britain did two nice things for afghanistan this week

an academy award submission for havana marking's documentary, afghan star (thanks to bafta)! in the day preceding this announcement, i managed to get in contact with the film's producer. i am hoping to arrange the afghanistan premiere at the american university. our students love cinema, + it's so rare that a film of regional importance has such global attention.



and over 2,000 treasures are back at the kabul museum, thanks to british authorities, who repatriated the smuggled items to afghanistan. they went on exhibit this past tuesday. let us hope that they can maintain security over there so that everything will remain safe!

flashy

a visit to the national museum of afghanistan this morning. heartbreaking how many of the centuries-old artifacts were fragmentary--and in that state only since being smashed between the late 1990s and 2001.














the kabul museum is on the grounds of the darul aman palace (itself in ruins).

[bactrian tablet]

a rail line used to run through kabul. the remaining antique railroad equipment was moved to the museum grounds, near king mohammed zahir shah's car collection, which remains covered. an obsolete transport graveyard of sorts.













if you find yourself in new york, use one of the next eight days to see the "hidden treasures from the national museum, kabul" exhibition at the met before it closes.
















"in the summer of 2003, afghanistan announced the discovery of several museum boxes in the presidential bank vault in kabul. inside these boxes were priceless artifacts rescued after being hidden 14 years earlier by national museum workers during the chaos of civil war."










amongst the treasures is a foldable gold crown, v. helpful for traveling light through the afterlife.

catch it if/while/however you can.

[nonflashy photography permitted for entry fee of 250 afghanis]