Tallinn Fest Web TV

Forsaken - Images documenting the realities of life for Afghan women

Movie Theatre ARTIS, Solaris center, Estonia pst. 9, Tallinn
Nov 30 - Dec 13, 2009, Mon-Sun 10:00-21:00, free admission
The exhibition is organised by the office of the Embassy of Canada to Estonia in Tallinn.

In March 2004 when award-winning photographer Lana Šlezic´ went on
assignment to Afghanistan from her native Canada, she never dreamed she
would stay for two years. At the time she believed that since the
ousting of the suffocating Taliban in 2001, Afghan women and girls were
living under considerably less oppressive conditions.

Overendless cups of tea in sitting rooms from city to village, Lana
learned that Afghan women are still living in a harrowingly oppressive
society where forced marriage, domestic violence, honor killings and an
unpalatable lack of freedom still exist.

Forsaken is a collection of photographs and vignettes, which documents
Lana's journey over the two-year period during which she lived and
worked in Afghanistan.

Lana Šlezic´ was born in 1973 in Toronto to Croatian parents. She has
exhibited in Canada, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, USA, Germany, Spain,
Croatia, France and Turkey and her work has been featured in
publications such as National Geographic, The New York Times, TIME
magazine and many others.

In 2007 she spoke of her experiences in Afghanistan on Capitol Hill in
Washington, D.C. and Forsaken was chosen as one of the "Top Ten Books
of the Year" by American Photo Magazine. Most recently she received the
World Press Photo Award for her portrait series on Afghan women.