Asia Culture House (formely Seven Leaves of Art Cultural Center) organized
Exhibition of Afghanistan’s Traditional Clothing on December 11th in Western Kabul.
The pseudo “Fashion Show in Kabul”, took place in Rasme Zindagi Hall, on Friday with
participation of Afghan young male and female models, Afghan male and female
audience and national and international media.
Afghanistan’s traditional clothing is well known for its intricate color composition and
excellent hand embroidery. The design differs from place to place and also differs
based on ethnicity where it is used. While the traditional clothing common in central
Afghanistan has single color cloth with hand-embroidery on its sleeves and color,
common clothing in southern Afghanistan has complex color composition-both in
terms of cloth type and embroidery itself.
The program was neither a typical fashion show nor it was commercial. It was a solely
cultural program that followed the objectives of: Introducing Afghanistan’s traditional
clothing to both Afghan nationals and international audience. The program was
organized in Kabul, because such clothing has lost its significance in urban
Afghanistan and is only widely used in rural areas. The program, thus, intended to
introduce the program to Afghanistan’s urban residents. On the other hand, given the
violent image of Afghanistan that is prevalent internationally, such programs have
significant role in shifting the focus on slowly evolving attitude of younger generation.
The event was an extra-ordinary and unique experience in Afghanistan, since late
80’s. Here are some reasons why we believe so;
1) It was mainly privately funded-with 30% contribution by audience-thru entry fees,
2) It was conducted publicly in absence of any kind of security challenges,
3) Both male and female models were cultural activists-not professional models; who
were mostly either senior school students or junior university students,
4) Most of the audience were female,
5) It was a cultural event than a commercial one.
Soon after the event was conducted, it caught national and international attention-
with supporters and opposition of the program taking sides. It was widely shared
within social media users and national and international reporters. Links to some of
the reports are:
Asia Culture House 
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