HUMANITY A Swallow in Flight

Forced to leave his country after his work on Afghan women’s rights and his advocacy for democracy placed a target on his back, Afghan director and playwright Saleh Sepas turns to theatre for hope

- Koyyi Chin

In the 1990s, the department of fine arts of Kabul University, established in the mid-1980s, was bombed during the Afghan Civil War—a destructive act of war against arts and culture during the brutal regime of the Taliban.

Instruments were destroyed; historically significant statues and paintings of living things removed; and any form of entertainment, from television and radio to paintings and music, were prohibited.

It was only in late 2002 when Kabul University opened its doors once more after the Taliban were successfully pushed back in 2001.

But the damage done to the interior was extensive; while reconstruction was underway, the soot and debris left by artillery shells were a stark reminder of the conflict for Afghan students, including one Saleh Sepas—founder, playwright, and director of refugee theatre company, Parastoo Theatre.

“[Afghanistan] has approximately 35 to 36 million people, and only 28 to 30 of them enrolled in the school of fine arts,” says the 39-year-old. “There were courses for graphic design, painting, sculpture, music, and theatre, but I remember our section looking really worn and dirty. The other faculties would make fun of us because they didn’t think that the arts were as important as what they studied.”