It is seldom that one cries in an art exhibition and yet the stories documented in the Sackler's latest show on Afghanistan are so powerful that it is hard not to be moved to tears. The Sackler Gallery in Washington DC in conjunction with USAID and several donors, have put on a spectacular exhibition which showcases Afghan artisans. It is a portal into Kabul and its ancient cultural legacy which is being rebuilt, one artist at a time.
The guiding force behind the exhibition is the Turquoise Mountain NGO, a British Foundation initially sponsored by Prince Charles and President Karzai. They have worked on the rehabilitation of the Murad Khane, a district of the old city in Kabul. Murad Khani was reputedly home to the Qazilbash tribe, who served as bodyguards to Nadir Shah, the eighteenth century Persian ruler and remained in Afghanistan as a community of traders and craftsmen. The founder of Turquoise Mountain was Rory Stewart, an Etonian adventurer turned MP who had written a fascinating account about his adventurous walk across Afghanistan in 2001 entitled "The Places in Between".
The Foundation opened a series of public services like schools and clinics but also a vocational school to train young artisans in traditional crafts like pottery, calligraphy ceramics and jewelry design. Many of the young men and women are selected using a competitive process and over half of those are women who specialize in the jewelry and ceramic program. Artists are trained by master artisans, provided equipment and space to learn and then eventually linked to markets where their goods are sold.
Ceramics on display at the exhibition
Over 20 woodworkers spent four months toiling over a beautiful walnut wood lattice framework
An interesting aspect of the project was the cross collaboration of artisans between UK and Afghanistan and linkages with large corporate buyers such as Monsoon in the UK and other brands. Over time, these products have been sourced by interior designers and even used in luxury hotels whether in Dubai or London. Such a project can spawn an entire industry. I visited Morocco recently where state sponsored support has led to a revival of old crafts; locals there proudly told me that one in five Moroccans are now involved in artisan production.
The exhibit is spread over a large rectangular space and one walks through through sections dedicated to different crafts. In the middle stands an ornate cedar wood caravan-e-serai (or gazebo) purpose built in Kabul for the show. Three tonnes of cedar wood were used to make the beautiful lattice framework which was then carried into the US. In the woodwork section, the structures are designed to be touched and felt so one can smell the fragrant wood, hold the lattices to see the light filtering through and also understand the story of the young man who designed it. In the calligraphy section, an old miniature with Saadi's poem are interspersed with the videos of the process of calligraphy, stories of those who made it and then the raw materials made of crushed stones and produce.
Artisans at work
The four sections include the art of woodwork, rug making, pottery and calligraphy. Less is more in this exhibition - the project is exhibited through interactive media such as videos, photography and life size images which seek to tell the story of the NGO and its graduates. There are haunting life size images of the wood carver - a young refugee whose family moved to Iran during the civil war who then came back to Afghanistan to learn wood carving and now restores old homes. The potter also returned to Afghanistan to continue the tradition of pottry that his family had made for centuries. The young jewelry designer, a young deaf girl who grew up in camps in Peshawar was not allowed to go to school as she could not be understood. After years of being left at home without learning any skills, she was finally taught jewelry making. Her story was full of pathos yet resilience.
The power in telling stories is an old age practice, particularly for our part of the world. Who does not remember the hypnotic effet of 1001 nights where Sheherezade was able to enchant the king using only the power of her imagination and creativity. It has been put to dramatic use in this exhibit and one realizes that these artists have gone through such hardship in their lives that art is almost like a form of creative escape or therapy.
Pablo Picasso once commented that the purpose of art was to wash the dust of daily life off our souls" and that seems so accurate for this exhibition. Sughra Hussaini, the calligrapher explains that " food is for the body like art is for the soul". Her story is a simple one- art makes her feel better and remember her family, heritage and community especially her parents who died in the war while she was still very young. Expressing herself through calligraphy gave her a channel of self expression.
For me the most striking part of the Turquoise Mountain project and exhibition, that creativity and expression through arts and craft can diffuse anger and help develop not only a sense of self identity and cultural heritage but also in the transformative healing power of art. Each of the stories focused on how these young men and women get so absorbed in their work for hours and that it brought them joy and positivity.
Many years ago, a friend and I spent a week collecting old silver jewellry from the Mianwali districts around northern Punjab and travelled upto the Afghan border. At that time, many of the village silver smiths were happy to sell us their old traditional wares as villagers now wanted modern jewelry which appeared more Western in design. Gone were the long silver coiled arm bands and heavy anklets and in came the modern necklaces and bracelets. At the time, we were young but naive. We felt sympathy but accepted inevitable modernity. As the silver smith brought out sacks of the old silver jewelry in each successive village, we cherry picked the ones we thought would look good for the exhibition to be held in Lahore. Over two decades later, I feel regretful that we had not done more to save that treasure trove of antique jewelry.
Seeing this exhibit made me nostalgic about our artisan culture and arts for in them lies so much of one's culture, history and identity. Encouraging those, whether through NGOs or individual efforts, make one yearn for more investment in vocational arts especially for young men and women. For it is only through being proud of and knowing one's history and cultural tradition that people can stand confidently to face the future.
Momina Aijazuddin is currently based in the United States
