Thesis Book - Seeds of Hope

The cultural heritage of the country was also heavily affected by the
continuous war. The Destruction of heritage is one way to assert dominance and
control as political propaganda (Mulholland). Taliban in Afghanistan have used
destructive acts for unprecedented media coverage as a bargaining tool for their
group to be taken seriously or as a threat to the rest of the world. The destruction
of the two giant Buddhas in Bamiyan is one of the most brutal attacks against
the historical and cultural heritage of Afghanistan committed during the time of
the Taliban rule in 2001.The impact of media coverage has also brought attention
to the lack of security for the many cultural sites and collections during that
time. An estimate of 70% of the national museum’s collection was lost, stolen,
or destroyed and several heritage sites were in complete ruin by the end of 2001.
During that time, many of the paintings in the national collections were being
saved by staff members removing the collections. Many objects of the Afghan
national collections were hidden behind false walls or switched with low-quality
copies which were later burned by the Taliban. The most remarkable was of the local
artist, Mohammad Yousef Asefi, who painted over the human figures in the paintings
that were deemed offensive by the Taliban. He spent weeks in the store and used
gouache paint on the reversible object. With Yousef Asefi’s quick thinking and
bravery, he was able to save up to 122 paintings from being burned. Sadly not all
objects and collections could be hidden and those that were displayed were torn
into pieces. For Afghanistan, their cultural losses were not reversible and many
Afghans at home as well as the ones around the world were devastated (Mulholland).
Not only have the Taliban destroyed heritage sites and collections, but they
commanded the destruction of figurative sculptures, paintings, and films made
by the Afghan citizens as it seems to be ‘idolatrous’ by the Islamic extremists.
2.3 Loss of Cultural Heritage
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