Hanging by a thread: An Adelaide tribute to Afghan women
A new permanent Adelaide art installation is ensuring the plight of women and girls struggling with an oppressive regime in Afghanistan is not forgotten. One woman tells why it’s deeply personal.
A striking mosaic mural inspired by Afghan dress and embroidery is bringing a message of solidarity to Adelaide’s inner north-west.
The new South Australian installation, Hanging by a Thread, was unveiled on Blight Street, Ridleyton, on Friday linking local artists to a worldwide arts movement.
To date, more than 1200 mosaic artists from 46 countries have contributed segments to the international project that draws inspiration from traditional clothing, embroidery and cultural motifs. This piece involved 120 local community members including mosaic artists.
For Afghan Women Federation of SA President Behishta Anwar, the project is deeply personal.
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Anwar arrived in Australia as a refugee in 2003, after her family fled Afghanistan when the Taliban first captured the country’s capital Kabul in 1996.
Anwar and her family were forced to leave their home overnight and spent six to seven years in Pakistan, where Anwar was unable to attend school as the family struggled with their financial circumstances.
After arriving in Australia, she began learning English at an intensive language centre in Sydney before continuing her education at Cedar College in Northgate.
Anwar’s own experiences have shaped her connection to Hanging by a Thread, which she describes as a project close to her heart.
“It represents that people around the world who are bringing their individual voices together to stand in solidarity with Afghan women and girls,” she said.
The Taliban’s brutal return to power amid the withdrawal of United States troops in August 2021 led to severe new restrictions on women and girls’ education, employment, freedom and cultural expression.
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Anwar said the permanent installation would help keep their challenging experiences visible.
“I want them to know that we have not forgotten about them, that we know what’s happening there, and we’ll continue advocating for their rights.”
The Australian and New Zealand contribution to the international project comprises more than 420 mosaic segments, with Australian artists contributing around a third of the project’s worldwide total.
National Community Officer of the Mosaic Association of Australia and New Zealand Kristin Wohlers said the artwork gave South Australians a creative way to show their support.
The segments have been assembled into mosaic scarves that reflect different regions of Afghanistan.
“Afghan embroidery is really an expression of the Afghan women,” Wohlers said.
The Ridleyton installation began taking shape in May, when the mural was divided into nine panels before being installed on the south-facing sides of nine stobie poles along Blight Street, between Hawker Street and Torrens Road.
The project grew from a 2025 vision by Croydon Bowls Club’s Kathy Parsons and Hindmarsh Greening coordinator Cheryl Jaeschke to enhance Blight Street through mosaics and landscaping.
Wohlers said the stobie poles provide a public space for the artwork and its message.
“The stobie poles artwork shares a very strong message, and we’re very lucky in South Australia that we have the stobie poles because they’re just a public art canvas crying out to be decorated.”
The artwork will remain on display permanently, while Hindmarsh Greening plans to add mosaics to the north-facing sides of the same poles as part of a second project, Humanity.
For Anwar, the hundreds of individual pieces reflect the strength of people coming together.
“Every little piece of that glass… creates something really strong, beautiful, impossible to ignore,” she said.
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