Khanda Hameed & Nabaz Samad. The Voice of Women Is the Voice of Freedom

The project »The Voice of Women Is the Voice of Freedom« by Khanda Hameed and Nabaz Samad addresses the special role of women in the struggle for the continuing existence of Kurdish languages and identities. 

Both of the cultural workers and activists from Iraqi Kurdistan have experienced women and language being subjected to a particular form of systematic oppression in their motherland. With their installation as part of the exhibition »Fellow Travellers. Art as a tool to change the world«, Khanda Hameed and Nabaz Samad highlight the resilience of Kurdish women and thus the Kurdish language, exposing the structural links between violence against women, the suppression of language, the eradication of knowledge, ecocide, and cultural genocide. 

In their installation at ZKM, Khanda Hameed and Nabaz Samad present a diagram exploring the etymological roots of the Kurdish words “jin” [woman] and “jîyan” [life] – two of the central terms in the political slogan “jin, jîyan, azadî” [Women, Life, Freedom] of the Kurdish women’s movement – and highlight the close connections between the Kurdish language, the Kurdish women, nature, and life itself. The diagram thus shows, that the silencing and oppression of women are inextricably linked with the destruction of both culture and nature.

»The Voice of Women Is the Voice of Freedom« not only aims to raise awareness for the current situation of the Kurdish language and of Kurdish women, but also to actively foster change. The linguistic diagram is therefore more than only a means of artistic expression, it is also a didactic tool for raising awareness and changing society.

Khanda Hameed and Nabaz Samad are researchers in residence at the ZKM in 2024/25.