Art in Afghanistan
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Afghan art has spanned many centuries. In contrast to its independence and isolation in recent centuries, ancient and medieval Afghanistan spent long periods as part of large empires, which mostly also included parts of modern Pakistan and north India, as well as Iran. Afghan cities were often sometimes among the capitals or main cities of these, as with the
Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...
, and later the Mughal Empire. In addition some routes of the
Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
to and from China pass through Afghanistan, bringing influences from both the east and west. One of the most significant periods is the Gandharan art made between the 1st and 7th centuries developing out of
Greco-Buddhist art The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art of the north Indian subcontinent is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara. The s ...
. With the arrival of Islam, later Afghanistan was for long periods part of Persianate states, and its art was often an important part of Persian art and Islamic art in general. Since the 1900s, the nation began to use Western techniques in art. Afghanistan's art in many media was originally almost entirely done by men, although women were greatly involved in other media, but recently women are entering the arts programs at Kabul University. Art is largely centred at the National Museum of Afghanistan, the
National Gallery of Afghanistan National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...
and the
National Archives of Afghanistan National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
in Kabul. There are a number of art schools in the country. The Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan (CCAA) in Kabul provides young people an opportunity to learn contemporary painting. In recent decades, war and deliberate iconoclasm have caused a great amount of destruction of Afghanistan's artistic heritage.


Metalwork

A collection of over 20,600 gold ornaments, some of them dating back to the Bronze Age, was discovered in Afghanistan in the late 1970s. Known as the Bactrian Hoard, these coins, necklaces and other pieces of jewelry were found in burial mounts in Sheberghan in Jowzjan Province. They have been displayed in museums in the US and Europe. The
Oxus Treasure The Oxus treasure (Persian: گنجینه آمودریا) is a collection of about 180 surviving pieces of metalwork in gold and silver, most relatively small, and around 200 coins, from the Achaemenid Persian period which were found by the Oxus ...
, with objects probably of about 400-200 BCE, was found immediately across the border with Afghanistan, on the opposite bank of the
Oxus River The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...
.


Greco-Buddhist Art

Afghanistan, the core territory of the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom The Bactrian Kingdom, known to historians as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Hellenistic Greece, Greek state, and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Helleni ...
(c. 250-125 BCE) was a key centre of Greco-Buddhist art from the 4th Century BCE to around the 7th Century CE, when it ceased after the Islamic Conquest. Large numbers of artworks have been found at the archaeological site of Hadda, Afghanistan. The 6th-century Buddhas of Bamiyan are a well-known example of Gandhara art from this period. They were
destroyed Destroyed may refer to: * ''Destroyed'' (Sloppy Seconds album), a 1989 album by Sloppy Seconds * ''Destroyed'' (Moby album), a 2011 album by Moby See also * Destruction (disambiguation) Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a ...
by the Taliban in 2001. The 1st-century Bimaran casket (now British Museum) is a gold Buddhist casket for relics, an example of Kushan art, as are the
Begram ivories The Begram ivories are a group of over a thousand decorative plaques, small figures and inlays, carved from ivory and bone, and formerly attached to wooden furniture, that were excavated in the 1930s in Bagram (Begram), Afghanistan. They are rare ...
, mostly secular survivals from a palace storeroom swept by fire in the 2nd century. These are part of the Treasure of Begram and the ivories are mounts for furniture and similar pieces, showing a very refined and luxurious palace lifestyle. Many may have been made in Gandhara, as well as India. The treasure has many imported items, including Roman enamelled glass.


Islamic Art

After the
Islamic conquest of Afghanistan The Muslim conquests of Afghanistan began during the Muslim conquest of Persia as the Arab Muslims migrated eastwards to Greater Khorasan, Khorasan, Sistan and Transoxiana. Fifteen years after the Battle of Nahāvand in 642 AD, they controlled ...
, a slow process mostly completed from the west in the 7th century, Afghan art changed dramatically from previous Greco-Buddhist works, due to the adoption of Islam. Afghan local materials such as lapis lazuli were adapted for use in Islamic art. The Ghazni Minarets (12th century) and Minaret of Jam (c. 1190) are examples of fine brick and tile work on high
minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
s or "victory towers". Mosques built in Afghanistan and in the Arab world are built with elaborate tiling styles. Many of these styles were influenced from Chinese ceramics Afghanistan served as a conduit for introduction to these Chinese ceramic styles and techniques due to its strategic location on the Silk Road.


Performance Art

Buz-baz Buz- baz is a musical puppetry tradition found in northern Afghanistan. The puppet is a goat which is controlled by a string connected to the wrist of the puppeteer. The goat is completely carved out of wood and made out of sequins and baubles and ...
is a form of musical
puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a perform ...
found in Afghanistan. The puppeteer manipulates a markhor marionette while simultaneously playing a
dambura The ''dombra'', also known as ''dombyra'' ( kz, домбыра, uz, dombira, ba, думбыра) is a long-necked Kazakh, Uzbek and Bashkir lute and a musical string instrument. The dombyra shares certain characteristics with the komuz ...
.


Fine Art

Afghanistan fine art was protected during the Taliban times by art masters at the Senai Art School. The professors often hid "un-Islamic" paintings from the Taliban when they would visit and inspect. Other artists used water color over oil paintings to conceal faces and images not approved by the Taliban. Since 2002, the Afghan fine art master painters have been able to conduct many more exhibitions within Central Asia and Europe. Their oil and water color paintings are often found in the realism style, as that is what most Afghans prefer.Afghanistan Art History
,


Modern Art

Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, contemporary art has seen a resurgence in Afghanistan. Beginning in 2009, international funding for the arts has flowed into Afghanistan from the United States and Europe. In 2012, Kabul-based artist
Aman Mojadidi Aman Mojadidi (born 1971) is an American visual artist of Afghanistan, Afghan descent known for his Public art, public art projects exploring Politics in Afghanistan, Afghan politics and Afghan-American, cross-cultural identity. Mojadidi has refe ...
curated a 2012
Documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...
exhibit in Kabul which showcased 12 contemporary Afghan artists whose work includes digital photography, textiles, abstract painting, filmmaking and mixed media. ArtLords are a group of around 45 Afghan artists who have painted murals in 19 provinces of Afghanistan. Starting in 2014, by 2019 they had painted over 2000 murals, ranging in size from 3x5 to 6x18 meters.


See also

*
List of Afghan artists This is a list of artists who were born in the Afghanistan or whose artworks are closely associated with that country. Artists are listed by field of study and then by last name in alphabetical order, and they may be listed more than once, if they ...


References

{{Authority control Afghan art