Video: Skiing Afghanistan nyti.ms/11T8qcc
— Fereshteh Forough (@f_forough) March 29, 2013
In his short documentary, uploaded to CNN two days ago, film maker Brent Huffman describes the need to protect one of the most important archaeological sites in Central Asia, the ancient Buddhist city of Mes Aynak in the province of Logar (Afghanistan), strongly endangered by the copper mining project due to start there in 2013, run by China Metallurgical Group (MCC).
Destructions to be expected in Mes Aynak would be more much severe and extended than the ones inflicted to the Buddhist site in Bamiyan.
Though a petition has been launched to prevent the worse, time is really short.
Cultural heritage in danger in western Hazarajat, not far from the Band-e Amir Lakes.
A Kushan earthen fortress at 2400 m o.s.l., maybe the most western Buddhist monumental remain, Chehel Burj (i.e. 40 towers) was documented in 2003 by photographer Atsushi Naka, and escavated by Ryukoku University, a Buddhist School in Kyoto and Afghanistan’s National Institute of Archaeology since 2005.
Heavily damaged, it would need urgent restoration works, but this is probably going to be rather complex - both intrinsically and from the logistics point of view.
Probably one of the most beautiful photographs I’ve ever seen. Taken by Peter Andrews in Afghanistan in 2001 in the caves of Bamiyan after the Taliban destruction of the Buddhas.
A really beautiful picture! Thank you so much for sharing…
(Source: clariceofmedici)
“London School of Economics (LSE) public event, “Approaches to Bamiyan: Afghanistan’s Cultural Crossroads ” - Date: Saturday 3 March 2012, Time: 11am-12pm, Venue: Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building, Speakers: Dr Llewellyn Morgan, Chair: Jonathan Steele Cultural Crossroads.”
via Wahid Nosher on Afghan Intellectuals Network (Facebook)
I didn’t know ISSUU, nor the services they provide. Got there only today through a post on Kultur 2.0 and enjoyed it. This is a nice book about Afghanistan, and some NGOs helping out.
Ginna Fleming’s pictures are really beautiful - I remember the high planes of Hazarajat being stunning (and terribly cold, already by the end of September: in Bamiyan itself, temperatures at night came down to below zero C°!) and that’s how they look like in one of her pictures…
RT @unescoNOW: Десять лет назад ЮНЕСКО и международное сообщество беспомощно следило за разрушением гигантских статуй Будды в долине Бамиан
First day of UNESCO workshop delivered at the National Museum of Afghanistan.
Twenty museum professionals (ten from here, ten from the provincial museums: Jalalabad, Khost, Ghazni, Bamyan, Balkh, Herat, Logar, Kandahar…) are attending. Surprise, surprise - three of them are women! :-)
Things are really starting to change, over here, though I’m presently trapped in a bunker - sorts of…
ICOM News / Les Nouvelles de L’ICOM (1/09) posted Afghan travel notes by crdav member Alessandro Califano - see: http://tr.im/mRKT
New museum plans in Bamiyan, too: the director is working together with UNESCO and looking for funds, land has been already provided.
