Review by Karl Verhoven
Rather than produce a conventional biography of her father, Maren Amini contextualises his life via The Conference of the Birds, a philosophical 12th century Sufi poem structured around the obstacles a group of birds have to overcome to find a king. They must traverse seven valleys, each presenting a human problem distracting from the quest for enlightenment.
That description could make Papa Drew a Thousand Birds seem a strained, dry fable, which is a completely false impression. How Amini first came on the idea of comparing her father’s progress through life to the journey the birds take is one hell of a leap, but it fits without forcing, matching the stages of Ahmadjan Amini’s own journey of awakening and enlightenment. The death of his parents leaves him deprived in rural Afghanistan, but he’s blessed with artistic talent, which takes him away from poverty to capital city Kabul in the 1970s, then still a tourist destination and open to new ideas. Intending to emigrate to the USA, he instead ends up in Germany.
Amini tells her father’s story through simple illustrations accompanied by brief declarative statements – “Ahmadjan decided he would conquer the world of art” – that show a strength of character from an early age. While seeming to drift, he knows his own mind, and how to take an opportunity when it presents, although there’s some good fortune along the way. When his passport is stolen he’s outstayed his visa, but the replacement has the visa renewed, and when conscripted into the Afghan army he’s given a job as a painter.
Ahmadjan’s experiences are accompanied by quotes from The Conference of the Birds appropriate to his situation, such as “Will all of creation be destroyed if just a grain of sand is lost?” in response to the 1986 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which seems rather fatalistic. Also included are some of Ahmadjan’s paintings, representations of his state of mind, which is a complex place. He’s portrayed as someone who cares and feels deeply, yet also as someone unable to cope with responsibility, but who will then take a journey few others would to fulfil an obligation.
While seeming throughout to be Maren’s story of her father, his collaboration beyond reproduction of paintings is revealed at the end. While events mentioned in the story are self-explanatory, detailed notes in the back of the book provide greater context about pre-Taliban era Afghanistan. Touching, instructive and inspirational, Papa Drew a Thousand Birds is an unusual form of graphic novel biography and ultimately about the difference a single person can make.
