Ahmadjan Amini

Ahmadjan Amini was born in 1953 in the Panjshir Valley, in Malaspa, Afghanistan. After completing his schooling and graduating from the Afghan Institute of Technology in Kabul, he by chance met a group of German hippies in Kabul and started spending time with them. When they planned to return to Germany, he decided to join them. At that time, Afghan citizens didn’t need a visa to travel to Germany, so he traveled with them to explore other parts of the world.

In 1971, Amini moved to Hamburg, where he joined the art community and was finally able to pursue his childhood dream of engaging in artistic activities. In 1973, he attended a private art school under the direction of Rolf Laute, marking his first steps into the world of visual arts. From 1975 to 1977, he was enrolled as a guest student of Prof. Franz Erhard Walther in fine arts at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg (HFBK). This experience not only gave him the opportunity to deeply engage with contemporary art movements, but also allowed him to interact with other artists. This formative period laid the foundation for his artistic identity and style.

In 1978, due to personal circumstances, Amini returned to Afghanistan and was drafted into the Afghan army under the government of Mohammad Daoud Khan. However, the escalating civil war and the Soviet invasion forced him to leave his homeland once again in 1980 and return to Hamburg. By the late 1980s, Amini completed his studies at the Institute for Computer Graphic Design in Hamburg. During the 1990s, he actively participated in the reconstruction of his hometown in the Panjshir Valley alongside the organization Freundeskreis Afghanistan e.V.

Amini’s art is deeply intertwined with the history and political situation of Afghanistan. The homeland he was forced to leave frequently serves as a source of inspiration in his works. For Amini, art is a means to process the traumatic experiences of war, exile, and loss. His early works, characterized by vibrant pastel tones and surrealist elements, reflect a certain lightness that evokes the time before the political upheavals. However, with the Soviet invasion, his art took on a stylistic shift: subdued colors like brown and ochre began to dominate his works. This earthy color palette captures the harsh life in the highlands of the Hindu Kush while also reflecting the inner struggles and losses that shaped both Amini and his homeland.

Despite the numerous challenges of being a father of four and supporting his siblings in Afghanistan, Amini has remained an active artist, continuously creating new works. He has participated in many art festivals and exhibitions, including Gallery Lände Kressbronn, Colloquium Berlin, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Kiel Cultural Weeks, Hamburger Rathaus, and Hamburg Central Library.

In April 2023, Amini, together with his daughter Maren Amini, was awarded the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung’s Comic Book Prize. Their collaborative work, the graphic novel Ahmadjan und der Wiedehopf (Ahmadjan and the Hoopoe), intertwines Amini’s life story with the Persian legend The Conference of the Birds by Fariduddin Attar. The graphic novel not only provides insight into Amini’s extraordinary biography but also serves as a tribute to his resilience, artistic vision, and sense of responsibility toward his homeland.

Feb 9, 2025