HOPE'S PLAIN CHANT began in 2005. It is a comprehensive project including plastic art, poetry, and music. It comes from the shared empathy among women; the understanding of intimate silence and pain and the need to express it. It is my homage to the Afghani poet Nadia Anjoman, who was killed by her husband, guilty for having published her poems. All my works have been created with everyday "poor" materials, signifying a woman's fragility in facing a violent world. I strongly believe that it is extremely important to give visibility to such a big problem. Through art one can educate about this topic, advocate for women, and denouce violence.  During my exhibitions eight of Nadia's poems, which have been translated by Josep Vicent Cabrera, are given to the participants. The poems are recited and accompanied by piano music composed by the pianist Marta Espinós and inspired to Nadia's poems. 

Light Blue Memories
By Nadia Anjoman
Translated into English by Zuzanna Olszewska and Belgheis Alavi
Fall 2001

O exiles of the mountain of oblivion!
O the jewels of your names, slumbering in the mire of silence
O your obliterated memories, your light blue memories
In the silty mind of a wave in the sea of forgetting
Where is the clear, flowing stream of your thoughts?
Which thieving hand plundered the pure golden statue of your dreams?
In this storm which gives birth to oppression
Where has your ship, your serene silver mooncraft gone?
After this bitter cold which gives birth to death –
If the sea should fall calm
If the cloud should release the heart's knotted sorrows
If the maiden of moonlight should bring love, offer a smile
If the mountain should soften its heart, adorn itself with green,
become fruitful –
Will one of your names, above the peaks,
become bright as the sun?
Will the rise of your memories
Your light blue memories
In the eyes of fishes weary of floodwaters and
fearful of the rain of oppression
become a reflection of hope?
O, exiles of the mountain of oblivion!

A Poem
By Nadia Anjoman
Translated into English by Mahnaz Badihian

No desire to open my mouth
What should I sing of...?
I, who am hated by life.
No difference to sing or not to sing.
Why should I talk of sweetness,
When I feel bitterness?
Oh, the oppressor's feast
Knocked my mouth.
I have no companion in life
Who can I be sweet for?
No difference to speak, to laugh,
To die, to be.
Me and my strained solitude.
With sorrow and sadness.
I was borne for nothingness.
My mouth should be sealed.
Oh my heart, you know it is spring
And time to celebrate.
What should I do with a trapped wing,
Which does not let me fly?
I have been silent too long,
But I never forget the melody,
Since every moment I whisper
The songs from my heart,
Reminding myself of
The day I will break this cage,
Fly from this solitude
And sing like a melancholic.
I am not a weak poplar tree
To be shaken by any wind.
I am an Afghan woman,
It only makes sense to moan