US and Afghan Women Veterans Connect, Heal, Transform, and Inspire through Art: Project Raha Benefit Auction 2023

On the two-year anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Project Raha took flight. “Raha” which translates to “release” in the Dari language, brought together the Command Purpose Foundation, Sisters of Service, their Afghan sisters in arms, and artist Jenn Hassin to transform pain into healing through art. It is an extension of Command Purpose Foundation’s mission to serve military women transitioning into the civilian world, by using art as a medium to process this complex transition.

Jenn Hassin’s work is a labor of love. She collects personal artifacts that have embedded histories of trauma. Once she receives these objects, she has only one rule: to transform them. These materials become wall hangings, installations and sculptures, thus allowing the matter itself a voice. As part of Project Raha, U.S. and Afghan women veterans transformed materials tied to memories from their time in service into paper and pulp, including old military uniforms, traditional Afghan clothes, and jeans and sweatshirts worn on C-17s during the evacuation effort. With the belief that we all each exist more honestly in our own raw materials, Hassin makes beauty out of these materials to serve others as they endure times of transition. Hassin is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force that has been widely exhibited at galleries and institutions such as The Pentagon, the National Veterans Art Museum, The Contemporary Austin, Sotheby's Institute of Art in Manhattan, Blue Star Contemporary, and Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University.

This project is about exploring our beliefs around life after tragedy through community engagement with the intention of collectively transforming trauma. Through this process, we honored loved ones lost, memories forgotten, and friendships born anew. It is the joy, strength, perseverance, hope, and love between these women that remind us why their service matters, and it is the art we created together that serves as a visual representation of a conflict forgotten.

This particular initiative benefits a group of trailblazing Afghan women, known as the Female Tactical Platoon, who were trained and worked alongside the U.S. Army to fight the Taliban and ISIS from 2011 to 2021. From this group, thirty-nine female members were evacuated to the U.S. in the chaos during the fall of Kabul in August 2021 and now live quietly spread throughout the country working to build new lives. With this benefit auction Project Raha seeks to raise funds to serve them in rediscovering their purpose, value, voice and community through this powerful sisterhood, and beyond, while resettling here in the United States.

We invite you to watch this video clip to learn more about Project Raha and how the artworks were made.

The artworks in the auction will be on view at Affirmation Arts in New York City from November 2-30, 2023, open weekdays from 10am-6pm EDT.

Bidding will be open exclusively on Artsy and will begin to close at 12pm EST on Monday, November 13th, 2023.

All works will ship from New York, NY as noted on the lot pages. Shipping costs and all applicable fees are the responsibility of the buyer. Please note that artworks will be shipped after November 30th. Please contact specialist@artsy.net for any inquiries.

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