• Afghanistan: hidden treasures

Production credits: Art Gallery of NSW

Exhibition manager: Charlotte Davy
Exhibition consultant curator: Craig Judd
Digital media producer: Francesca Ford
Writers: Andrew Yip, Andrew McMillen
Content producers: Penny Sanderson, Andrew Yip, Francesca Ford
Project management: Francesca Ford, Penny Sanderson
Design: Karen Hancock
Image and clearance research: Megan Young
Developer: Thomas Ashelford
Video production: Art Gallery of NSW with VERSUS media
Digital media production assistant: Jane Healy

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Video and Picture captions

In order of appearance as you scroll down

  1. Archaeologists register objects to create a digital record at the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 14, 2013. The most important objects smashed by the Taliban in a 2001 rampage at the museum have been reassembled, and looted treasures have also been returned, sending a message of defiance and resilience to the Taliban. (Mauricio Lima/The New York Times)
  2. Map of the Silk Road. National Geographic Society © 2008
  3. Security guard Aman Dad keeps watch over the front gate of the Kabul Museum, Monday, Feb. 17, 2003, in Kabul, Afghanistan. The British Museum in London and the British Embassy in Kabul have been working together to help renovate the war-ruined museum. The banner above the front door reads "A nation can stay alive when its culture and history stay alive." (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett)
  4. Boot buckles, decorated with an image of a carriage drawn by dragons, found in a Tillya Tepe tomb
  5. A fish-shaped flask, made of yellow and blue glass, found in a trader’s storeroom in Begram
  6. Girls in the streets of Kabul. Photograph of Afghanistan, Kabul in 1967-68. Dr. Bill Podlich, photographer. Scanned from slides and restored by C. Esterson.
  7. People on a bus in Kabul. Photograph of Afghanistan, Kabul in 1967-68. Dr. Bill Podlich, photographer. Scanned from slides and restored by C. Esterson.
  8. Video: Kabul, Afghanistan in the 1970s. Shutterstock
  9. Kabul in winter: Photograph of Afghanistan, Kabul in 1967-68. Dr. Bill Podlich, photographer. Scanned from slides and restored by C. Esterson.
  10. Video – Zalmai Haidary. Produced by the Art Gallery of NSW with VERSUS media
  11. Artifacts destroyed by the Taliban await reconstruction at the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 14, 2013. The most important objects smashed by the Taliban in a 2001 rampage at the museum have been reassembled, and looted treasures have also been returned, sending a message of defiance and resilience to the Taliban. (Mauricio Lima/The New York Times)
  12. Begram, Bronze figurative weights, Room 10, 1937
  13. Gold and ivory objects from the National Museum of Afghanistan being packed for transport
  14. Presidential palace. Photographs of Afghanistan, mostly in Kabul in 1967-68. Dr. Bill Podlich, photographer. Scanned from slides and restored by C. Esterson.
  15. Video – Dr Zahir Youssofzay. Produced by the Art Gallery of NSW with VERSUS media
  16. An Afghan laborer fixes pavement outside the Kabul Museum Sunday, Jan. 10, 1999 in Kabul. Talibans are looking for financial help to rebuild the historic museum, destroyed by Afghan militants. About million dollars is needed for the restoration but donors are not excited about putting money in. The Islamic treasurers and 2,000-year-old Bhuddhist artifacts that graced the museum were stolen. (AP Photo/Amir Shah)
  17. Destroyed National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul, 2001. Copyright: Thierry Oliver/ musée Guimet
  18. Video – The House of History (excerpts) – An essay film directed by Qadir Taheri. Script by Sher Mohammed Khara. Shot by a group of AF cameramen between 1994 and 1995, chronicling the destruction of Kabul. Ends with a meditation on the ruins of the Dar ul-Aman palace and the Kabul Museum, and the efforts to save the fragments of artifacts left behind in its destruction. Footage Source: DVCAM tape transfer. Translated by Asad and Rajni Prakash. Creative commons Attribution - ShareAlike 3.0 Licence and Pad.ma General Public Licence
  19. 16 Aug 2006, Kabul, Afghanistan --- A man passes by an old airplane up on blocks at a museum in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 16, 2006. --- Image by © Gary Knight/VII/VII/Corbis
  20. Video – MS statue of Bamiyan Buddha exploding/cloud of dust/Afghanistan, Asia (Feature Story News/Getty Images)
  21. Afghan youths play atop a destroyed bus in front of the palace of former Afghan King Darul Aman, which was destroyed during the civil war, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, April 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)
  22. A Northern Alliance soldier stands in front of an ancient mosque in the Kabul Museum in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2001. The mujahedeen hid many historical artifacts from the musem in the Ministry of Information and Culture, but the Taliban discovered them and destroyed them. (AP Photo/Marco Di Lauro)
  23. Awaiting the opening of safes, which revealed the Bactrian gold. Credit Line: Kenneth Garrett/National Geographic Creative
  24. Minister of Information and Culture Sayeed Makhdoom Raheen reveals the Bactrian Hoard to Viktor Sarianidi.Credit Line: Kenneth Garrett/National Geographic Creative
  25. Video – Charlotte Davy. Produced by the Art Gallery of NSW with VERSUS media
  26. Omar Khan Masoudi, Director of the National Museum in Kabul, poses for photographs at the Melbourne Museum in Melbourne, Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Mr Masoudi was attending the launch of Afganistan: Hidden Treasurers exhibition which features 230 precious objects from archaeological sites along the ancient Silk Road from as early as 2200 BC. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
  27. An Afghan woman worker sits at the Kabul National Museum September 25, 2011. While everyone else is worrying about Afghanistan's future, a dedicated band of men and women is gathering up its past, hoping that a growing museum collection will show the world Afghan culture is more sophisticated than the tide of news reports suggest. Picture taken September 25, 2011. To match feature AFGHANISTAN-MUSEUM/ REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail
  28. Boot buckles, decorated with an image of a carriage drawn by dragons, found in a Tillya Tepe tomb