Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
On Saturday, we went to this exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in SF. Eu-Jin
had really wanted to see the exhibits (before the exhibition ends in
January), after reading the WSJ article about it.
It was amazing! The exhibition was particularly poignant when you
realize that much of the rest of Afghanistan's cultural heritage had
been destroyed by the various wars and occupations of the country, and
that these treasures were thought to have been looted or lost forever.
The most compelling items in the exhibition were the gold objects
(Bactrian Gold) found in the tombs at Tillya Tepe. The gold objects
were beautifully worked, some with blue turquoise and other stones.
The dagger hilt with the Siberian bear is one of my favorites. Great website
from National Geographic has more details.
The permanent exhibits at the rest of the museum were interesting.
One of the running themes was the spread of Buddhism from India to the
rest of Asia, and how Buddhism is practiced differently over time and
in different countries. But Eu-Jin and I got a little museumed-out,
and didn't spend too much time in most of the permanent exhibit rooms.
