KABUL: After Afghanistan’s new rulers barred girls from higher education, Aria and Aida Sediqy sought other ways to start a profession. When those options were closed off too, they turned to art, which soon also became a path to self-sufficiency.

Aria, 21, graduated from high school in 2020 and passed national university entry exams. She studied economics at a university in Kabul but that did not last long.

The rights of Afghan women have been curtailed since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021. Women and girls have been gradually barred from attending secondary school and university, undertaking most forms of paid employment, traveling without a male family member, and accessing public spaces.

Aria managed to complete one semester, but like thousands of other girls had nowhere to return after the ban took force. She chose instead to learn midwifery and together with her younger sister enrolled in a course at a private medical institute. Last year, classes for women at those institutes were banned too.

“After studying midwifery for a year, the Taliban closed medical colleges as well. For the past three years, I have looked everywhere to study, but all doors were shut for us, one after another,” she told Arab News.

She then tried to rekindle her childhood interest in craft and spent months training latticework in wood under the guidance of a female teacher who graduated in fine arts from Kabul University.

When she felt ready, her parents supported her in opening a small workshop at home. Last year, the little studio, Aria Art Gallery, started an online shop, which Aria is now running with her sister.

Each month, their workshop earns about $100.

“The income is not a lot, but I am happy that I can do something for myself. It’s a very good occupation for young girls and women,” she said.

Three girls have started learning craft from Aria. Two of them are her cousins, and the third is her younger sister, Aida, for whom the home gallery has also become a refuge when most opportunities for self-fulfillment are no more.

“We are left with a world of unfulfilled wishes, but I am happy to be able to learn art from my sister and run the gallery with her from our home,” Aida said.

“With the doors to education closed for all of us, we turn to art.”