Samira Kitman (born 1984) is an Afghanistan/born

calligrapher Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as " ...

and

miniaturist A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

currently residing in

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

in northern England.

Early life

Her parents fled to Pakistan to avoid the troubles, where they lived as refugees during her early childhood. They returned to Kabul in 2002.

Career

She learned her craft with the

Turquoise Mountain Foundation The Turquoise Mountain Foundation is a non-governmental organization legally established in Scotland. It takes its name from Turquoise Mountain and initially focused on the enhancement of the Afghanistan craft industry.Felicia CraddockIn Afghani ...

and went on to organise the contract that provided Afghan miniature painting, ceramics and woodwork to the brand new five-star Anjum Hotel in

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow val ...

which is used by wealthy pilgrims. She employed fifteen women calligraphers. The contract worth £175,000 was for 6,000 illuminated Quranic verses to decorate the five-star hotel. She and her artists had 11 weeks to complete the intricate ink lettering with swirls of green and gold

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

. She was voted Afghan businesswoman of the year, has been praised by Prince Charles and has had her art displayed at the

Victoria and Albert museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and ...

in London and the Smithsonian in Washington. She created Maftah-e Hunar, an arts foundation which trained eighty young, deprived women to become artists and make a living. In 2016 she featured in We Are Afghan Women, a book by the former American first lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

Asylum claim

Kitman’s high profile brought her to the attention of militants, and she applied for asylum to the United Kingdom and was located by the Home Office in Lancaster. Her application was refused, an appeal lodged then on 18 March 2017, before the appeal the Home Office reversed its decision: “They advised that after reviewing their decision they hadn’t realised the extent of Samira’s profile in Afghanistan and internationally and that due to her profile she would be at risk.”

References

Sources

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External links

Samira Kitman
Turquoise Mountain site Afghan women artists Afghan expatriates in England Women calligraphers Living people 1984 births {{Afghanistan-artist-stub