Mental Heath Arts Festival 2026. 

An immersive workshop creating words inspired by art produced by Women in Afghanistan and art inspired by their stories & poems. The workshop will be facilitated by women from Afghanistan

9th May. 2pm. Seamus Heaney Centre at Queens Belfast

38 University Rd, Belfast BT7 1NJ

TICKETS  - Donations supporting directly women and girls artists in Afghanistan

The Girl On Fire is the title of a story written by a young woman (Banin) in Afghanistan. Although the story  based on the life of her friend, Soraya, much of the story is also biographical.  

Artwork by Sabera (young artist in Afghanistan)

Currently in Afghanistan there is enforced gender Apartheid and a ban on music/arts/creative expression by the regime.

Beyond Skin and friends are supporting 100's of women and girls in Afghanistan. 

The Seamus Heaney Centre at Queens Belfast is working with Beyond Skin and Alghochak (Afghan Association) to harvest literature and art by Afghan women and girls acting as a remote shared space for the women and girls in Afghanistan to connect with communities in Belfast and beyond.

www.beyondskin.net/afghanistan

MENTAL HEALTH ARTS FESTIVAL WEBSITE

Banin was not born into peace—she was born into silence, fear, and a world that told girls: be unseen, be quiet, be forgotten. But she refused
Banin, a young Afghan woman, found her voice in the darkest corners of her life
Through tears, threats, and shattered dreams, she chose not just to survive—but to speak At the age of nineteen, she transformed her pain into words and her wounds into a weapon of truth

Her first unpublished book is her scream in a world that tried to silence her. She writes for every girl who has ever been told to stay small. She writes to remind them —"You were not born to be silent. You were born to rise"