As magazine and Web site, Afghan Communicator celebrates 10th anniversary

By Judy Aita
USINFO Staff Writer [See Complete Article Here]

New York -- Ten years ago, a group of young Afghans met in the Khyber Pass Restaurant in New York City to plan an academic, literary and cultural magazine.  By 2007, in recognition of their work, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed April 23 Afghan Communicator Day in New York.

"Ten years ago, just as the Internet was connecting the world, various educated young Afghans around the U.S. found each other.  We were looking for ways to connect and make sense of our situation," said Afghan Communicator Executive Director Rameen Moshref Javid.

"We laid the foundation of Afghan Communicator.  A decade later, we are still an Afghan information center connecting different communities and bringing different groups together," Javid said at an anniversary celebration attended by city officials, diplomats, Afghan Communicator staff members and friends.

In its first issue, the group declared, "We, the young generation of Afghans at the Afghan Communicator, came together to form a medium that enables us to culturally and intellectually connect the scattered Afghan communities around the world.  Well into our second decade away from our shattered land, we vow to remember our roots!  With the Afghan pride and Muslim identity in common, we endeavor to build a bridge of unity among our diverse community abroad."

It vowed not to tolerate any bias based on age, gender, ethnicity, language or creed and pledged to provide a means of bringing the community together in a peaceful, social, democratic, Islamic and scholarly atmosphere.  For five years, Afghan Communicator was the magazine its founders envisioned, publishing 13 issues that still are available through its Web site.  Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the organization changed its mission, becoming a nonprofit organization that no longer publishes magazines but takes an active role in representing the Afghan community and preserving its art and culture.

In the past five years, Afghan Communicator has become a very active organization, publishing a bimonthly English/Dari community newsletter, sponsoring an annual Afghan Heritage Day, holding the only Afghan Art and Film Festival in North America, pioneering such projects as the Inter Afghan Youth and Afghan Professionals summits, and establishing the Torch Bearers of Afghan Culture Award to honor Afghan cultural and literary icons in their lifetime.  Afghans from across the United States and Canada are attending the organizations events, with some even coming from as far away as Japan.

Deputy New York City Commissioner for Immigrant Affairs Azadeh Khalili pointed out that Afghan Communicator is the only community-based Afghan organization in the city.

"Afghan Communicator works hard to meet the needs of the community," said Khalili, representing Mayor Bloomberg, who was out of town.

"We hope that this terrific organization will continue to encourage tolerance and respect as it promotes Afghan culture throughout New York, in addition to providing vital services to our city's Afghan residents," she said.

During the anniversary fete, Afghan artwork and crafts were for sale to raise money for artists in Afghanistan.  At the end of April, Javid and two Afghan artists from the U.S. and Canada will be traveling to Afghanistan to conduct arts workshops for several Afghan organizations.

"By promoting Afghan art in the U.S., not only are we building cultural bridges between Afghanistan and the United States, but we are also supporting artists by selling their artwork in the U.S. and Canada," Javid said.

Afghan Communicator is attempting to revive and enhance Afghan art by working with Afghan artists and art organizations to rebuild that segment of Afghanistan society.  During three decades of war, the demand for art severely diminished and then the Taliban declared art a crime against the state and a sin.  Many Afghan artists changed professions; few apprentices had reason to continue.

Afghan Communicator currently is working with the fine arts faculties of Herat and Kabul universities, the Herat-based Center for Visual Arts, and the Kabul-based Center for Contemporary Art Afghanistan by conducting workshops, providing equipment and supplies, selling the artists' works abroad, and creating a market for Afghan art in North America.

The organization wants to see Afghan arts and crafts become a viable economic industry as well as cultural institution -- much like the Afghan carpet industry -- with deep cultural roots so that its existence never again is threatened and it is relied upon as a job-creating institution.

"The artists really need a lot of support.  They exist with so little money and resources," Javid said.

On his upcoming trip, Javid plans to donate digital cameras, laptop computers, mat-cutting machines and other supplies.  The artists will be conducting workshops in marketing, portfolio making and composition.

More information on Afghan Communicator is available on its Web site.

For additional information on U.S. policies, see Rebuilding Afghanistan.

(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)