(Read full article on ozodi.org)

Umar Khomush is a 31-year-old artist from Afghanistan. He fled his homeland early in the year after the Taliban killed his father. Umar now lives in Tajikistan, recently opened his art gallery and a small painting school in the city of Vakhdat.

Umar Khomush rents a small room in an unfinished house for his art gallery. The refugee from Afghanistan had no money for more. On his own and with the help of other refugees, he was able to paint the walls and ceilings here. He furnished everything with paintings he hastily painted – only to make the room look like an artist’s workshop. Umar did not have time to take his works out of Afghanistan – he had to flee the country: the Taliban demanded that he stop painting, and when he did not obey, they tried to kill him.

“Once they came to my house. I was at work in the studio, but since I was not at home, the Taliban got angry and beat and then killed my father. I decided to leave,” says Umar Khomush.