Afghanistan

National Museum of Afghanistan reopens—but staff are unpaid and Taliban are guarding the treasures

Recent images show militia taking photographs of artefacts on their mobile phones

Prizesnews

Afghan artist wins $100,000 prize for video that reflects on life amid never-ending conflicts

Ukraine's PinchukArtCentre awards Aziz Hazara the Future Generation Art Prize 2021 for his five-channel film installation depicting children in Kabul

'Jobless, futureless, in constant fear': Afghan artists sign open letter to world leaders asking for help to escape the Taliban

Non-profit Artists at Risk issue letter to Boris Johnson, Joe Biden and other senior figures urging for better systems for those seeking asylum

Of teapots and rubabs: a story of breaking and mending in Afghanistan

In a country that has been at war with others and itself for decades, the danger lies in forgetting how to repair the damage, says archaeologist and cultural heritage specialist Bastien Varoutsikos

'I've started wearing a burka and hidden all my instruments': an Afghan musician on life under the Taliban

In our series "Dispatches from Afghanistan", we speak to artists about their experiences since the rise of the Taliban. Here, Sima shares how fearing for her life is making her physically ill

'Pessimism is a luxury. For people living in Afghanistan, that is never an option': an Afghan art organisation on life under the Taliban

In our series "Dispatches from Afghanistan", we speak to artists and cultural workers about their experiences since the rise of the Taliban

Castello di Rivoli helps bring Afghan artist and curator to Italy

Abdul Wasi Rahraw Omarzad set up a school for women artists and Afghanistan’s only art journal

How to help Afghan artists and cultural workers now at risk under the Taliban

As part of our ongoing series "Dispatches from Afghanistan", we have compiled a list of organisations supporting those vulnerable both inside and outside of the country

Major art trade groups join forces to stop looted Afghan artefacts reaching Western market

International trade groups including top British antique dealers vow to oppose trade of Afghan heritage artefacts under Taliban control

Desperate and in hiding, Afghan artists beg international community for help

Courageous artists confronted extremism from the frontlines. But now, driven underground and fearing for their lives, they feel abandoned

An Afghan cultural worker’s life under the Taliban: 'There is nothing left for us here and we can’t go anywhere else'

In a new series "Dispatches from Afghanistan", we speak to artists about their experiences since the rise of the Taliban. Here, Mansoor laments the world’s silence over Afghanistan's fate

Amid frenzied evacuation from Kabul, US embassy’s art is quietly shipped home

While many people with links to US military were left behind, State Department had arranged for art collection to leave Afghanistan

An Afghan artist's life under the Taliban: burning art, deleting social media accounts and living in hiding

In a new series "Dispatches from Afghanistan", we speak to artists about their experiences since the rise of the Taliban. Here, contemporary artist and curator Mina recounts the horrors of her failed escape attempt

Podcastspodcast

Afghanistan: the threat of the Taliban to artists and heritage

Plus, artist Bill Fontana records Notre Dame's bells

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An ancient Buddhist city is perched on top of an Afghan copper reserve worth $50 billion—what will happen to it under Taliban control?

Cultural heritage workers estimate they have five years to secure the heritage site’s contents before it is destroyed to extract the ore

New York human rights organisation ‘racing against the clock’ to get Afghan artists to safety

As the deadline for evacuation looms, the Artistic Freedom Initiative wants the US government to grant refugee status to individuals

Protocols are already available to help save Afghanistan’s cultural heritage

In 2015, the Association of Art Museum Directors established a structure under which museums can act to protect cultural property in immanent peril

Afghanistananalysis

Afghanistan: the historical sites of key concern after the Taliban's return

From the Bamiyan Valley to an ancient spiritual centre of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, former Unesco senior official Francesco Bandarin looks at the embattled country’s most important landmarks

Unesco calls for Afghanistan’s heritage to be protected—but how will it seek enforcement?

UK government agrees that new regime must "safeguard the full diversity of Afghan culture"

Heritagecomment

With the Taliban’s take-over of Afghanistan, intangible cultural heritage is most at threat

The music, poetry, traditions and crafts that are kept alive by communities are especially vulnerable under the group’s ultra-conservative rule and the economic chaos of continuing conflict

Amid Taliban insurgency, culture sector fears looting as Kabul descends into chaos

British Council in Afghanistan among international heritage organisations that have suspended operations during the conflict

Afghanistaninterview

'Do leopards change their spots?': Taliban threat to heritage in Afghanistan could be worse than in 2001

In an exclusive interview with The Art Newspaper, a very well-informed anonymous source tells us how museums are protecting their collections as militants sweep the country

Lootnews

Looted ancient temple sculpture—seized by UK police—will go home to Afghanistan

British Museum and Art Loss Register collaborate over recovery of ancient bull decoration that was consigned to an online auction

Geneva-based foundation Aliph directs $10m to heritage conservation projects in conflict zones

Sites targeted range from a Yemeni palace in ruins to a shrine destroyed by the Islamic State in Iraq

Aliph global protection fund announces 14 projects across multiple war zones

The Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan, Syria’s Raqqa Museum and Mosul libraries all safeguarded

Newsarchive

Shaun Gladwell sets off for Afghanistan as Australia’s official war artist

He is creating video and photographic works to document the conflict

Unescoarchive

“Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan”: recording and illustrating key objects in the Kabul Museum

Unesco has published a record of the 1,600 objects acquired by the institution between 1931 and 1985

First show at Kabul Museum since war

Austria finances the restoration of wooden idols chopped up by the Taliban