Cultural Heritage and its Custodians at Risk

The core mission of the interdisciplinary Kabul Museum Project is to provide support to the National Museum staff in preserving and interpreting their invaluable collections as well as cultural heritage held in regional museums across Afghanistan.

In August 2021, Afghanistan experienced major political upheavals and dramatic changes. As Afghanistan navigates these changes, we must keep in mind the importance of protecting the country’s cultural heritage and its custodians.

We support the statements urging the protection of cultural heritage made by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) on August 17, 2021 and UNESCO on August 19, 2021:

https://icom.museum/en/news/statement-concerning-the-situation-facing-cultural-heritage-in-afghanistan/
https://en.unesco.org/news/afghanistan-unesco-calls-protection-cultural-heritage-its-diversity

Adapted to present circumstances, all parties hope to continue the research collaboration between the National Museum of Afghanistan (Director and curators) and scholars at the University of Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Harvard Art Museums, Kyoto University, and the University of Tsukuba.

For many decades, our project collaborators have actively engaged in initiatives to bring awareness and protection to Afghanistan’s cultural heritage. See Events page for more information.