Mughal exhibition in Kabul a reminder of the city’s artistic glory

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KABUL, June 4, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Disfigured by four decades of war, the
Afghan capital Kabul offers few reminders of its former glory in Islamic art
or religious tolerance but a rare exhibition of Mughal paintings is seeking
to change that.

Dozens of enlarged reproductions of miniatures — highly detailed paintings
the size of a school notebook — that were created in Kabul during the 16th
century have gone on display in Babur Gardens, where the first Mughal emperor
is buried among roses and pomegranate trees.

For American historian and Islamic art expert Michael Barry, the exhibition
of more than 60 paintings is the culmination of a promise he made to himself
while working in Kabul over the past decades.

“When I was standing in this garden, shattered under mortars and rockets in
the 1990s (civil war), I swore to myself that one day I would bring back its
glory,” Barry told AFP recently during a tour of the display he curated.

“It’s a way to restore the legitimate cultural pride of a country that has
lost so much, to show what its ancestors were able to create and what they
are still able to give to the world.”

The original miniatures are held in private and institutional collections
around the world and are so delicate they need to be kept in the dark most of
the time, Barry said.

To enable ordinary Afghans to see the precious works and appreciate the
richness of their country’s artistic heritage, the American Institute of
Afghan Studies ordered enlarged, high-resolution copies of the paintings on
metal to be made in Paris.

“This imaginary museum restores in Kabul what made its glory,” Barry said,
as he walked around the hall of reproductions.

– ‘Universal peace’ –

In the mid-16th century, several painters from the western city of Herat,
where miniature painting had flourished under the Timurid empire, were
invited to Kabul by Emperor Babur’s son, Humayun.

The paintings created in Kabul gave birth to the Mughal art of India, Barry
said.

Babur is one of the last Mughal gardens and has been described by UNESCO as
“an outstanding example of a cultural landscape”.

It was designed by Emperor Babur before he conquered northern India and it
eventually became his final resting place.

The garden was devastated during the Afghan civil war in the 1990s but has
since recovered with the help of the Aga Khan Foundation to become a popular
place for young couples and family outings.

Barry hopes the exhibition will remind Afghans that their country once
boasted “tremendous wealth of extraordinary opulence, extremely refined arts
and… a policy of religious tolerance like no other in the world”.

This tolerance was expressed in the proclamation of “Universal Peace” by
the third Mughal emperor Akbar, who was deeply opposed to discrimination.

“Hindu generals and ministers served the emperor in equal rank with
Muslims, both Sunni and Shiite,” Barry said.

“The emperor was so interested in religion that he also invited Portuguese
Jesuits from Goa to the court.”

The exhibition also shows the connection between the Mughal dynasty and
Renaissance Europe: golden halos flatter portraits of emperors while cherubs,
chubby and frizzy, cling to powdery clouds.

The miniatures also show women’s faces as symbols of spirituality — a very
different image to the one of heavily veiled women seen in Afghanistan today.

The apparent harmony on display provides a stark contrast to the discord in
21st century Afghanistan, which is divided along ethnic lines and haunted by
religious extremists such as the Islamic State group that are intolerant of
other faiths.

Barry said he hoped the exhibition would send a positive message to
ordinary Afghans.

“This symbolic art is a wonderful signal to today’s Afghans about the role
played by an empire known for its diversity, religious tolerance and profound
philosophy.”