The Power of Culture

In keeping with Afghan tradition, each staff member took one of the keys, so that no one could ever open the safe. Things went well for a while, until the Taliban discovered the safe but could not find a trace of the keys. Luckily, the safe proved to be resistant to the dynamite used by the cultural barbarians who had already destroyed thousands of works of art.

Deputy Minister of Culture Omar Sultan, who is an archaeologist, is filled with gratitude for these seven men. "Without their heroic action, this exposition would not exist. And this exposition can be used to show the rest of the world that Afghanistan does not solely consist of war, destruction and the Taliban, but that we have a rich past and a culture that we can be proud of. It is my dream that a day will come in which peace and tranquillity will rule Afghanistan, and tourists will flock to our country to admire our rich culture."

"Before the Soviets invaded our country in 1978, tourism was Afghanistan's second most important source of revenue. I hope that this exposition will generate the funds to someday erect a brand new museum in Kabul in which all of our artistic treasures can be shown to a large international audience. The exposition has already been shown in Paris and Turin, and this is beginning to bear fruit. We now have the funds, for example, to give the museum's archaeologists and conservators additional training, so that they can do their work even better, saving our artistic treasures for future generations."