Counter Gaze is a curated exhibition by Sha Sarwari featuring works by Afghan-Australian artists Tamana Alizada, Razia Ghazal and Alia Qasimzada.
Presented in response to Andrew Quilty’s Afghanistan photography exhibition, Counter Gaze offers a personal and reflective counter-narrative shaped by lived experience, memory and cultural resilience.
Through painting, installation and mixed media works, the artists explore themes of displacement, identity and belonging while reclaiming space for self-representation. The exhibition shifts attention away from dominant narratives of conflict to focus on healing, empowerment and the complexities of diasporic identity.
By foregrounding the voices of Afghan-Australian artists, Counter Gaze invites audiences to encounter Afghanistan’s stories through perspectives rooted in personal history and cultural continuity.
Image: Tamana Alizada, Inherit Silent, 2024, beads on clear acrylic sheet. Courtesy of the artist.
