Albert ehrnrooth

Journalist & Cultural Commentator

Artworks Feature: Kabul Museum

Standing ram, Afghanistan, Tillya-tepe, Second quarter of the 1st century AD Gold, 5.2 X 4.0 cm National Museum of Afghanistan
Standing ram, Afghanistan, Tillya-tepe, Second quarter of the 1st century AD Gold, 5.2 X 4.0 cm National Museum of Afghanistan

When you think of cultural treasures and Afghanistan, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? The looting and smashing of tens of thousands of objects under the Mujahideen and Taliban rule? Or when the two massive Buddhas of Bamiyan were destroyed?

More than 70 per cent of the art and artefacts that were held in museums in Afghanistan either disappeared or were destroyed during the civil wars there. And in 2001, after many failed attempts, the Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley were finally blown up by the Taliban. At that point, it seemed like nothing of the country’s pre-Islamic cultural treasures would be left.

But more recently, there have been positive signs about caring for and preserving what does remain — even amid the continuing instability of Afghanistan.

In this Artworks feature, Albert Ehnrooth reports on what’s being done, both within Afghanistan and internationally, to keep safe and display the precious art and artefacts from this region that for centuries was at the crossroads of a number of ancient civilisations.

Albert Ehnrooth is speaking to Omar Khan Massoudi, the director of the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul, and Jolyon Leslie, who heads up the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. He’s based in Kabul, and he’s also a former United Nations regional coordinator for Afghanistan.

 

Full artworks programme – Afganhistan feature starts at 53:44