Afghani Community

Afghani Community in Hamilton | General Information about Afghanistan

Afghani Community in Hamilton

• Population in Canada and Hamilton:

  The Afghani population in Canada is over 120 000.There are about 3000 estimated Afghan Canadians in Hamilton

• History of immigration:

  Afghan community members have lived in Hamilton since the 1980s. A large group of Afghans arrived in Hamilton after mid 1990s.

• Major Languages:

  The major languages of Afghanistan are Pashto and Farsi, as well as English. There is a small number of Belochi and Uzbek speaking Afghans as well.

Common Foods

Traditional Clothing

The most controversial Afghan clothing is the Burqa. This is the type of clothing that covers women from the eyes of men. This is not native Afghan clothing. This type of clothing came to Afghanistan from India.

Afghan women in villages use regular Afghani clothing and a shawl to cover their heads. Afghan women's clothing is a colorful hand-made composition. Men's clothing consists of a shirt, pants and a vest made of craft strings and hand sewn.

There are over a dozen different Afghani clothing types for different ethnic groups and geographic areas. All of these clothes together compose the overall Afghan clothing culture.

Art and Culture

Afghan contemporary art consists of the Heart school of miniature, traditional painting, carpet and rug ornaments, and jewelry. Afghans in Canada continue their artistic traditions and enjoy the visual art, poetry, theatre and cinema of their native Afghanistan.

The Afghan art roots go back 5000 years B.C.

Afghan artifacts are the most sellable art pieces on the world's black market. Due to civil war in the country, over 60% of the country's heritage has been looted by warlords and their western backers. Today, we can find Afghan artifacts in American, Japanese and European homes, as well as in private museums and galleries.

• Art Festivals:

  Art has been suppresed in Afganistan for many centuries. recently, the Afghan art world has greatly increased not only in artists but also in viewers. Afghanistan is now becoming modernized and as this occurs, the artistic view of the people also changes. The current view is interchangeable but that does not mean that it is accepted. Festivals, galleries, art shows and exhibitions are being developed throughout Afganistan's major cities.

• Theatre:

  Afghan Theatre is relatively new and has emerged from 19th century European theatre. Pioneer artists like Ustab Breshna, G. Maimanagi and Farukh Afandi have started the Afghan contemporary theatre. Later on, Ustad Farukh, Dr. Farhan, Qadiri, F. Fazli, haji Kamran, Zarghuna Aram, Ustad Besed, Anisa Wahab, Paya and otehrs continued this tradition. With the warlord and Taliban regimes, these cultural activities faced multiple challenges.

• Afghan Cinema:

  New Afghan Cinema famous faces are Wahed Nazari, Saboor Siasang, S. Barmak and others.

• Music:

  Afghan music, once banned by the Taliban but readily available on tape in Afghan communities in the United States, is very popular.

  Farhod Darya, Waheed Qasimi, Nashenas, Ustad Shah Wali, Abdullah Muquri, Gulzaman, Waheed Saberi, Ustad Awalmeer, Naghma and Mangal are the most famous Afghan musicians for the last 20 years.

• Dance:

  Both men and women dance the Atan - a traditional Afghan (Pashtun) dance. It is a national dance in which the dancers, with their arms raised, twist from side to side at the waist as they step in a slow, rhythmic pattern in a circle. It is danced in same-sex groups during weddings and other celebrations.

• Literature:

  Pashto poetry is close to western rhythmic poetry, with similar verse forms. Pashto also has a thriving oral literature, a major feature of which is the landay, a two-line poem with nine syllables in the first line and thirteen syllables in the second. The lines do not rhyme, but in the more elegant examples, there is internal rhyming.

  Dari literature is old Persian literature, a 1000-year tradition mostly of rhymed poetry. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is probably the best-known example of Persian poetry, through the translation of Edward Fitzgerald. A rubai is a quatrain with a particular meter; rubaiyat is the plural of rubai. Pashto also has a literary tradition, dating from the writings of Khoshal Khan Khattak, a larger-than-life Pashtun soldier and poet whose writings are full of life and energy.

• Film:

  Wahed Nazai (Son of a widow), Saboor Siasang (Osama)

• Museums:

  Kabul National Museum (The most famous in South Asia, Afghan National Archive Centre, Afghan National Gallery)

• Religion:

  Afghans have a mosque in Hamilton at 678 King Street East (Ibrahim Mosque).Most Fridays and Sundays a number of Afghan Canadians and other Muslims gather in this Mosque.

  Dari literature is old Persian literature, a 1000-year tradition mostly of rhymed poetry. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is probably the best-known example of Persian poetry, through the translation of Edward Fitzgerald. A rubai is a quatrain with a particular meter; rubaiyat is the plural of rubai. Pashto also has a literary tradition, dating from the writings of Khoshal Khan Khattak, a larger-than-life Pashtun soldier and poet whose writings are full of life and energy.

  Afghans also have an association in Hamilton called the Afghan Association of Hamilton.

  Recently a group of Afghans have established the Afghan Islamic Cultural Association.

• Afghans in Hamilton:

  Most Afghans live in the west mountain and east-end areas. Newly arrived Afghans live in the downtown core.

  Most popular Afghan Canadian Artists in Hamilton are Yar Taraky, David Husiani, Humayoun Shinwari and Sher Agha Rahimi.s

  Famous Afghan Musiicans in Hamilton are Zabeh Zaland, Wais and Mustafa Ismatyar. These musicians perform during community events, celebrations and weddings.

  Afghan youth in Hamilton attend the Sir. John A McDonald, Westmount and McNab Secondary Schools.

  A small number of Afghan youth are attending Mcmaster University and Mohawk College.

  Afghan youth are active participants in youth semi-formals and South Asian Heritage musical programs.

General Information about Afghanistan

• Location:

  Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran a

• Climate:

  Arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers

• Capital City:

  Kabul

• Celebrations:

  Mount Arafat Day - 1 February, Eid-ul-Adha - 2 February, El am Hejir New Year - 22 February, Ashura-Muharram - 2 March, Noruz - 21 March, Loss of Muslim Nation - 28 April, Labor Day - 1 May, Prophet's Anniversary - 2 May, Vesak - 2 June, Independence Day - 19 August, Pachtun's Day - 31 August, End of Ramadan - 14 November.

• Holidays:

  The first day of Spring on March 21, the Afghan Independence Day in August, and Eid are major Afghan celebrations.

• National Symbols:

  
  

  The Afghan flag is made up of three equal parts, with black, red and green colors juxtaposed from left to right perpendicularly. The width of every colored piece is equal to half of its length. The national emblem is located in the center of the flag. The national emblem of the state of Afghanistan is composed of Mehrab and Pulpit in white color. Two flags are located on its sides. In the upper-middle part of the insignia the sacred phrase of There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his prophet and Allah is Great are placed along with a rising sun. The word Afghanistan and the year 1298 (solar calendar) are located in the lower part of the insignia. The emblem is encircled with two branches of wheat. The law shall regulate the use of national flag and emblem.

  Symbolism of the flag: Black: represents the 19th century era when Afghanistan was occupied and did not have independence. Red: marks the fight for independence. Green: shows independence has been achieved

• National anthem:

  "Soroud-e-Melli" (Afghan for "Hymn of the People")listen