Welcome and Khosh Amaden! This page will provide regular updates of the historic exhibit, Hidden Treasures of Afghanistan, which will bring the first major collection of artifacts from the Kabul Museum to the United States in the Spring of 2008.
Background
The National Geographic Society (NGS) and the National Gallery of Art, in collaboration with the government of Afghanistan, have organized a traveling exhibition of the rediscovered treasures from the Kabul Museum – extraordinary collections long thought to have been destroyed or stolen.
AFGHANISTAN: Hidden Treasures of the National Museum, Kabul, consisting of 228 artifacts complemented with a series of developed humanities programming, didactic and educational materials, and integrated technology,, will travel to four major cities within the United States in a 17-month period: The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, May 25, 2008 – September 7, 2008; the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, October 24, 2008 - January 25, 2009; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 22, 2009- May 17, 2009; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, June 23, 2009 – September 20, 2009. The dates and proposed venues have been approved by the Ministry of Culture of Afghanistan in a Letter of Intent, dated March 5th, 2007.
Th
is unique exhibition will explore the art and cultural themes of ancient Afghanistan – a critical area of the ancient and modern world that is virtually unknown to the American public. World class scholarship and innovative interpretive exhibition design will explore the rich cultural heritage of ancient Afghanistan at the height of Silk Road trade from the third century BCE through the second century CE. The exhibition will highlight important and beautiful objects saved from the National Museum of Afghanistan (known as the Kabul Museum.) This museum held the primary collections from archaeological excavations in Afghanistan. These artifacts, which document ancient cultural influences from as far as China and the Mediterranean and the unique and sophisticated local artistic and cultural traditions, are an exemplary collection for understanding the history of this region. The Kabul Museum building was severely damaged in the internecine fighting in Kabul from 1982-1986, and most, if not all of its collections were considered lost or stolen until their recent re-discovery in 2003. Their re-discovery and new inventory allows them to be viewed by the general public once again.
Exhibition Description
Organized geographically and chronologically within an approximately 7,000 -10,000 square-foot exhibition space, AFGHANISTAN: Hidden Treasures will introduce the audience to the “Silk Road”: a metaphor for the exchange of goods and ideas across Asia which peaked in the first century CE. This exhibition introduces visitors to Afghanistan – one of the centers, and we hope to demonstrate, engines of Silk Road trade. Vivid narrative and stunning artifacts in each of three major gall
eries will illustrate this nexus of ancient trade; film and artifacts will portray the angst and agony of the modern destruction, and attempted destruction, of the physical remains of the region’s cultural heritage; and narrative panels and artifacts will bring to life the perseverance of those who saved these treasures.
The presentation begins with the story of the modern archaeological discovery of the ancient cultures of Afghanistan, the tragedy of Afghanistan’s recent extended chaos and warfare, and the heroic safeguarding of the fabled storehouse of the treasured artworks and artifacts, the small but gem-like Kabul Museum. It will continue with a gallery highlighting the indigenous origins of Afghanistan’s culture and its mix of local, other Asian, and Hellenistic elements prior to the apogee of the Silk Road. The final two galleries, which will be the highlight of the exhibition for most visitors, display artworks from a period when the Silk Road was in full use. These galleries will demonstrate that the important center of ancient trade located in what is today modern Afghanistan was a nucleus of cultural, artistic, and economic activity of its own. Thus the exhibition is at once a story of shared ancient cultural heritage and one of modern courage and resourcefulness.
Major exhibition components
The artifacts in AFGHANISTAN: Hidden Treasures are drawn from four archaeological sites and are all part of the collections of the Kabul Museum:
• The first site features a small group of Bronze Age artifacts that includes the fragments of golden vases from Tepe Fullol, dated between 2200 and 1900 BCE
• A second collection was found at the site of the former Greek city of Aï Khanum by French archaeologists between 1964 and 1978. This collection highlights the Mediterranean influence in the region between the third and second centuries BCE, and includes ceramics, ivory and bronze objects, and stone statues of Central Asian figures carved in a Hellenistic style.
• The Begram treasures, dating from the first to second centuries CE, include sensuous ivory statues and reliefs that are undeniably Indian in style, but the place of manufacture of some of which is controversial. Also included in the Begram treasure are beautifully restored bronzes and painted glassware – many imported from Roman, Indian, Chinese and East Asian markets.
• The highlight of the exhibition is a selection of some 100 gold objects from among the 20,000 objects discovered in 1978 by a Russian archaeologist, Viktor Sarianidi, at a site called Tillya Tepe in northern Afghanistan near the Oxus River. The site, a series of tombs, contained jewelry and gold ornaments from the burial robes of six Bactrian nomads, five women and one man. The Tillya Tepe artifacts include necklaces, belts, buttons, appliqués, and headdresses – most made of solid gold, with insets of local turquoise and garnets. The sophisticated design of the artifacts is further evidence of Afghanistan’s history at the crossroads of ancient civilizations. All of these objects are believed to have been made by local artisans. Their design shows a fascinating combination of outside and local Bactrian components.
AFGHANISTAN: Hidden Treasures offers an opportunity to educate the American public about the importance of this region in history. This exhibition is a window into the history and legacy of Afghanistan—a nation of diverse peoples who have faced extraordinary challenges—and also a means to engage Americans in thinking about the perseverance and present-day circumstances of this nation.
Brief History of the Project
On August 28, 2003, President Karzai of Afghanistan announced that purportedly lost or stolen archaeological treasures from the National Museum had been discovered intact in the presidential bank vault in Kabul – more than 25 years after they were hidden and presumably lost to the world during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Since that time, Afghanistan’s government has been actively engaged in assessing and cataloging these artifacts. In October 2003, the Ministry of Information and Culture of Afghanistan requested that Dr. Fredrik Hiebert, a National Geographic Society Fellow in Archaeology, lead this inventory. Given the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the rediscovery of Afghanistan’s museum objects, National Geographic received three Chairman’s Discretionary Grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, allowing Dr. Hiebert’s inventory team to assess Afghanistan’s preserved cultural patrimony through a detailed, computerized inventory of the museum collections. Further, the Afghan request was broadly stated that the inventory would lead to international exhibition and eventually to a permanent public display in Afghanistan.
The inventory was completed in December 2005. In April 2006, the first exhibition of these rediscovered finds was made in Kabul, Afghanistan jointly by the Afghanistan Ministry of Culture
and the National Geographic inventory team. Later in 2006, the government of France offered assistance in cleaning and conserving the objects under expert supervision in Paris. Following the completion of the conservation, these artifacts belonging to the Kabul Museum were displayed at the Musée Guimet in Paris through April 30, 2007. A Letter of Intent was signed between the government of Afghanistan and the National Geographic Society on March 5, 2007 (no. 3190) which permits these objects to be exhibited in the U.S.
National Geographic intends that a large portion of the loan fees go back to Afghanistan for the rebuilding of the Kabul Museum. Integrated assistance to the Ministry of Culture also includes continued assistance in the Kabul Museum inventory, repatriation of confiscated Afghan antiquities around the world, development of crafts and craft sales, and support of a catalogue in Dari and Pashtun languages. Additional support for the Afghan museums includes supporting training and collections research that will help AFGHANISTAN: Hidden Treasures to be once again on display in Afghanistan following the world tour exhibition.
The exhibition is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The works in the exhibition are the sole property of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The exhibition at the National Gallery of Art is made possible by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. It is also supported by The Charles Engelhard Foundation.
Websites
The National Geographic Society and the National Gallery of Art have launched two stunning websites with interactive maps, detailed photographs, captivating videos and fascinating information about the history and culture of Afghanistan.
CLICK HERE for the National Geographic Society website
CLICK HERE for the National Gallery website
Press Coverage
Exhibition Announcement
Washington Post - Afghanistan Sharing Its Treasures
New York Times - Treasures from Afghanistan to Tour the United States
National Geographic - "Lost" Afghan Gold Treasures Coming to the U.S.
Reviews
New York Times - Siilent Survivors of Afghanistan’s 4,000 Tumultuous Years
Washington Post - The Silk Road, Paved in Gold
Community
Hidden Treasures on Facebook
