Recovering from the Taliban

[jd callow]

a website you may be interested in.

The site is www.masoodkamandy.com. Masood Kamandy is trying to establish a photography department at Kabul University, Afganistan.
The Taliban believed it was a criminal act to take a photograph...so, of course they closed the department

[Lee L]

Forget what it was called, but there was a great documentary several months back about the saving the film archives and other artworks in Afghanistan and the people who saved them from systematic destruction by the Taliban. They built false walls, broke out lights in hallway corners to disguise entrances, and IIRC, produced faked "originals" of films to be destroyed instead of the originals. They painted over many paintings in the national museum as well, in a back room under the guise of restoration. All of this activity was punishable by death if found out. This was almost certainly on PBS, probably Frontline.

Lee

[Poco]

My earliest childhood memory is of standing on the head of one of the two giant buddhas destroyed by the Taliban. I vividly remember looking out past the curved rock vault above to the incredibly blue sky beyond. I've never seen a sky like that again.

There were many tragedies within the horror of 9/11 but certainly one of them was that it, and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, occurred a year too late to save those Buddhas.

[Lee L]

There is also evidence for another Buddha, a reclining one many hundreds of feet long on that site, buried underground, and perhaps still intact. A recent exploratory dig found what might possibly be part of that Buddha, reported in journals by ancient travellers along the silk road.

Lee

[smieglitz]

My earliest childhood memory is of standing on the head of one of the two giant buddhas destroyed by the Taliban. I vividly remember looking out past the curved rock vault above to the incredibly blue sky beyond. I've never seen a sky like that again.

There were many tragedies within the horror of 9/11 but certainly one of them was that it, and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, occurred a year too late to save those Buddhas.

How sad they are gone.

I recall watching video of the destruction of those statues and realizing at that moment the Taliban had no respect for other cultures and that we would soon engage in a clash of civilizations.

[Jorge]

My earliest childhood memory is of standing on the head of one of the two giant buddhas destroyed by the Taliban. I vividly remember looking out past the curved rock vault above to the incredibly blue sky beyond. I've never seen a sky like that again.

There were many tragedies within the horror of 9/11 but certainly one of them was that it, and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, occurred a year too late to save those Buddhas.

Oh men! I saw a documentary or news when they were doing that and I was really sad. What a shame these people would do this!

I have to admit that I bitch and whine about the INAH in Mexico, but I have to give them their due, they take good care of the archeological sites.

[Andy K]

a website you may be interested in.

The site is www.masoodkamandy.com. Masood Kamandy is trying to establish a photography department at Kabul University, Afganistan.
The Taliban believed it was a criminal act to take a photograph...so, of course they closed the department

This is good to see. It shows the populace are losing their fear.

[noseoil]

This is certainly a worthy enterprise. I did see the destruction of the statues by the Taliban, but did not know that the taking of a photograph was considered evil. In the above site's pages there is contact information about donations to this effort.

I hope that the people of this reigon are able to maintain their actions for the growth of their countries. It makes us realize how truly petty our bickering about the daily lives we lead are. Here's hoping that there are many pictures taken in Kabul next year by many students. tim

[haris]

This is certainly a worthy enterprise. I did see the destruction of the statues by the Taliban, but did not know that the taking of a photograph was considered evil. In the above site's pages there is contact information about donations to this effort.

I hope that the people of this reigon are able to maintain their actions for the growth of their countries. It makes us realize how truly petty our bickering about the daily lives we lead are. Here's hoping that there are many pictures taken in Kabul next year by many students. tim

Islam forbidde presentation of face or body. Islam also forbidde statues or like. That is why photography is banned. Well, thing are changed and only absolut radicals like Talibans respect that.

For example, have you ever seen portraiture made by Muslim artists? Hardly. It is against Islamic religion rules. Most subject of Muslim artists are landscapes and speciall technique of artistically writting letters, called caligraphy.

That was reason for Talibans to made such crime against art and culture that destroying of Buddha statues was...

But, luckilly, things are changing (I hope).

[Poco]

The strange thing is those buddhas had already been defaced (literally had their faces knocked off). For a long time such defacing seemed to satisfy the strictures against human representation, but the Taliban obviously took it all to a new level.

My parents smuggled a couple dozen examples of complete statuary out of the country -- bought from farmers who'd found them in their fields. Quite a few of them ended up in the Cleveland Museum of Fine Art, but I still have several sitting in my living room. I'll struggle with the morality of keeping them as soon as I run out of all other worries.