Another view of Afghanistan

By Keith Suter

Since September 11, 2001, Afghanistan has been very much in the news because of the war on terrorism. All the current interest tends to obscure the long and colourful history of the country. For example, Afghans used to hunt lions by fooling them with pictures of lions.

Last weekend I was at the opening of an exhibition of Afghan hunting cloths in Sydney at the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. The exhibition curator is Andrea Nield and it was opened by the Afghanistan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr A. Abdullah, who was visiting Australia.

It now seems hard to imagine that the harsh barren desolate mountains of Afghanistan could be a host to wild lions and leopards. But Afghanistan used to have both savage animals and trees.

Afghanistan is at the heart of Asia. It is sandwiched between Pakistan, Iran, China and the Islamic republics of the former Soviet Union. It has been on the crossroads of history for thousands of years. It has been a melting pot for trade, culture and religion.

Herat, high up in the Hindu Kush mountains, the westerly end of the Himalayan range, has been a city for 2,500 years. A family of artists are based there who are trying to revive the hunting cloth artistic tradition.

The original hunting cloths contained images of the animals being hunted. They were painted on large cheap locally produced cotton squares. The fabric was thrown away after the hunt or used to wrap the dead animal.

Asian lions and snow leopards — unlike their African equivalents — were loners. They lived and hunted on their own. They used to see these “intruders” and come close up to check them out. The villagers would be in hiding and then (if all went well) they would kill the animals at close quarters. I find it hard to imagine that lions and leopards would be fooled by such drawings but contemporary visitors to northern Afghanistan said that this is how it was done.

This hunting was not (as on African safaris) done simply for sport and pleasure. The animals were attacking domestic animals and so they were a farm hazard — or they could themselves be used for food.

The hunting cloths were purely for utilitarian purposes. They were used for hunting and then discarded. No one at the time thought that they were producing works of art. Being a tool of the trade enabled them to survive periodic crackdowns by fundamentalist Islamic rulers who disapproved of the depiction of animals in art. This was not “art” — this was a hunting tool.

Hajji Abdullah Wakil Zadhah and his family of artists in Herat are now trying to revive the skill of producing hunting cloths (or “chireh”). It is a three-generation affair: he sketches the outlines, his sons produce the bold drawings, and the grand children colour them in.

Now that the Taliban have gone from power and the country is trying to get back to normal, this family is trying to get back to business.

The Royal Institute’s Andrea Nield said that she would also like to see a revival of the glass blowing skills lost during the 25 years of war. She hopes that an Australian could be found who would be game enough to go to Afghanistan to teach these skills.

Overall, as the Foreign Minister said, the exhibition is a sign of how the country is trying to get back on its feet after so many years of war and invasions. It is good to see Australians playing a part in the recovery.

Keith Suter, Consultant for Social Policy, reprinted with permission from Keith Suter Comments.