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Learn More About
Afghans and Afghanistan
Afghan handicrafts
The artistic expression of the Afghan people is found in their handicrafts,
especially in hand weaving and fine carpet design. Afghan carpets and
rugs are famous for their beautiful colors -- frequently shades of red
from the madder root -- and design -- bold geometrics and guls (small
medallions).
Photos of rug bazaars
and manufacturing
Some
rug designs incorporate war imagery (photos load slowly)
Central Asian felt, embroderies, weavings, ikats, and carpets from the Textile Museum of Canada
Shop for crafts
and support Afghan women and girls
Why do we call our blankets 'afghans'?
We've been busy pondering this important question! We're scouring the
literature and talking to textile curators here and abroad -- and we've
discovered a great subject for a Ph.D. dissertation. The Modern Textile
Dictionary tells us that the word came into use because the patterns --
stripes, zigzags, and squares -- and colors of knitted and crocheted blankets
resembled those of rugs from Afghanistan. The term first appears in print
in 1833 [Oxford English Dictionary]. The nomenclature caught on as Oriental
rugs became widely fashionable in Victorian decor [Morris Dictionary of
Word and Phrase Origins, Second Edition, 1988] and travelers increasingly
returned home with exotic carpets. Please send
us an email if you can add to this body of knowledge.
Significance of the color green in Islam
Green is the symbolic color of Islam. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH, peace be
upon him) wore a green turban, and green is believed to have been his
favorite color. Green was also the color of the banners used on the battlefield
and the color of the first Islamic flag. |
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The Quran and the Hadith, the teachings of Prophet Muhammad,
describe Paradise as filled with green: the people of Paradise "will
wear green garments of fine silk [The Noble Quran, 18:31]."
Islam also considers green significant because it is the color of nature.
Therefore, green is popularly used in the flags of Muslim nations, as
well as in art and architecture. Mosques are frequently decorated with
green tiles.
Islam and figurative art
Even though orthodox Muslim theologians decry the making of figurative
art, the Quran does not contain this prohibition. The condemnation of
figurative art -- representations of faces and animals -- is aimed at
avoiding the creation of any likenesses of God. This convention was vital
in Islam's early centuries, when idol worship was rampant in Arabia. Early
Muslim theologians feared that people would not distinguish between God
and idols. To uphold God's supremacy, depicting figures was discouraged.
At the end of the fifteenth century, figurative art was a popular aspect
of Muslim culture and enjoyed in the courts of many Muslim rulers. However,
depicting images was restricted to the private realm. This tradition continues
to this day, even though most Muslim scholars now feel that the prohibition
is no longer needed in our modern times.
From this history evolved Islam's rich tradition of producing the
world's most exquisite decorative and calligraphic arts. Calligraphy
is widespread and considered to be the noblest form of art because of
its association with the Muslim's holy book, the Quran, which is written
in Arabic. Whether it's the interior of a mosque, an illuminated manuscript,
or a silk rug, graceful, repeating patterns dominate the surfaces. Many
people believe that this unending repetition of geometric and vegetal
patterns emphasizes the infinite nature of God.
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Afghan
women spinning wool
© Rahima Haya, October 2003 |
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Editor's choice
Now, after searching for 17 years, National Geographic has once again
found the Afghan girl with the haunting green eyes. Behind
the Search for the Afghan Girl, "National Geographic," March 2002.
View the rediscovered treasures from Afghanistan's National Museum at the
Guimet Museum in Paris.
Recipes for qabili pilau to sheer payra fudge ... try
Afghan cuisine!
Sorting and packing volunteer Else Vellinga recommends these first-person stories in
Life in an Afghan Village from the BBC News.
Decades of war and years of drought have devastated Afghanistan's environment, but not the spirit of it's people.
Perilous Gardens, Persistent Dreams, "Sierra Magazine," May/June 2003.
View photos of the Bagh-e-Babur, Kabul's Moghul Garden.
Have you seen American Sarah Chayes' "A House for Haji Baba" on Frontline?
Read Michael Park's personal tale "Shawls, Markets and Politics in Kabul."
Oregonian Volunteer Nancy Hamm suggests learning more about Afghan food and trying the recipes in your own kitchen.
Internews.org's Central Asia Director Ivan Sigal visited Afghanistan
in early 2002. His photos
document how post-Taliban Afghanistan regards itself. EurasiaNet, February 2002.
Did you know that Afghanistan was once a popular hangout for hippie
backpackers? That's what the Lonely
Planet guidebook says.
Recommended books, movies, music, educational materials
Click here to see our recommendations for you.
The Afghan refugee crisis
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that 3.5
million Afghans have sought refuge in neighboring Pakistan and Iran.
This is the largest refugee population in the world. Following the Soviet
invasion, more than twenty years of war ruined the Afghan economy and
infrastructure, as well as riddled the once fertile land with perilous
landmines. Afghans suffer from insufficient food, medical care, shelter,
and clothing. Drought and famine plague the country. The current war has
created more
refugees and dislocated more than one million within Afghanistan's
own borders.
Find out how humanitarian agencies are helping the Afghan people:
International
Medical Corps
Operation USA
UNICEF
Doctors
without Borders
America's Fund for
Afghan Children
Oxfam America
Doctors
of the World
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Afghan
girl in a village in northern Afghanistan
© World
Concern 2002
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