Kurdistan Pt. 2 Sulaymaniyah
The second chapter of our collaboration with the Justice Now team took us to Sulaymaniyah where beauty, women with fascinating stories, and joy definitely helped guide the way through the remarkable city!
The following excerpts in the article are expressed by Sawen and Dima, as they both introduce Kurdish culture, but also redefine it through beauty rituals and feminist perspectives.
A Kurdish version can be read at the bottom too!
From the bazaar–packed with bedazzled fabrics in every color–to the scent of local food making its way through the crowds, and the conversations shared over coffee and çay, the city gave us another way to understand the people and stories behind the places we call home.
We visited two different salons, where we met women whose lives and experiences couldn't be more different. Yet, their stories reminded us that there is no single way to be a Kurdish woman, and no single story that can represent Kurdish identity. There is ton of multiplicity, contradiction, and connection embedded in Kurdish culture.
We ended our time by visiting an exhibition organized by young people commemorating Jina Amini and the Jin, Jiyan, Azadî movement: a reminder of how art, memory, and collective expression become ways of documenting the present while imagining how we can use it to shape the future.
For us, this is what transnational feminist solidarity can look like: creating spaces to listen, exchange, and understand how our different realities intersect.
The collaboration reinforced something we already knew: when people across borders come together around a shared commitment of documenting women’s lives and amplifying their voices, distance becomes something we can work across, not something that keeps us apart.
Kurdish below:
بەشی دووەمی هاوبەشیمان لەگەڵ
ئەمجارە لە سلێمانی بوو! ئاناماریا لە بەرلینەوە هات و چەند ڕۆژێکمان پێکەوە بەسەر برد
بە بازاڕەکاندا گەڕاین، خواردنی سلێمانیمان تاقی کردەوە و لەسەر چا و قاوە زۆر قسەمان کرد. سەردانی دوو ساڵۆنمان کرد و
چەند ژنێکمان ناسی کە ژیانیان جیاواز بوو، بەڵام زۆر شتی هاوبەشیشمان هەبوو. فێربووین کە هیچ ژنێک وەک ئەوی تر نییە و هیچ چیرۆکێک بەتەنها باسی هەموومان ناکات.
دوا ڕۆژ سەردانی پێشانگایەکی گەنجانی سلێمانیمان کرد بۆ یادی ژینا ئەمینی و شۆڕشی «ژن، ژیان، ئازادی».
بۆ ئێمە هاوپشتیی ژنان ئەمەیە: گوێ لە یەکتر بگرین و لە یەکترەوە فێر ببین.
گەشتەکەی هاوڕێکەمان ئاسان نەبوو و تا دوایین کات نەدەزانرا دەگات یان نا، بەڵام گەیشت!
دووریی سنوورەکان ناتوانێت ژنان لەیەک دابڕێت