Little Universe

In Afghanistan Amena Karimyan founded the astronomical group Kayhana – which is Persian for “little universe.” Using a self-built model of the planets, she encourages young girls to reach for the stars. After the radical Islamic Taliban seized power, she was forced to flee the country and is now struggling to build a new life in Germany. Since girlhood, this young Afghan has dreamt of flying to the moon – a dream that suddenly seems within her grasp yet remains impossible to achieve. Stuck between the burden of her past, German bureaucracy and her own ambitions, Amena embarks upon a mission to find her place on earth. In atmospheric images of this and other worlds, Little Universe portrays an ambitious Afghan woman who questions our perceptions of refugee women.