14TH EDITION CARMIGNAC PHOTOJOURNALISM AWARD
NO WOMAN’S LAND

An Intimate Look into the Battle for Women’s Rights in Afghanistan

A collaborative report by Mélissa Cornet and Kiana Hayeri

Exhibition in Paris from October 25 - November 18, 2024

The 14th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award focuses on the conditions faced by women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban's return to power in August 2021. The award was granted to a reporting project by Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Kiana Hayeri and French researcher Mélissa Cornet, produced with the support of the Fondation Carmignac.

From January to June 2024, Kiana and Mélissa travelled to seven provinces in Afghanistan* to investigate the conditions imposed on women and girls by the Taliban, which, according to Amnesty International’s research, could constitute a possible crime against humanity of gender-based persecution. They met with more than 100 women and girls, barred from going to school, forced to stay at home, women journalists and activists continuing to fight for their rights, mothers watching with horror as history repeats itself for their daughters, as well as LGBTQI+ individuals. They documented how the Taliban, allowed by a deeply patriarchal society, have systematically erased women from society, taking away their most basic rights: to go to school, to university, to work, to travel, to dress as they wish, to go to public baths, to parks, or even to the beauty salon. In late August 2024, the Taliban regime further tightened its control by enacting a new law requiring women to cover their faces with a mask and prohibiting them from having their voices heard in public or at home, including singing or reading aloud.

The starkest change that Kiana and Mélissa noted since August 2021 was the general loss of hope among women that things might improve for them, as dreams of having an education and becoming members of society were shattered before them, becoming the primary victims of recurring economic and food crises, and a health system that has all but collapsed. In the words of one women’s rights activist, who has since left the country, seeing no future for herself in Afghanistan: « We have forgotten joy, we don’t know from where any can be found. I’ve lost all motivation. I cry alone, hidden. It’s as if someone has locked me in a room and won’t let me outside. Even food has no taste. »

Kiana and Mélissa used various media to document this highly sensitive situation, including photographs, sketches, and videos, and art created collaboratively with Afghan teenage girls.

UPCOMING EXHIBITION

Kiana and Mélissa's reportage No Woman’s Land will be showcased in a double exhibition this fall as part of the PhotoSaintGermain festival in Paris. The indoor exhibition at the Réfectoire des Cordeliers, designed by the scenographer Alice de Bortoli and her collective, Ortiche, will combine photographs, archives, videos, texts, and drawings. A second, outdoor exhibition will be held on the Port de Solférino, opposite the Musée d’Orsay, in partnership with the City of Paris.

Exhibition in Paris from October 25 - November 18, 2024

Réfectoire des Cordeliers
15 rue de l’École de Médecine, 75006
Monday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm
Free admission

Port de Solférino 75007 Paris
Open to the public