He had received threats. But how much he was really in danger, author and journalist Waheed Warsta, 48, understood only when he received an anonymous phone call from a fan working for the state.
– One has been created rowing issue Against you, warn the man on the other end.
– You must leave Kabul.
The conversation was the beginning of a three-year elopement before he became the first loner for Nosden Free City Artist.
Article author: Al-Afghani Waheem Warasta (47) came to Norway in the fall of 2021. In February 2022, his wife and daughter followed him.
Photo: Erlend Dalhaug Daae/NRK
Fribyer welcomes artists, writers and journalists who have had to flee their homeland after threats to their expressions.
In recent years, the free city organization ICORN has had an increasing number of requests.
– But it exploded in 2021 with the Afghanistan crisis. We’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s a historical record, says director Helge Lund.
Working for freedom of expression: Helge Lund, director of the International Cities Refugee Network, is leading the work to select persecuted artists who will be given free accommodation in the city.
Photo: ICORN
Fear of killing
When Kabul fell on August 15, 2021, Wahid and Rashta were already on the run in Uzbekistan.
He is known from his language program on TOLO TV and was the director of the Afghan freedom of expression organization PEN.
Wahid and his wife – poet and literature professor Khaleda Forough (59) – belong to Kabul’s intellectuals.
From their new terraced home in winter-clad Nesodden, a married couple and their daughter, Nirvana Frog, 17, must replace whatever was and focus on the following:
new country.
new culture.
New language.
Work system: Wahim, Rsta and Halda Frog spend a lot of time every day learning Norwegian.
Photo: Erlend Dalhaug Daae/NRK
Humans are not birds that leave one tree and easily build a new nest in another. In a low voice, Warsta says that people’s souls are connected to the place where they originated.
– but there comes a point where you feel compelled to make the agonizing decision to flee so as not to be killed.
The persecuted free thinker
Steamed Persian rice is served with spinach soup and salad. After the meal, raisins, almonds, and clementines are placed on the table, while Nirvana pours green tea.
The 17-year-old is getting ready to go to his first guitar lesson.
During the day, she attends an introductory class with her parents. Free time is full of art, music and poetry.
Free for Music: The Taliban’s ban on music is incomprehensible to the artist’s family. Nirvana Frog (17) tests guitar with Abi, Him and Rashta. Comes mother immortal frog.
Photo: Erling Dalhaug Daae/NRK
Her unusual name sparked reactions in Kabul, but the parents refused to bow to religious pressure to give their daughter a Muslim name.
– I am Free thinker. Waheed and Rasta assert that my religion is love, humanity, respect and equality for all people.
Such statements provoked the Taliban.
– high demand
ICORN also feels the need for urgent protection after the riots in Iran and the war in Ukraine.
– Persecution in Russia and Belarus has become more difficult. From there, we’re seeing significant progress, says ICORN Director Lunde.
The Stavanger-based international organization helps artists gain residency in around 80 free cities around the world.
There are currently 24 free cities in Norway. They committed to giving persecuted artists a two-year residency.
Cartoon wars
Many come alone. Iraqi Ahmed Falah, 35, fled death threats in Baghdad to Jakarta.
The threats followed a charge of a militia leader.
After five years in exile, he became a free artist in the city of Drobac.
Now he has a full-time job at Avistegnernes hus – a national exhibition and center for freedom of expression.
Protest Artist: Cartoonist Ahmed Falah from Baghdad is a freelance artist in the city of Drobak. Here he displays one of his own drawings in the Avistegnerne house.
Photo: Anders Fehn/NRK
Getting used to the Norwegian system was difficult.
He often feels lonely. Paint it off.
– I don’t draw to be funny. I want to make people think. I want to show what the militias in Iraq do to artists.
At Work: After several odd jobs, Ahmed Falah is thrilled to be able to work with art full time.
Photo: Anders Fehn/NRK
Better in exile
Nor does Norway escape his line.
Ahmed explains NAV as an endless maze. Football president Liz Clavenice has been portrayed as a freedom fighter.
During the pandemic, the municipality of Drobak used Ahmed’s drawings to prevent infection.
The Iraqi believes he has never been better than he was after he fled.
It gave Exile access to information and a better overview.
– So I can comment more strongly on my drawings now than when I lived in Baghdad.
Winter Walk: Walking is cartoonist Ahmed Falah’s best trick to clear his head. – But the winters in Norway are very cold. Instead, I take inspiration on the bus between Oslo and Drobak, he jokes.
Photo: Anders Fehn/NRK
Newspaper support from the neighbor
Back in Nesodden, Vahid and Halda are happy to live in a love marriage.
And they feel it helps with the new daily life in Nisodden.
Waheed admires his wife for her positive attitude.
He believes that it is contagious and creates loneliness.
Freedom regained: Khaleda Forough, 50, traveled alone to international literary festivals before the Taliban came to power. She and her husband are keen to give Nirvana, 17, the freedom to choose her interests, education, and life.
Photo: Erlend Dalhaug Daae/NTB
The closest neighbors share daily newspapers and magazines with the family.
– We feel fortunate to have good neighbours. It helps us a lot in learning the language.
During his exile, Waheed lived alone in Uzbekistan. Frog and Nirvana remained in Kabul before the two fled to Albania.
– It was quite a challenge. Without ICORN, we would have had to carry on with stressful lives. With a little support he could send us friends.
Soon a topical book
Waheed is happy with the freedom Norway gives his wife and daughter. In the motherland, a woman is the property of a man.
Khaleda has already secured a book deal with Ashhug, who will be publishing a collection of poems.
Posted in Norway: Khaleda Frog, 50, was a literature professor at Kabul University and a well-known poet before she was forced to flee. She is currently in the process of finalizing a collection of poems that will be published by Ashhug.
Photo: Erlend Dalhaug Daae/NRK
A sudden change of location can make you more creative. She says: I think my poems will be better because of that.
Khaleda says the poems can be sad, but they open a window of hope. How does life feel as a refugee?
Sadness leads in the direction of happiness.
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