DESCRIPTION

Zarlasht is the Director and Producer of the We Believe in Balloons video series focusing on the artists that are living and working in Kabul, Afghanistan today.

WE BELIEVE IN BALLOONS:

We Believe in Balloons is an international campaign to share 10,000 pink balloons with the people of Kabul, Afghanistan. With $1 USD contributions coming from thousands of citizens around the world, we will bring hope and beauty to a city that has endured war and destruction for more than a decade.

---
For decades now, whether during the Soviet Occupation, the Civil War or the Taliban Regime, the Afghan people have been subject to continuous conflict and oppression. As a result, Afghanistan has been starved economically, socially and culturally. Whilst large streams of refugees inundated the cities post 2002, life in more remote areas of the country has remained unchanged, in some instances for decades, in others even for centuries.

It is for this reason that we have chosen Kabul as the next destination for our Monday Morning series, following similar events in Bangalore in India, Nairobi in Kenya, and Yamaguchi in Japan. In each of those places, we disrupted the Monday Morning commute ritual by handing out 10,000 bio-degradable bright balloons, creating a living sculpture that brought about joy, wonderment and a new sense of awareness to people.

The Kabul series entails one more component, which is meant to symbolize an international effort, a direct reaching out by people from all over the world to the people of Afghanistan. With the awareness in mind that Afghan people continue to face life each day, despite the hardship and struggles they have and continue to encounter, the art piece will be financed by people giving no more than a single dollar -- a single balloon in an effort to generate a direct connection within and equal ownership of the overall manifestation.

Over one hundred volunteers will hand out hot pink balloons this coming spring.

Thousands of hand-to-hand exchanges will weave a living tapestry, creating a stream of shared instances of unexpected happiness.