Join us for the opening of In Search of Freedom: Stories from Afghanistan, a new exhibition in the Process Gallery at the Gayle Karch Cook Center! Opening on September 4th, 5-8 pm, come check out the art and enjoy some light refreshments during our Gallery Walk hours. This exhibition will be up through December 4th, 2026.

In Search of Freedom: Stories from Afghanistan celebrates the beauty, resilience, and rich cultural heritage of Afghanistan through an exhibition of oil paintings by Afghan artist Qahar Behzad, alongside the collaborative mural, August 15: A Mural for Afghanistan. Organized in partnership with Indiana University’s Center for Refugee Studies and Exodus Refugee Immigration, the exhibition explores the humanity of the refugee experience through the lens of Afghanistan, inviting visitors to look beyond conflict and discover the stories and experiences of displaced people.

The exhibition brings together Qahar’s vibrant paintings - which honor Afghanistan’s history, traditions, and everyday beauty - with August 15: A Mural for Afghanistan, a collaborative project led by Tiffany Black Behzad in collaboration with 59 Afghan evacuees at Camp Atterbury following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban on August 15, 2021. Developed through art therapy workshops with Afghan artists Zainab Ahmadi and Fawzia Abdaly, the mural preserves the participants’ voices, memories, hopes, and resilience. The mural stands as a record of collective experience and a tribute to those who continue to seek safety, dignity, and freedom against all odds.

Together, the artworks present a deeply human portrait of displacement, resilience, and belonging, inviting visitors to reflect on the the universal connections that unite us across borders, traditions, and generations, and the enduring human desire for freedom.