Art preserves the 'little' moments that might otherwise be lost amid war and insecurity in Afghanistan, says Dr Francesca Recchia, author of The Little Book of Kabul. Follow Dr Recchia on Twitter: @kiccovich
For the past two years, photographer Lorenzo Tugnoli and I have looked at the city of Kabul through the eyes of a number of artists.
Their stories are told in The Little Book of Kabul, which we released in 500 copies, each signed, numbered, and stamped.
It’s an intimate look at people’s lives and a portrait of Kabul through their eyes.
The book came about when I went to Kabul in 2011 to write a magazine article about the art scene there. Lorenzo already lived in Kabul. We thought there wouldn’t be much to find. Many people thought we were crazy for undertaking the project.
In fact, what we found was a creative culture. We met a lot of artists and found we couldn’t do justice to what we had witnessed in an article and decided to do a book.
The book revolves around three artists. We developed deep personal relationships with them. We portray Kabul through their accents, their gestures, their voices.
Around these characters are a number of other situations and characters that contribute to create the context, to show the daily life of Kabul beyond the headlines.
The book’s construction is 47 photos and 21 short stories. It’s a very near, close-up look at tiny, tiny moments of daily life in Kabul.
I think that is the main difference with our book. The lens through which Afghanistan is presented to the world is very wide. All the tiny details are lost. We tried to show them, even if the world is focused elsewhere.
I am not underestimating the seriousness of the situation in Afghanistan now. I am saying that it’s not the only thing here. There is a striving for the preservation of little moments. That, I think, is the strength of the book: it offers these little moments that are almost lost.
We had many possibilities for artists to profile. The main criteria for us was that the artists would create work irrespective of international support. They love music, they make music, regardless of the funding. That for us was the main thing.
There was a phase that is decreasing now, where, for example, the US embassy would give money to organise an exhibition on women’s rights or someone else will organise an exhibit on children or corruption. But we thought that as soon as the money dried up they would disappear.
We were interested in artists that would consistently produce art, no matter the funding. Artists who are not dependent on the international community, or at least not entirely dependent on it.
In the past three years things have changed quite significantly in Afghanistan. There’s been a few less public events due to the insecurity and the elections. All these things have an effect on the international visibility of the Afghan art community.
Donors are less keen to take responsibility by putting money into events that might become a soft target. That’s because the level of the instability is higher than before, I think. It’s a vicious circle.
Some of the people we profiled in the book have left Afghanistan. Some are coming in and out. It’s partly because of the security situation, partly because of funding.
No matter what happens, Afghanistan is a country that is striving for expression, to find a voice that balances a long and complex history with desires for the future.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
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Range: Up to 610km
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Group A: Egypt, DR Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi
Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania
Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Namibia
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Angola
Group F: Cameroon, Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km
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Price: Dh149,000
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
