The Taliban embrace cultural heritage
the Taliban minister of finance led an axe-wielding wrecking crew to smash up thousands of the pre-Islamic artefacts bequeathed by Afghanistan’s staggeringly rich history. Determined to prevent a repeat performance, museum employees camped for nights on end in the battered 1920s Kabul villa that houses its collections. Yet this time the Taliban have shown no interest in demolishing the museum’s thousand-year-old statues of Buddha and pagan wooden effigies of Nuristan (many of which have been laboriously stuck back together by museum staff over the past two decades).
The staff say the Taliban culture ministry, which oversees the museum, is supportive. Senior officials, including Kabul’s mayor and the minister of foreign affairs, have made friendly visits. A handful of rank-and-file Taliban drop in most days, adding to a flow of visitors dominated by school parties.
“They seem surprised and pleased that they have a history and a culture," says the museum’s acting director, Muhammad Zubair Ebadi. “Totally, their mentality has changed." The Taliban, who in 2001 destroyed the giant sixth-century Buddhas carved into the cliffs of Bamiyan, in central Afghanistan, are also showing a benign attitude towards archaeological digs. They are even backing a project to save the remains of a synagogue left by the long-departed Jewish community of Herat.
With improved security across the country—chiefly thanks to the end of the Taliban’s own insurgency—a mini-spike in archaeology has been inspired. “They have been really, really helpful," says Jolyon Leslie, a South African architect and veteran of Afghanistan’s cultural sector. A special police unit has been tasked with preserving cultural heritage.
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