A unique art exhibition on violence against women took place at Serena Hotel in Dushanbe on January 25-26.

Twenty works by young painters were put on display at the exhibition, which was authored by first graduates of the Digital Arts Academy, Nasiba Karimova and Manizha Babakulova.

They presented their project, Break the Silence.  This is graduation work of students of the Digital Arts Academy supported by UNESCO.  

The heroes of the paintings are real women who tell their stories through art.

The exhibition combined traditional works of art with a collection of modern digital format.

Currently, works by graduates of the Digital Arts Academy have been put on display at the Mazza Café.

The exhibition will run at the Mazza Café through February 10 and then it will move to the Chatr Café.   

The main objective of the Break the Silence project is in drawing attention of the public to a social problem such as domestic violence against women by a husband, mother-in-law and other relatives.

The Digital Arts Academy is a two-year project funded by UNESCO as part of the new global initiative ‘U40 Empowered’, supported by Sabrina Ho, which expands the actions of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity by promoting young female cultural entrepreneurs in the digital creative industries.

The project started in early March 2019, and will run until November 2020.  Bactria Cultural Center, in partnership with ACTED Afghanistan, is selecting 12 female entrepreneurs from Afghanistan and Tajikistan in both 2019 and 2020 to join the Digital Arts Academy.

The Academy begins with remote and on-site training in coding, digital creation (graphic and web design, video editing, animation, etc.) and entrepreneurship.  Graduates will be offered paid internships in partner institutions to learn their respective trades and hone their skills while innovation will be encouraged by a grants mechanism.  Graduates will also join an Alumni Network where they will connect with peers, start-ups, incubators, and other interested parties.