National Museum: looting and rebuilding
Few other countries have experienced the pillaging of artifacts on the scale of that in Afghanistan.
The collection once held in Afghanistan’s
National Museum was exceptionally rich and over 90% of it had been excavated in Afghanistan. The trade routes that flowed through Afghanistan carried not only goods but also ideas. All major religions were found in Afghanistan, from the time of Zoroaster (5th century BCE) down to the 19th century when the final area of Nuristan became Islamic. Art forms and ideologies from Europe, China and India were also represented. Their cultural remnants, such as the Bamyan Buddhas, the Bactrian gold horde and the ivory carvings from Bagram, were excavated and displayed in the museum for all to see. It was a complete timeline of the nation’s culture, constantly being supplemented by further remnants of ancient civilisations unearthed by archeological teams from France, the United States, Italy, Japan, Germany and India.
During the 1978 coup the museum was moved to a building near the French Embassy in Wazir Akbar Khan District and the original building in Darulaman was taken over by the Defence Ministry (the issue of ownership this created still plagues the museum today). However, two years later it was reinstalled in its original building by the Soviet-backed regime. At the outset the Soviets were helpful to the Archeological Institute by supplying equipment and sponsoring digs. However, as the security situation in the provinces began to deteriorate, the Soviets became ever more concerned with the fighting there and in order to protect the artifacts they requested the museums to send their collections to Kabul for safekeeping. Amongst the propaganda wielded against the Soviets by anti government forces was the story that the famed Bactrian gold horde had been spirited off to Russia. In order to dispel the rumours the gold was exhibited by Najubullah’s government in the summer of 1991 to prove to the world that it was safe. Crated and hidden, its whereabouts are now a mystery. No one has seen it and pieces haven’t appeared on the international market. Although it could have been melted down, most people believe that it is in a safe place and, when the time is right, the collection will return to the Museum.
The worst fighting from 1992 to 1995 took place about eight kilometres from the city in the vicinity of the museum, and both the museum roof and its card catalogues were destroyed by rockets. Although the curators tried to protect their collections, the armed forces of both sides simply took whatever they wanted. The remnants of the collection were finally crated and stored in the Kabul Hotel, the
National Archives and the basement storerooms of the
National Museum while the staff awaited the coming of the Taliban. According to National Museum Director Omara Khan Masoodi, ‘the museum was in the district of Kabul with the heaviest fighting. After the staff bus was fired on we were forced to stop travelling to Darulaman, so we had no contact with the museum for months.’ The collections from the regional museums of Balkh, Nangarhar, Kandahar and some of the objects from Ghazni were transferred to Kabul for safekeeping. Today the shells of the museum buildings remain in those cities but a lot of work will be needed to reconstruct them, train staff and reinstall the exhibits.
With the emergence of the Taliban as victors, a period of safety allowed the National Museum staff to repair the ground floor with a grant from UNESCO, but American bombing in the late Summer of 1998 put a halt to the work. The Taliban pledged to protect the heritage of the Afghan peoples and allowed the museum staff to operate. Hundreds of looted objects were returned to the museum as a result of the Taliban’s efforts to stop the traffic of historical artifacts. After the war damage had been plastered over a grand reopening was held in August 2000.
At this time Mullah Omar, Head of the Taliban Movement, stressed that ‘trading in cultural heritage is strongly forbidden and will be punished in accordance with the law.’ Article 5 of the Decree ‘Concerning Protection of Cultural Heritage’ stated: ‘Current legislation deals with illicit trading in historic objects in order to prevent such activities, defining heavy penalties for breaking the law.’ Article 6 continues: ‘The government regards the statues (in Bamyan) with serious respect and considers the position of their protection today to be the same as always.’ However, in an abrupt about-face the Taliban subsequently changed their policy and the Bamyan Buddhas were bombed. Speculation about the real initiator of these orders leads outside Afghanistan. According to Robert Kluyver, the
SPACH representative at the time, the then Deputy Minister of Information and Culture spoke to him about a decree to destroy pre-Islamic culture. Although he never saw the edict, he was asked to warn the international museum community in order to arouse public opinion against the destruction. Mr Kluyver left in November 2000, and the Deputy Minister, having cited bureaucratic slowness and other difficulties in implementing the edict, was fired. The local Bamyan Taliban refused to blow up the Buddhas and new recruits from the south had to be brought in to do the job. The museum was entered in March 2001 and museum staff, unaware of the change in policy, showed them the storerooms. They watched in shock as priceless statues were smashed.
Today the renovation of the National Museum is already underway. American engineers from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) drew up a survey of the structural damage and the American government agreed to repair the roof and one damaged wall. During the winter of 2002-2003 British ISAF engineers built two restoration rooms and bathrooms in preparation for inventory taking. UNESCO and SPACH sponsored staff training. The Japanese Heritage Commission donated cameras and computers. The British Embassy sponsored supplies. Carla Grissmann, co-founder of SPACH, donated her time to the preliminary inventory project. Robert Knox and Julian Lesley of the British Museum prepared a shipment of chemicals for the restoration of some of the objects, which should arrive in late 2003. The training of one curator was sponsored in Japan and another in Pakistan. A symbolic reopening was held on 18 February 2003 to hand over the keys of the renovated restoration rooms. The first show at the museum was held from 10 June to 7 August 2003, a photography exhibit called ‘Work in Progress: The Rebirth of the Kabul Museum’. Concerns about security in this deserted area are still uppermost in the minds of the museum staff. Guards and locked gates will help, but only the renovation of the suburb with street lighting and plumbing will encourage people to return. The power station in the west of the city was badly damaged by the Mujahideen during the fighting and land lines were destroyed by rocket attacks. Thanks to the persistence of SPACH’s Ana Rodriguez and 600 metres of cable which linked the museum to one of the few remaining power lines, there is now electricity in the museum grounds. Now the electrical wiring in the museum must be reinstalled and a well dug to create a water supply.
Museum Director Masoodi’s wish list includes training for his staff in English, computers and museum skills. According to Ana Rodriguez of SPACH, ‘the most effective training method is for foreign professional to work in Afghanistan alongside their Afghan counterparts. Only by seeing the circumstances can one understand the needs.’ And indeed, while on paper the promises sound complete, the reality can sometimes be different. Japanese supplies are still in the Embassy in Pakistan for lack of space in the museum. The inventory is at a standstill due to lack of staff trained in computers or inventory taking skills, and the conservation materials from the British Museum have still not arrived. Museum studies books are needed for the museum library and donations of old photographs would be welcomed to assist the restorers. Computers and printers are badly needed to train the staff. It goes without saying that a Ministry salary of US$42 per month is barely enough for museum staff to live on and retaining trained personnel remains a challenge.
Artifacts looted from the National Museum and illegal digs have appeared on the world art markets. In the meantime the Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs with the assistance of UNESCO is preparing a new set of laws to protect the remaining artifacts and has also initiated its own training programmes for security forces in the value of cultural heritage to stop the pillaging. The museum policeman has received training but out here he is isolated and has no telephone or walkie-talkie to call for help if he needs it. Customs officials also need training so that they can identify art objects. And builders and farmers should know what to do and who to contact when they unearth artifacts. SPACH has recently commissioned
Afghan Film to make a documentary promoting the rich cultural heritage that will tour the provinces and be shown in schools - see
SPACH - 'Rediscovered Homeland'.
The
Bibliotheca Afghanica-Afghanistan Museum in Bubendorf, Switzerland, sometimes called the ‘Afghanistan Museum in Exile’, houses 1,118 pieces rescued by officials from both sides of the conflict and donated by citizens from around the world for safe keeping until peace returns to Afghanistan. Masoodi says there are also five pieces in a Swiss bank from the Hadda, Ai Khanoum and Payintowa sites. The Musée Guimet in Paris has repaired some pottery discs and they will also be returned.
Heartwarming stories of farmers who hid objects they found on their land, citizens who saved objects from the rubble and even foreigners who bought objects with their own money and then returned them to the museum, have instilled some hope that at least some of the objects will return. In fact items are being returned every week. Masoodi has faced chaos over and over again and yet he can still think about the future. In a country of regional differences the national heritage could be a uniting force for the people of Afghanistan. Yet reaching out to a nation that has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world is a great challenge for the National Museum. ‘We invite all our friends, Afghan and foreign, to the museum to see it, even now. In trying to rebuild, we must show not only the pride of our history but also the disaster of war. People must know, what is peace and what is war.’
But, as Masoodi points out, the priority of a museum director must be to think about how to present objects to the public. In his case he must always think of security and how to keep secret the whereabouts of the objects. This conflict has forced a cautiousness that will only be alleviated when there is complete peace in Afghanistan.
