'Art is dying': Afghan artists hope to resist Taliban rule

In Paris, Farshad, Afghan artist and co-founder of the ArtLords collective, poses next to a symbolic drawing of his collective, representing a Taliban fighter whose rocket launcher is filled with pencils. Photo: AFP

Two days after the Taliban seized Kabul last month, 26-year-old artist Sara took the terracotta plates she'd painted with images praising inspirational Afghan women - and hurled them to the ground.

"Art, for me, was to be able to express everything I couldn't say with words," she said from the capital. "It dealt mainly with violence against women."