History of the Kabul Museum Project and Our Activities

Background

The war in Afghanistan left the Kabul Museum in a desperate state. The then director Dr. Omara Khan Masoudi and his staff were confronted by a seemingly insurmountable task. In 1993, a bomb destroyed the roof and top floor of the museum and caused a fire which reached the archive, destroying all the museum’s records including the complete collections’ inventory—every museum official’s worst nightmare. In the initial phase of recovery, several international governments contributed considerable sums to rebuild the burned-out museum and provided the expensive equipment needed for a modern museum. In addition to this substantial governmental financing for rebuilding the museum, UNESCO initiated the urgent first step—a re-inventory of the most precious collections which had been hidden for more than 20 years in a dramatic and courageous clandestine rescue initiated by the museum staff [hyperlink to DKS 2006 Twice Buried, Twice Removed / embed on page?]. At that time, the emphasis had to be on rebuilding the essential infrastructure of the museum. Masoudi was also forming his young curatorial team.

It is impossible for someone who had not visited the Kabul Museum before the war to realize that at that time it was considered one of the most important archaeological museums in Asia. The historical collections of the museum were all obtained from excavations conducted by distinguished international archaeological teams in collaboration with Afghan archaeologists. During the 1950s, mostly French experts, sponsored by UNESCO and coordinated by the successive directors A. Khozad and A. A. Motamadi, prepared the beautiful installation of each collection in modern cases. Also during the 1950s, UNESCO-financed experts finalized the catalogue and inventory of the collections following the then prevalent international model. It was this system that Masoudi, together with UNESCO, initially adapted during the UNESCO-funded re-inventory.

Prior to the beginning of the Afghan war most of the curators had either been trained abroad or had worked together with specialists in Kabul for many years, so they were able to continue the scientific inventory as new finds entered the museum. But this generation died out during the long war. Therefore, it was necessary, wherever possible, to invite foreign experts to inventory the collections. Fortunately, they were able in most cases either to invite the excavator or their successor. It was Klimburg-Salter’s good fortune to be asked to assist in this rescue action (Klimburg-Salter 2006) and to have been able to work with Dr. Masanori Nagaoka, the UNESCO culture official who coordinated this project “on the ground.”

At the same time, the museum began the long process of capacity building—particularly the curatorial staff. Some staff, such as Masoudi, had remained in the museum throughout the war and were instrumental in the revitalization of the museum. However, most of the curators were born during the war and were among the first graduates of the newly re-constituted Kabul University. Within the context of the UNESCO Afghanistan Funds-in-Trust Program, different governments began training the museum conservators. But there were no capacity building programs for the curators and general staff.