Art brings touch of the Tate to Kabul in show of defiance to Taleban
London’s Bankside art complex and Kabul could not be farther apart in cultural terms. The Taleban banned all depictions of the human form during its rule, destroyed ancient works of art and blew up music shops.
But a former curator at Tate Modern yesterday took a step across the cultural chasm with the first contemporary art exhibition in Afghanistan.
The show opened as a surreal oasis of calm and culture in a tense and jittery city. Bodyguards followed many of the diplomats who came to view the works by leading Afghan, Pakistani and Iranian artists.
A car-bomb alert during the event prompted some to leave early. Two months ago a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the historic Babur Gardens where the show was held.
Even getting the 51 works into the country for the exhibition was a challenge for the show’s English director, Jemima Montagu. Works of art featuring text from the Koran could not be imported for fear that sniffer dogs might touch them during security checks at airports. Dogs are considered unclean by many Muslims.
Two paintings remain in transit. “I knew it was ridiculously ambitious to hope everything would arrive on time. If 75 per cent made it then I knew I could count myself lucky,” Ms Montagu, 34, said.
She was a curator for Tate Modern and Tate Liverpool before moving to Afghanistan to work for the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, a charity that supports Afghan arts...
Read entire article at Times (UK)
But a former curator at Tate Modern yesterday took a step across the cultural chasm with the first contemporary art exhibition in Afghanistan.
The show opened as a surreal oasis of calm and culture in a tense and jittery city. Bodyguards followed many of the diplomats who came to view the works by leading Afghan, Pakistani and Iranian artists.
A car-bomb alert during the event prompted some to leave early. Two months ago a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the historic Babur Gardens where the show was held.
Even getting the 51 works into the country for the exhibition was a challenge for the show’s English director, Jemima Montagu. Works of art featuring text from the Koran could not be imported for fear that sniffer dogs might touch them during security checks at airports. Dogs are considered unclean by many Muslims.
Two paintings remain in transit. “I knew it was ridiculously ambitious to hope everything would arrive on time. If 75 per cent made it then I knew I could count myself lucky,” Ms Montagu, 34, said.
She was a curator for Tate Modern and Tate Liverpool before moving to Afghanistan to work for the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, a charity that supports Afghan arts...