Above, Dean College adjunct faculty member Amy Adams and student Fatima Wojohat working on Wednesday to set up an exhibit of more than 40 of the latter’s painting for exhibit today.
Fatima Wojohat was 19 when the Taliban retook Afghanistan, according to an article posted on the Dean College web site. According to the article, as a street artist working with the ArtLords activist organization, Fatima used her art to inspire Afghan girls and women and share messages of hope, painting art and murals on blast walls across the city. But after Kabul fell, she turned to the only outlet she had – her phone.
Refusing to be silenced, Fatima taught herself how to create digital art in order to stand up against gender-based oppression. “I started doing my digital art to share my voice, my dream and stories from Afghanistan through art,” Fatima explained.
Fatima’s semester-long work culminated in an exhibit titled “Diary of a Dreamer” at the Franklin Public Library on December 1, 2023. A collaboration of artists in poetry, music, dance and visual art, the exhibit included spoken word poetry by Dean alum Mica Rich ’21 and performances from both local artists and dancers from the Joan Phelps Palladino School of Dance. The artistic experience culminated in an exhibit of Fatima’s work from the semester, celebrating resilience, power and strength.
Now, a new collaboration between Dean College, the Franklin Public School District MA and the Franklin Historical Museum with Fatima Wojohat, goes on exhibit for just two hours at the Franklin Historical Museum, Thursday from 4-6 at 80 West Central Street. There is no admission fee and the public is invited. to view more than 40 items created by Wojohat.