What is Gandomin?
Gandomin is an independent, women-centered multimedia and cultural platform; a dedicated space for documenting collective memory, preserving lived experiences, and reflecting the intellectual and artistic creations of women. Gandomin is rooted in the belief that history is not written solely through major political events, but is also shaped through the lines on people’s faces, individual experiences, and the untold stories of women who have carried the heavy burden of historical transformations. We have created a safe space where these stories can be documented, preserved, and heard through women’s own voices and perspectives.
Gandomin’s productions and publications are available to audiences around the world in Persian and English through its website, dedicated application, and social media platforms, allowing these voices to be heard and documented beyond geographical borders and limitations.
Why Gandomin?
At a time when women are being deprived of public space and their rights to education and work, storytelling becomes an act of survival and resistance. Gandomin was created to bridge generational gaps and prevent women’s narratives from being appropriated or forgotten; to ensure that lived experiences do not remain in the shadows and that others do not speak on behalf of those who have experienced the pain themselves. We see storytelling as a means of connecting generations, preserving awareness, and standing against censorship.
What does Gandomin do?
Documenting and publishing lived experiences:
Collecting essays, memoirs, documentary photographs, and first-hand accounts of social and historical transformations.
Academic research, commentary, and cultural and artistic criticism:
Publishing analytical articles, interdisciplinary literary and social research, and specialized criticism of books, films, and artistic works; creating an inclusive and open space for the participation of researchers, writers, and critics regardless of gender.
Digital publications and magazines:
Gandomin Magazine:
A thematic publication focused on documenting lived experiences, first-hand narratives, and historical transformations—from documenting girls’ memories of school to reflecting on the consequences and transformations brought about by the Taliban’s rule on women’s lives, work, and education.
Nowruzban Magazine:
A cultural and social publication focused on collective connections, historical identity, and reflecting on women’s memories, experiences, and roles in cultural rituals, traditions, and occasions such as Nowruz.
Multimedia and documentary productions:
Producing documentaries about spaces of everyday resistance, such as the role of digital platforms and informal home-based education.
Gandomin Radio and Podcast:
Reimagining an independent audio space for in-depth conversations, cultural criticism, and the direct reflection of voices; a means of breaking imposed silence and creating an audio bridge between communities inside Afghanistan and those in exile, where voices become lasting memories.
Workshops and collective conversations: Creating spaces for empowering women’s writing, exchanging experiences, and fostering collective creation.
Gandomin’s Audience and Geography
Gandomin is rooted in the lived experiences, awareness, and struggles of the women of Afghanistan, but its audience and reach are not limited to any particular group or geography. While women’s narratives and experiences remain at the heart of the platform, Gandomin’s content speaks to all sections of society, researchers, advocates for justice, and anyone who believes in developing a deeper understanding of human transformations, social justice, and intellectual change.
Today, Gandomin serves as a bridge between communities inside Afghanistan and communities living away from home; an open and shared platform for dialogue across generations and diverse groups, where people can collectively and humanely explore the genealogy of suffering, document historical memory, and create hope.
Who is behind Gandomin?
Gandomin is the result of the efforts of an independent, dynamic, and close-knit three-person core team that has built this cultural and narrative platform by bringing together expertise in literature, media, and the arts:
Behishta Khurram
Salima Biglary
Nesar Arianfar
Our Narrators and Collaborators
Gandomin’s primary narrators are girls and women from within the community—those who recount authentic experiences of living and resilience through the realities, challenges, and hopes of their everyday lives. Alongside these narrators, an independent group of writers, researchers, cultural practitioners, and media professionals works with us. We firmly believe that as long as a story is written, read, and retold, its narrators remain unbroken.
Be Part of Gandomin
Gandomin is not merely a space for reading and listening; it is a space for collective voice and action. If you have an untold story, a passion for literary or artistic creation, or an interest in collaborating on documentary, podcast, radio, or publication projects, Gandomin is your home and your platform.