LOS ANGELES, Calif., Oct 21, 2021 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Robaba Mohammadi, Afghanistan’s most famous artist, who paints with her mouth due to a birth defect which denies her the use of her limbs, is reacting to the Taliban’s recent takeover of her homeland by building a movement to honor Heroes everywhere, and seeks assistance from those who share her goals with the Robaba Art and Cultural Center.
According to Amy Chang and John Toomey, creators of the Fundly page set up to support her work, “Robaba needs assistance in helping her family emigrate to the U.S. as well as in setting up her Center to operate online.”
Denied the usage of her arms and legs by a birth defect, Robaba started painting at age 12, learning to hold brushes in her mouth. Not only did she exhibit her paintings internationally by 16, but in 2019 she founded a school in Kabul, the Robaba Art and Cultural Center.
When the Taliban took over Kabul on August 16, they evicted the Center’s employees and shut it down. Now it is rebuilding itself online.
The Center’s latest project is the Hero Award (heroaward.net) which recognizes significant achievements on behalf of the UN’s 17 Agenda for Sustainability Goals. Previous winners hail from Kenya, Bangla Desh, Indonesia, Colombia, and Malaysia.
“Robaba’s immense courage and persistence, shown by her overcoming a profound disability to build a career as an artist, as well as being a mentor for others, is something that can inspire achievers all over the world,” says Chang, “and that is what the Hero Award is designed to do.”
The Hero Award is conferred monthly upon those who demonstrate extraordinary achievement. In some cases, sketches, caricatures, GIFs, memes, and paintings of the Honorees will be offered as NFTs on Robaba’s marketplace. Her platform employs fiat currency, and therefore does not waste the massive amounts of electricity that other NFT marketplaces based on the Etherium blockchain do.
Proceeds from NFTs will be split between Award recipients and the Robaba Foundation, as Robaba wants to remain involved in furthering the Award winners’ work.
At present Robaba and two siblings are outside of Afghanistan, and four family members remain in the country. The Foundation is reaching out to international aid organizations to help the whole family reunite.
To help Robaba, and support the Hero Awards, anyone can donate at https://fundly.com/help-disabled-artist-s-family-reach-u-s.
MORE INFORMATION ON HERO AWARD: https://www.heroaward.net/
Follow Robaba on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/rubaba.mohammadi.1
News Source: Robaba Art and Cultural Center
Related link: https://www.facebook.com/rubaba.mohammadi.1
This press release was issued on behalf of the news source, who is solely responsible for its accuracy, by Send2Press Newswire. To view the original story, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/exiled-afghan-artist-paints-without-arms-or-legs-inspires-hero-award/
