Exeter, NH (March 26, 2007)—From Monday, April 2 to Saturday, May 19, the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy will present “Return, Afghanistan – Photography by Zalmaï Ahad.” These artworks are courtesy of Joy of Giving Something, Inc., a not-for-profit philanthropic organization. A reception will be held on Friday, April 6, from 6:30–8:00 p.m. The Lamont Gallery is located in the Frederick R. Mayer Art Center on Tan Lane. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

The artist, Zalmaï Ahad, was born in Afghanistan, and, at the age of 15, was forced into exile after the Soviet invasion in 1980. He returned to Afghanistan 23 years later to rediscover his war-torn country. Known as a traditional user of black-and-white film, Ahad explains why he uses color film and a panoramic format for the 23 works in this exhibit, “I felt that now, after such a long time, there was hope again for Afghanistan. It seemed to me that colors were returning and that they would be those of a peaceful country. And so I set out to find this hope, with—for the first time—color film in my camera,” he says.

Ahad studied at both the school of photography of Lausanne and at the Professional Photography Training Center of Yverdon. In 1989, he began working as a freelance photographer, documenting revolutions in Cuba; deforestation in Central Africa, and land mine victims in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has earned recognition of his work through national and international prizes, including the 1995 Young Creator Award, from the Vaudois Foundation for Photography; and the 1997 World Press, Joop Swart Master Class Award. His work has been exhibited around the world at museums, galleries, universities and cultural centers. “Return, Afghanistan 2003/UNHCR/Aperture,” a large exhibition about the return of the Afghan people to their homeland after years of living in exile, is still traveling in Europe; “Hidden Afghanistan,” produced in conjunction with the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), premiered in Kabul in 2005, which Ahad continues to work on—the effect of poppy cultivation on the life of the people.

Through the “Return, Afghanistan” exhibition, Ahad hopes to remind the world of the plight and courage of millions of refugees who have returned to Afghanistan, and of their huge need for assistance as it reconstructs itself. “My project tries to capture the determination and the courage of a people that has rarely known peace, their optimism against all odds, and their worry that Afghanistan could still return to the nightmarish condition it is trying to escape,” he says. 

Please visit the photographer’s website at http://www.zalmai.com/.

Gallery hours are Monday 1–5 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m., closed on Sunday. For further information, contact the Lamont Gallery at (603) 777-3461. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call (603) 777-4330. A complete list of upcoming events is available on the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at (603) 777-4309 and on our website at http://www.exeter.edu/.

Phillips Exeter Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory school that was founded in 1781 and originated the system of instruction known as Harkness teaching in 1931. In the spirit of its charter to foster both goodness and knowledge, students come from a wide variety of geographic, economic, racial and religious backgrounds. The diverse student body comes from approximately 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands and 26 foreign countries.