Al Jazeera: Some of the earliest statues of the Buddha are among precious items housed at the National Museum of Afghanistan. But the US estimates that nearly 70 percent of the treasures have been looted from the museum or destroyed during four decades of war or under strict Taliban rule. Now, historians at the
Tolo News: The Nawroz festival, which is held every year in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif on the solar new year and usually draws thousands of people, was canceled this year over the coronavirus outbreak in the country. A customary ceremony was held at the mosque, but the event took place on Thursday night and was
The Art Newspaper: The recovery of an ancient limestone temple sculpture stolen from the National Museum of Afghanistan almost 30 years ago sends out a “powerful message” that related pieces looted at the same time can now be tracked down, says St John Simpson, assistant keeper of the Middle East department at the British Museum.
Phys.org: After bearing the brunt of jihadist dynamite and looting by thieves, the archaeological treasures of Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province are facing a new and possibly more daunting threat: climate change. Afghan officials warned in a 2016 United Nations report that the structures “may collapse and suffer from severe erosion”due to conditions directly linked to climate change. The Global
AA (Turkey): What’s in a bread? For some it signifies sustenance, others call it an equalizer shared at the table by the rich and poor alike. Perhaps to justify the sheaves of wheat etched onto its flag, Afghanistan offers food lovers a rich variety of local flatbread. They come in all shapes and sizes; from the iconic
Tolo News: Sculptures of nine buddha heads, and a torso, are being returned to Afghanistan from Britain. Experts believe that nine clay heads and a torso carved from schist shipped to London in 2002 were made in Buddhist monasteries in Afghanistan between 4 and 6 AD. The heads may have been broken off from torsos during
Xinhua: “I have been working as a model over the past four years and my dream is to become a popular model to attend major overseas fashion shows in future,” whispered Yalda Haidari. Wearing a traditional dress and cat walked in front of some 200 spectators with majority of them men, the courageous Haidari, 25, admitted
The Guardian (UK): In a deeply conservative society ravaged by years of war, Afghan women still want to be free to wear clothes with style -There’s a steady stream of customers coming through the doors of Rahiba Rahimi’s fashion studio. The 25-year-old’s bold, intricate designs are fitted on mannequins and hung on rails around her
AFP: Sporting a black quiff and sideburns, Ahmad Zahir sang of love and heartbreak in liberal 1970s Kabul – a city now plagued by war and suffering, but where the popularity of Afghanistan’s “Elvis” remains undimmed 40 years after his death. Click here to read more (external link).
Associated Press: The Taliban fighters arrived with hammers and hatred. What they left behind is laid out on tables at the National Museum of Afghanistan, 18 years later: shattered pieces of ancient Buddha figurines, smashed because they were judged to be against Islam. Click here to read more (external link).