Invasion, NGOisation, Extraction: Creative Myth-Making and Diasporic Processes of Becoming Among Afghan Contemporary Artists

The present MPT proposes an ethnographic exploration of the relationship between the Global War on Terror (GWoT), international development initiatives, and contemporary art in Afghanistan between 2001-2021. Indeed, the ‘myth’ tells us that the emergence of contemporary art in the country during this period was the result of a local, Afghan movement. However, though given locally-ascribed meaning and momentum, what became dubbed ‘Afghan’ contemporary art was a direct result of, invasion, occupation, and foreign-funded development initiatives. As part of the EuroAmerican experiment in nation-building, this research examines how the experiment led to the NGOisation of contemporary artistic practice, how Afghan artists navigated that experiment, how it contributed to the ‘extraction’ of many artists after the Taliban retook control of the country in mid-August 2021, and how the ‘myth’ is still being written in the creative practices of both a pre- and post-extraction diaspora. As such, the research seeks to further understand how ‘diasporised’ artists find a sense of belonging and continue to legitimise, or on the contrary challenge, the ‘myth’ of ‘Afghan’ contemporary art within their respective hostlands as they rebuild and redefine the concept of watan (homeland) in their ongoing processes of becoming.