For the first time, the Jarmuschek + Partner gallery is presenting the works of the artist Kubra Khademi in a solo exhibition in Berlin. The central series depicts women in scenes that, at first glance, might appear to be private. They lie on a carpet with their arms outstretched, are chatting over tea, or are climbing a tree. If one is to believe the title of the series, Kubra Khademi’s female figures find themselves as Women in simple situations.
On closer inspection, this title reveals itself to be a multi-layered commentary that alludes to human rights and social utopias just as much as it offers a bitterly ironic view of our current world. The situations in which the figures are depicted are unlikely to be either commonplace or normal for most women – for they are almost all naked. The unclothed women spit, menstruate, wrestle with a cat over a huge phallus or plait their pubic hair. Sexual allusions and depictions of the sexes alternate with images of a simple, relaxed existence.

It is only when one realises the artist’s Afghan origins that the controversial and explosive nature of what is on display here becomes tangible. Kubra Khademi describes Afghanistan as a country in which images of women do not exist. It is a world in which women are only permitted to appear on the streets or in the media when fully veiled, where public nudity is a crime and runs counter to all the values of patriarchal society. Through her performances, she has drawn attention to the oppression of women in society in an artistic manner, using her own body: In 2014, she repeatedly slapped herself in public. In 2015, she walked down a street in Kabul wearing a sort of figure-hugging bikini made of metal over her clothes (Amor, see below), thereby risking her life. In 2018, she appeared in front of her audience in Rennes whilst on a lead.

In the exhibition’s narratively charged gouaches, the protagonists appear to be full of joie de vivre and carefree. The scenes convey an almost paradisiacal feeling, whilst at the same time being peppered with unsettling, humorous and, at times, surreal moments. Kubra Khademi’s figures are stylistically inspired by Persian miniature painting. However, through their abstraction and spatial emptiness, as well as the nudity of the bodies depicted, she directs her audience’s gaze to the essential and creates a sense of timeless, otherworldly reality. They point far beyond Afghanistan. Kubra Khademi’s radical art holds up a mirror to the viewer, regardless of their background. It reveals just how dependent the body and individual lives are on political contexts and social structures. Her works raise questions that could bring us a step closer to freedom.

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Kubra Khademi was born in 1989 in the Afghan province of Ghor as a member of the Hazara ethnic group. She studied at Beaconhouse National University in Lahore (Pakistan) and fine art at the University of Kabul. Following the staging of her performance Amor, Kubra Khademi was forced to flee her home country due to death threats. She has lived in Paris ever since and has been a French citizen since 2020. In 2016, the French Ministry of Culture awarded her the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She has also received the City of Paris’s 1% Prize and the Salomon Foundation Residency Award. Internationally, she has attracted considerable attention from both the media and institutions. Among others, her works have been exhibited at Ludwig Museum in Cologne (2023), at the Sydney Biennal (2024), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2021), Fondation Kadist (Paris, 2022), Collection Lambert (Avignon, 2022), Mill6 Foundation (Hong Kong, 2023), Musée de l’Immigration (2022), Bangkok Biennal (2020), Institut du Monde Arabe (2022), Mediterranean Museum Stockholm (2023), Les Abattoirs, Musées – Frac Occitanie (2023), MuCEM (2019), Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles (2019), Fondation Fiminco (2021), Kunsthalle Dessau (2023), Kunsthalle Thun (2022), Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (2022) and solo at Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern (2022) and Kunstmuseum Karlsruhe (2024-25). Until July 2026, works by Kubra Khademi formed part of the exhibition WIR. 19 Fundamental Rights. 19 Artistic Positions. at the German Bundestag. Here, they were presented in dialogue with Article 5 of the German constitution, which, amongst other things, is intended to guarantee freedom of expression and artistic freedom.

In parallel with the exhibition at the Jarmuschek + Partner gallery, the HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU3) is presenting an installation with a live performance by Kubra Khademi in Berlin eight times. Afghan Women: A Desperate Vitality is a collaboration with Mortaza Behboudi (sound narrative) and anonymous artists from Kabul, and will be presented from October 9–11 as part of the festival Love is a Verb #2 – We, the  Heartbroken.

The arte channel is currently showing a portrait of the artist in its l’átelier A. series, available in the arte media library.