal life, Omarzads artistic and cultural activities have expressed a deep strength of resistance against inequalities, war as a political tool and an advocacy for peace, justice, and an open and democratic society.
Rahraw Omarzad’s video works have been exhibited worldwide, including Documenta 13, Kassel, and Tate Britain, London, 9. International Istanbul Biennial. His work can also be found in the permanent collection of the Asia Society Museum, New York. He received an IFA Scholarship in Germany 2006 and the CEC ArtsLink Projects Award in Washington D.C. 2012. He is also a member of AFI Art Film International curators, Whitechapel Gallery, London, and IKT International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art. He holds Fine Art degrees from the Kabul University and The Oslo National Academy of Fine Arts. Omarzad’s current academic and curatorial involvement besides Städelschule includes work with the Castello di Rivoli contemporary art Museum, as well as the Accademia Albertina Art Academy, both in Turin.