"Far away from the Taliban insurgency, in this most peaceful corner of Afghanistan, a quiet revolution is gaining pace. Women are driving cars — a rarity in Afghanistan — working in public offices and police stations, and sitting on local councils. There is even a female governor, the first and only one in Afghanistan." Carlotta Gall writes about promising developments in Bamian. (NY Times; print version.)
posted by languagehat on Oct 7, 2008 - 19 comments

Ancient Buddhist Paintings From Bamiyan Were Made Of Oil, Hundreds Of Years Before Technique Was 'Invented' In Europe. [Via MonkeyFilter.] [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Apr 24, 2008 - 23 comments

There is talk of rebuilding the Bamiyan Buddhas, and some archaeologists are looking for a third Buddha (I think the cows and sheep are more useful.) A greater loss may be Medecins Sans Frontieres pulling out because of the lack of security. There is optimism in Afghanistan, but attacks are on the increase, and some are worried that it may still implode.
posted by homunculus on Jul 31, 2004 - 49 comments

Afghanistan 1969-1974. Many photographs of the landscapes and people of Afghanistan as was. 'Searching the internet at the beginning of the year 2001 for "Kabul & museum" or for "Bamiyan" displays alarming news. This is why I'd like to put my old photographs of Afghanistan of the years 1969, 1970, and 1974 into the WWW to preserve a vivid memory of the treasures collected in the museum in Darulaman and of an Afghanistan as it used to be years ago ... ' (Also in German).
Related :- Lost and Stolen Images: Afghanistan, including a section on the Bamiyan Buddhas and some images from the Kabul Museum (via the Huntingdon Archive of Buddhist and related art).
posted by plep on Apr 9, 2003 - 7 comments

'I Feel A Great, Personal Loss' Conservationist Rakhaldas Sengupta spent nine years restoring the world's tallest Buddha statues...
This has been covered by MeFi before but Sengupta has a perspective on the statues that hasn't come to light yet. To think that the Taleban is destroying these 1700 year old statues breaks my heart. I hope I never understand the reasoning of religious zealots.
posted by gen on Mar 9, 2001 - 8 comments