For many, "graffiti" might not evoke the power that some street artists hold to spread hope, awareness and powerful message—and Afghanistan may not bring to mind messages of women's empowerment. However, one street artist—Shamsia Hassani, who lives in Kabul—is changing that. The city's walls are her canvas, and she uses her striking works of art to spread messages of peace, strength, resiliency and hope to her community.

Read more, and see more of her work, in the full article at The Huffington Post.

The Huffington Post - A woman in a purple hijab sits playing the piano, a tear rolling down her cheek. She plays her solitary tune amongst a sea of blue skyscrapers, soaring above the cars that zoom beneath her unnoticed. This subject already wears her contradictions proudly — she is strong, she is vulnerable, she is graceful, creative, separate, sad. And yet, at least it seems, she calls out to no one, content to sit with her feelings and express herself creatively, freely, in peace.

This work of street art was made by Shamsia Hassani, widely known as the first prominent woman street artist in Afghanistan. Hassani was born in 1988 in Tehran to Afghan parents, eventually moving to Kabul to pursue her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in visual art. She currently resides in Kabul, where she turns the city’s walls into colorful canvases that spread a message of peace and hope to her community.

Read more here.