Photo above: Andrew Quilty
In a rehearsal hall in downtown Kabul, 19-year-old Negin Khpolwak stands in front of the all-women symphony orchestra, her baton poised and with the nod of her head, she makes history as she begins her first performance as a conductor.
On the outskirts of town, on the Omid-e-Sabz foothills that roll out of snow capped mountains, Zahra Naarin, 24, and Zakia Mohammadi, 21, are careening down the hillside, shoulders hunched over handlebars, victory in their eyes as they cycle over the rocky terrain.
For Negin the sound of music drowns out the threat of the Taliban that claims girls can’t play music. For Zahra and Zakia the thrill of racing rather than the menace of the extremists empowers them to take on a sport that has been forbidden for girls.
Conductors, extreme cyclists, even rappers and paragliders; these are the new faces of Afghan women. They’re chasing careers and going to university. They’re thumbing their noses at those who would drag their country backwards. Despite the worrisome insurgency and the gloomy economy, the young people of Afghanistan who make up the majority of the population—67 per cent are under the age of 30—are yanking this primitive place into the 21st century.
Read the rest of my piece on women in Afghanistan at Macleans