SIMONE AABERG KÆRN

 


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Meeting the Sisters

There had been rumours about two women Helicopter pilots since I flew into Herat. This was 3 months after I had left Denmark in a vintage two sits aeroplane to find a young afghan girl, farial, who wished to become a fighter pilot. She talked to me from the pages on a Danish newspaper in the spring of 2002.

I had set off exhited to meet this brave young afghan girl who dared such a utopian and bold vision for the future. I wanted to give her the possibility to try to fly my aircraft and give her a chance to link up to the Sisterhood of the skies that I had meet through my art projects. That is of course if she wished- or was able to do so.

Back then, I believe, my vision was that she would be the first afghan girl after Taliban to take control over an aircraft above Kabul.
A great aero feminist statement!

Impossible! A former Mig Pilot now working as office assistant in a NGO was sceptical to the idea of farial wanting to become a fighter pilot. As far as he knew Afghanistan had no female fighter pilots. Actually he knew only of two female pilots. Two sisters who flew helicopters, he went to aviation school with them back in the 80’ties.

BANG! Female afghan helicopter pilots! My picture of suppressed afghan women was shaken. I just could not believe it.

The mountains was too high for my aircraft. Regardless I crossed the Hindukush in my Surge for farial and the Helicopter pilots.

Safe in Kabul. I visited the Afghan Air Force once a day for a month starting to believe they where just a post Soviet propaganda stunt.

Then one day there they where! I meet Liloma and Latifa the 26th of December 2002. They had just regained flying status after returning back to Kabul from Iran.

Sure enough Liloma and Latifa where educated in Kabul in the early 80’ties. When Taliban took power all women were forbidden to work. Liloma and Latifa left Kabul and headed for hometown Mazar – Sharif. Their father was one of Warlord Dostum’s generals and for a while they flew against Taliban for the Northern Alliance under the command of Dostum. When the ground became too hot the sisters took refugee in Iran.

They meet Farial and told her about the possibilities and tuff struggle to become a pilot. They inspired her as so many young girls where ever they flew. More important they helped Farial and me to get permissions to fly.

We all wanted to fly as much as possible. Liloma and latifa saw the chance of working. I needed air-to-air shots of Farial and me in the air. They needed flying hours. Liloma and Latifa worked the generals and Farial was put in the role of the translator. It was rather touching to see her talk her case for Defence minister Fahim.

"Sky Sisters" in action.

Farial was not the first girl to fly after Taliban. This was much better and we all got to fly!

Afghanistan is still a very tuff environment for women who want education and work. 600 afghan girl schools were burned down alone in 2003. As a girl you got to be made out of ”The Right Stuff” in order to bend tradition.

Liloma and latifa are the right stuff and no one make trouble with them. Who would possible want to get in trouble with the whole Afghan Air Force including brutal warlords as Dostum and Fahim? Afghanistan is all about power and connection. Alone you are dead.

Simone Aberg Kærn 2003

The sisters from mazar flower

The Sisters from Mazar - Flower , C-Print photo Simone Aaberg Kærn

 

 



The Sisters from Mazar-i- Sharif

 

The Sisters from Mazar-i- Sharif 2003 – 2004
They are cornels in the Afghan Air Force, they are helicopter pilots and they are sisters from Mazar-i- Sharif in Afghanistan.
They are for real the ”Sisters in the Sky”.

The work consists of:
2 x lambda print 120 x 213,87 cm
1 x lambda print 120 x 232,00 cmmade with great help from Magnus Bejmar and Laura Beldiman.
3’ single channel DVD loop on 32”plasma screen with sound
© Flying Entreprise /Simone Aaberg Kærn 2004

Edition of 5 certified with photo-back up DVD for future re-print"Observing Sisters playing"

MP4 video loop for video-mobile telephones for free download
© Flying Enterprise Productions APS/ Magnus Bejmar/ Simone Aaberg Kærn

The Sisters from Mazar

Photo Laura Beldiman

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Thank you to: Farial Habib, Magnus Bejmar, Laura
Beldiman, Liloma og Latifa and the Afghan Air Force

Afghan Airforce womanHelicopter pilot

Photo Simone Aaberg Kærn