Art Museum Journal

 

Fragment of Bowl with Bearded Bulls. Afghanistan, Tepe Fullol, ca. 2000 B.C. Gold. H. 13.9 cm (5 1/2 in.). National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul. © Musée Guimet/Thierry Ollivier.

Ceremonial Plaque Depicting Cybele on a Chariot. Afghanistan, Aï Khanum, ca. 300 B.C. Gilded silver. Diam. 25 cm (9 7/8 in.). National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul. © Musée Guimet/Thierry Ollivier.

Female Standing on Mythical Water Creature (Makara). Afghanistan, Begram, 1st-2nd Century A.D. Ivory. 45.6 cm (18 in.). National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul. © Musée Guimet/Thierry Ollivier.

Folding Crown. Afghanistan, Tillya Tepe, Tomb VI, 1st Century A.D. Gold. 45.0 x 13.0 cm (17 3/4 x 5 1/8 in.). National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul. © Musée Guimet/Thierry Ollivier.

Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
Review by STAN PARCHIN
August 20, 2009
 
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul describes the Central Asian nation's ancient history, art and culture through recovered antiquities thought to have been plundered during nearly 30 years of foreign invasion, civil war and popular unrest. Some 228 artifacts that date from 2200 B.C. to the 2nd Century A.D. are arranged according to the four archaeological sites from where the objects were unearthed: Tepe Fullol, Aï Khanum, Begram and Tillya Tepe.
 
The show completes its United States tour at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from June 23 to September 20, 2009. The New York presentation was organized in more than ample gallery space by Joan Aruz, Curator in Charge, and Elisabetta Valtz Fino, Curator, both in the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, and Denise Patry Leidy, Curator, Department of Asian Art. The impressive and dramatically lit installation was conceived by Daniel Kershaw, Exhibition Design Manager.
 
Afghanistan, Its Artifacts and Their Recovery
The legendary Silk Road, a complex network of trade routes from China to the Mediterranean Sea, stretched through ancient Afghanistan. The region's geographic location encouraged dynamic commerce, intellectual exchange and the cross-fertilization of artistic styles cultivated by sedentary and nomadic peoples along the arduous path. Many Afghan artifacts' imagery necessarily reflects the aesthetic influences of multiple cultures.
 
The antiquities on view, accorded a majestic display at The Met, are a mere fraction of what survived after almost three decades of internecine warfare and the country's Soviet invasion. The Taliban's subsequent rule of Afghanistan determined that human likenesses were idolatrous and had to be destroyed, along with two-thirds of the National Museum's collection in Kabul. The narrative of the precious artifacts' safekeeping and miraculous recovery in 2003, supplemented by detailed maps, a 13-minute video and an informative timeline, is cleverly interwoven throughout the museum's awe-inspiring presentation.
 
Tepe Fullol
The exhibition opens with a selection of wondrous Bronze Age objects. They were discovered in a burial cache by farmers in 1966 at the northern Afghan archaeological site of Tepe Fullol. Chief amongst them is the deliberately dismembered Fragment of a Bowl with Bearded Bulls (ca. 2000 B.C.), its striking images derived from the art of Mesopotamia. The gold used in the vessel's manufacture perhaps came from the Oxus River's watery bed.
 
Aï Khanum 
Beneath an arcade of stunning terracotta antefixes (architectural ornaments) from the Afghan palace at Aï Khanum (3rd Century B.C.), a former Greek colony, is a gilded silver Ceremonial Plaque Depicting Cybele on a Chariot (ca. 300 B.C.). A superlative example of Greco-Oriental art embellished with gold leaf, the round plate depicts Cybele, the Greek goddess of nature. The deity travels in a lion-drawn chariot through a mountainous terrain. At the vehicle's helm is Nike, the winged symbol of Victory. Both are accompanied by a pair of priests who wear the ritual tunica talaris. The composition's skyline features the astral conjunction of the solar god Helios, a crescent moon and a brilliant star reminiscent in design of those found in the Akkadian Victory Stele of Narim-Sin (ca. 2200 B.C.) from Susa in modern-day Iran.
 
Begram
Two sealed rooms' excavation at Begram yielded luxury goods that date between the 1st and 2nd Centuries A.D. Along with more than 180 pieces of exquisite Roman glassware were discovered small ivory sculptures carved in an Indian style. They attest to ancient Afghanistan's role in the exchange of artistic motifs between the East and West.
 
Arguably the find's most alluring work is a Female Standing atop Mythical Water Creature (Makara) (1st-2nd Century A.D.). Missing its right arm, the lithe figure is positioned above a makara, a hybrid mythical beast composed of body parts from an elephant, crocodile and fish. The sculpture's graceful pose is accentuated by its right hip bent outward and upper torso, nearly nude, leaning gently to the left. From the waist down, the figure is attired in a thick pleated garment of Indian origin.
 
Tillya Tepe
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures... concludes with an outstanding exhibit of priceless antiquities from the so-called Bactrian Hoard, gold objects from the nomadic tombs of a chieftain and five women. Mounted in semi-circular galleries under a photographic panorama of an arid Afghan landscape, the display of jewelry (many works inlaid with semiprecious stones) comes to a breathtaking climax with the delicate Folding Crown (1st Century A.D.) from Tillye Tepe's Tomb VI. Its design bears witness to the intermingling of nomadic, Near Eastern, Greek, Indian and Chinese artistic influences through trade along the Silk Road in ancient Afghanistan.
 
As ancient art exhibitions go, Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul is not to be missed, especially in New York. The show's well-written catalogue also deserves critical acclaim.
 
Under the title "Afghanistan, Rediscovered Treasures: Collections of the National Museum of Kabul," the exhibition first visited Paris, Turin and Amsterdam. Reorganized by the National Geographic Society for its American tour, the show's objects were on view in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Houston. After New York, the exposition travels to the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Québec (October 23, 2009-March 28, 2010).
 
Source
Hiebert, Fredrik and Pierre Cambon (eds.), et al. Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul (exh. cat.). New York and Washington, D.C.: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Geographic Society, 2008.