VOA常速英语2008年-Afghanistan's 'Hidden' Art Treasures on Exhibit

By Lauren Comiteau
Amsterdam
19 February 2008

The Taliban's destruction of the giant Buddhas¹ of Bamiyan in March 2001 was the most dramatic expression of their mission to obliterate² all "idolatrous" images from Afghanistan's pre-Islamic past. Along with the Buddhas, the Taliban destroyed 2,500 other cultural gems³ from Kabul's National Museum of Afghanistan. But thanks to the heroic efforts of the museum's curators, not all was destroyed. A traveling exhibit that recently opened in Amsterdam has brought some of what has survived under one roof. Lauren Comiteau visited the exhibit at Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk - or New Church - and files this report.

 

As one enters the Hidden Afghanistan exhibit, a banner headline reads: "A Nation Stays Alive When Its Culture Stays Alive." A glimpse of that culture - and how it survived invasion, civil war, and even the Taliban - is what this exhibit is all about.

"I believe this exhibit is going to go and show the world that Afghanistan is not what they hear in the West, that it's Taliban and war and this and that," says Omar Sultan, Afghanistan's Deputy Minister of Information and Culture. "But that we have a cultural heritage that is not only belong to Afghanistan but it belongs to the world."

 

That's because the world so often came to Afghanistan.

Marlies Kleiterp, the Nieuwe Kerk's head of exhibitions, explains that because Afghanistan was located on the trade routes between East and West, it has historically served as a crossroads of civilization.

 

"Because of that, local traditions mixed up with those from east and west that were brought in, and from north and south. I think the thing people recognize best was influence of the Greeks. Alexander the great in the 4th century B.C. conquered large part of Asia and ended up in this river. And also Afghanistan was part of his empire during that time," says Kleiterp.

Chinese pilgrims passed through this territory on their way to India. Afghanistan's location on the Silk Road brought Buddhism⁴, which also flourished there. The rich legacy⁵ of art and culture were also influenced by the great civilizations of China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Indian subcontinent and Rome.

Khalid Siddiqi fled Afghanistan during the war and now studies in Amsterdam. He says the exhibit shows the "beautiful side of integration⁶."

"What we see today here in Amsterdam, Berlin, New York - all these great cities; all these different cultures - coming together is pretty much the same as Afghanistan 2,000 years ago," he says. "All different cultures coming together and leaving their traces behind."

But Afghanistan's geography has also had its downside, witnessed in the years of strife⁷ that left the country's cultural heritage on the verge⁸ of extinction⁹.

The Soviets¹⁰ invaded in 1979, and during the war that followed, many priceless works of art were plundered¹¹.

What remains¹² from the National Museum's collection has survived civil war, a rocket attack, fire, a collapsed¹³ roof, snow, and the Taliban. That anything is left at all is in large part due to the efforts of Museum Director Omar Khan Massoudi and his staff. In 1988, they secretly moved the highlights of the collection to a vault¹⁴ in the Central Bank at the presidential palace.

"They put them in crates¹⁵ and put them in a special safe in the Presidential Palace and locked the safe with in fact seven keys," Marlies Kleiterp explains. "And the seven keys were given to seven different persons. And the idea was that nobody could come back and open the safe without any of the other keys. And in the end, they gathered together. Unfortunately, not all the keys were there, not all the keys survived, and so they had to use mechanical techniques to open the safe. But they did, they succeeded."

Massoudi risked his life to preserve his country's cultural heritage. He was one of the seven men who had keys to the vault. He came to the exhibit's Amsterdam opening, talking modestly of his role in saving his country's art.

"During the civil war these people knew about the transfer of these pieces and never gave any information to anybody," he said. "Luckily, they keep it secret. "

It wasn't until 2003, more than a year after the overthrow¹⁶ of the Taliban, that the Afghan government confirmed the existence of the treasures and restoration work began.

The original collection numbered more than 100,000 pieces. Fewer than one-quarter survived.

"One of the best pieces is this crown. Extraordinary," says Kleiterp. "You can see Indian, eastern influences."

 

For now, this traveling exhibit is the only way for Afghans to see the museum's collection. Afghanistan is still deemed too unstable¹⁷ for the art to go home, and the museum itself remains badly damaged. The exhibit's catalogue, though, has been translated into the Afghan languages, Dari and Pashto, and will be distributed to every school in the country. And, Deputy Minister Sultan says if his country's art can survive the Taliban, he has no doubts about its future.

"And if they could have saved it at that time, I promise you we can save it for as long as we are alive," he says

1 Buddhas   

n.佛，佛陀，佛像( Buddha的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She called on spirits and Buddhas and made innumerable vows, all to no avail. 她把一切的神佛都喊到了，并且许下多少誓愿，都没有用。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Tibetans identification with the political role of Living Buddhas is declining. 藏新政权的政治舞台中活佛的政治角色处于边缘。 来自互联网

2 obliterate   

v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去

参考例句：

• Whole villages were obliterated by fire.整座整座的村庄都被大火所吞噬。
• There was time enough to obliterate memories of how things once were for him.时间足以抹去他对过去经历的记忆。

3 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

4 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

5 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

6 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

7 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

8 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

9 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

10 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

11 plundered   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Many of our cultural treasures have been plundered by imperialists. 我国许多珍贵文物被帝国主义掠走了。
• The imperialists plundered many valuable works of art. 帝国主义列强掠夺了许多珍贵的艺术品。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

14 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

15 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

16 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

17 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。