art geographic / Turquoise Mountain
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(Published: December 2007, print version)
Turquoise Mountain
The arts culture of Afghanistan is being supported in its revival by The Turquoise Mountain Foundation.
By Emily Eichhorn-Nye
There is a starkness to the landscape of Afghanistan. Its terrain is rugged and cruel as well as breathtakingly beautiful. That wild, ancient beauty is embedded deep within the psyche of the Afghan people. Afghanistan was once awash with Greek and Buddhist monasteries and monuments and Islamic temples, forts and minarets. At the crossroads of the Silk Road which joined Asia, India, and the Middle East, Afghanistan became rich in art, music, poetry, and religion. Cultures would collide here, sharing their differences and nourishing creativity.
As recently as thirty years ago its traditional arts were appreciated and enjoyed by travelers from all over the world, but three consecutive governments have seen these embodiments of Afghanistan’s historical culture callously destroyed by foreign invasion and civil war. The British, Russians, Mujahadeen, and Americans have all contributed to this destruction. There is hardly a country in modern times which has lost so much. Today the memory of what was must be the kindling for the flame that will burn.
Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, considered it crucial to rescue Kabul from the rubbish and neglect which was continuing to destroy the city. Karzai and the Prince of Wales decided to set up an equivalent of the Prince’s Trust in Afghanistan. Prince Charles asked Rory Stewart, an adventurer, diplomat and writer to run the foundation.
Stewart, who has written about his previous travels through Afghanistan in his book, ‘The Places In Between’, 2006, seems a perfect person to lead the arduous endeavor to revive the community in Kabul and other historic cities of Afghanistan. His love of the country and his understanding of the language and culture sets him apart. He’s in a unique position in that he is accepted and respected by both the Afghan people and the potential benefactors of the First World. Who else might have the courage and the imagination to inspire the rebuilding of such a city like Kabul and the connections to make it possible? Who else might have such a strong desire to reawaken a culture simply because it deserves to flourish? Stewart’s true passion for the country and its people will ensure that any profit will be ploughed back into the regeneration process.
Under Stewart’s leadership the Turquoise Mountain Foundation has already managed to earn and achieve a plaudit most rare within the local community: TRUST. The Afghanis of Kabul have been convinced by the words and actions of the Foundation that the work going on is for them. Through the Foundation, he has turned the world’s attention towards the people of Afghanistan, pointing out and attracting admiration for their courage, dignity and autonomy.
The Turquoise Mountain Foundation has been created specifically to rebuild the historical, cultural and architectural aspects, down to the mud bricks themselves. The Foundation plans to continue rebuilding historic landmarks and creating new bazaars for the reestablishment of traditional crafts. It is also helping to restore the National Museum which was badly looted during the nineties.
The Turquoise Mountain Foundation is bringing together Masters of Traditional Afghan Art, whose crafts have been silenced for many years, to inspire and teach woodcarving, ceramic, and calligraphy traditions to the younger generations. These young people, previously banned from learning all forms of art are now learning from the Masters and will be able to pass the torch of tradition to future generations. The belief is also that as the work progresses the community will flourish, and more schools will be opened which can encourage the arts.
Rory Stewart chose Murad Khane to be the center point of this historic project. Sitting on the north back of the Kabul river, it is the last remaining medieval part of the city of Kabul. A once derelict old fort is already a school, modeled on Prince Charles’ School for Traditional Art in London. The school’s impact on the regeneration of traditional arts is already the prosperity of the wider community. Commissions are already coming in from around the world for traditional pieces: the school has been appointed official supplier of traditional Afghani gifts to the presidential palace.
A team of architects and surveyors are working out of the school to create a new national center for culture. Fortunately for the people of Kabul, this work has begun in time to save some of the city’s condemned buildings. From these buildings, they have salvaged wonderful examples of intricate traditional woodwork, as well as beautiful tiles for which, only a generation ago, Afghani craftsmen were world famous.
A team of architects and surveyors are working out of the school to create a new national center for culture. Fortunately for the people of Kabul, this work has begun in time to save some of the city’s condemned buildings. From these buildings, they have salvaged wonderful examples of intricate traditional woodwork, as well as beautiful tiles for which, only a generation ago, Afghani craftsmen were world famous.
It is unusual for western contemporary artists to have direct access to artists who are still making traditional work. Traditional generally suggests historical, something which used to be done. We may learn how something was done, but there is no imperative to continue in that format. But in Afghanistan, where culture is so deeply rooted in tradition, traditional and contemporary artists are working simultaneously.
For this reason, the contemporary arts, too, cannot fail to benefit from the Foundation’s programme of regeneration. The Center for Contemporary Art Afghanistan, established in 2004 by A.W. Rahraw Omarzad, was founded with the aim of inspiring a revival of contemporary creativity in Afghanistan. Artists who were forced to flee during Taliban rule are now able to return to Kabul; child refugees who have become artists while in exile are also able to return to Afghanistan, and bring with them the influences of their non-Afghani art training. The cross-pollination of the home-grown traditional and contemporary movements and new, outside influences are almost recreating the diversity of inspiration of the prolific “Silk Road” period.
The benefits of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation’s dedication to rescuing the historical, cultural, and architectural arts of Afghanistan extend far beyond the creative community. Its success so far and its potential for the future stand as a beacon of hope and light for other countries decimated by war.
Bibliography
Emily Eichhorn-Nye
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