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STRUGGLING FOR THE PREY.
BUZKASHI : In Pashto/Persian "GOAT PULLING" national horse-mounted sport and passion. The riders, called CHAPANDAZ, have to take a decapiteded carcass of a goat, often a calf, from the ground and carry it behind the goal under the whip of the opponents. Bamiyan Valley. Hazaristan.
Ektachrome
Nikon_F_Photomic_TN.
Nikkor_MF_Zoom_80-200_f/4.5.
A Meeting in Silence – Buddha Garden in Portugal
In the heart of Portugal’s western coast, in the town of Bombarral, lies the Buddha Eden Garden – a magical place where art meets spirituality. This extraordinary sanctuary was created by Portuguese collector José Berardo as a symbol of peace following the destruction of the famous Buddha statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
The photo I captured shows one of the most moving installations in the entire garden: two human silhouettes made of steel. One stands at the top of a hill, the other below – both seemingly locked in a silent dialogue. Their striking minimalism, set against the backdrop of nature, creates an atmosphere of quiet contemplation, inviting deeper reflection.
Buddha Eden is more than just a collection of sculptures and pagodas; it is a space where time seems to pause. The garden encourages visitors to take a break from the rush of daily life and immerse themselves in the harmony between humanity, nature, and art.
Band-I-Amir. Six lakes at approximately 3000 m of elevation, Hazarat Country. Hindou Kouch montains. Bamiyan Province. Afghanistan.
Ektachrome.
Nikkormat_EL.
Nikkor_MF_Zoom_28-45_f/4.5.
Standing Buddha statue (53 meters high) with some traces of paintings on the left wall. Buddhist monastery on the Silk Road caravans.Bamiyan valley. Afghanistan.
Ektachrome.
Nikkormat_EL.
Nikkor_MF_Zoom_28-45_f/4.5.
Small standing Buddha statue. View on the cliff where the monasteries and the Buddhas were carved.
Ektachrome.
Nikkormat_EL.
Nikkor_MF_Zoom_28-45_f/4.5.
Foto 34 : un gruppo di cormorani si lascia avvicinare,
isola di Holbox", Mexico
Foto del 2009
_______________________________________________
GUERRA FRATRICIDA
_______________________________________________
Ed ecco che il paradiso d'improvviso si è riempito,
non di angeli, ma diavoli.
La pace secolare tra isolani,
distrutta da un mostro famelico dal nome accattivante il DENARO.
Adesso, chi non ha ceduto alle lusinghe,
chiama in modo dispregiativo “los talibanos” (i talebani)
coloro che hanno firmato l'atto di vendita dei propri terreni a favore
delle società che fanno capo agli imprenditori Messicani.
E credo non solo, chissà chi c'è dietro.
Qualcuno ricorderà poco prima della guerra in Afghanistan,
l'assurdo accanimento contro
le statue giganti dei Buddha a Bamiyan da parte della furia fanatica dei seguaci del mullah Mohammed Omar.
Accadde nel marzo del 2001.
Un paragone, agghiacciante ed azzeccato.
Le inermi statue giganti, qui a Holbox,
sono impersonificate dal meraviglioso ed altrettanto inerme ecosistema Messicano,
cannoneggiato a tradimento con l'assurda politica del "magna magna."
Tutto è degenerato in una tensione perenne.
Da oltre 2 anni i due gruppi si guardano in cagnesco ed a volte
la contrapposizione rischia di diventare violenta.
Per questo,
pattuglie di soldati armati si aggirano tra le strade di sabbia dell’isola.
Le loro camionette sono le uniche macchine che possono viaggiare a Holbox.
L’armonia si è rotta tra la gente del posto,
che fino ad allora viveva di pesca e blando turismo.
Qualora i resort e le strutture annesse (come un campo da golf e diverse piscine)
venissero costruiti, Holbox potrebbe perdere la sua biodiversità, protetta dal 1994.
Ne risentirebbero i fenicotteri, gli avvoltoi, le aquile e i falchi pellegrini che attraggono birdwatchers
da tutto il mondo, che verrebbero disturbati dall’alterazione dell’ambiente dove nidificano da sempre.
Ne risentirebbero anche le tartarughe marine,
gli squali balena che hanno stabilito qui il loro santuario da maggio a settembre, e così pure i lamantini,
ed i delfini d’acqua dolce che vivono nella laguna.
Questo è certo, non bisogna essere scienziati per temerlo.
Ad holbox,
perderemmo il piacere di osservare le piume rosate dei fenicotteri.
Campi da golf al posto delle mangrovie.
La laguna offesa dal cemento.
Il mare cristallino affollato da miriadi di chiassosi bagnanti
scaccerebbero gli squali balena.
Daddy penserà di sicuro che il suo amico Julio sia morto.
Le grandi conchiglie cangianti che la risacca deposita continuamente sulle spiagge bianche,
diventati fetidi portacenere dei viziati villeggianti.
Sono affranto e deluso.
Perché l'uomo continua a distruggere?
Perdonate il mio sfogo, BASTA FERMATEVI.
_______________________________________________
© Il testo e la foto sono di esclusiva proprietà dell'autore, Stefano Paradossi, che ne detiene i diritti e ne vieta qualsiasi utilizzo da parte di terzi. La foto fa parte dell'Archivio Fotografico della famiglia Paradossi.
© The text and the picture are of exclusive property of the author, Stefano Paradossi, who owns the rights and prohibits any use by third parties. The image is part of the Photo Archive of the Paradossi family.
This ten meter tall 5th century statue of Maitreya Buddha carved out of raw mountain rock face is one amongst the only three suc statues left in the world after Bamiyan Buddha’s statues of 5th century were destroyed in Afghanistan.
It is located in a small village Karste khar near Sankoo, 42 Kms away from Kargil in Ladakh Himalayas, india.
Fathi Kutulu & Sezgin Agca & Verena Aziz - Take the A-Train Musikfestival Salzburg - 13.09.2019 - Bamiyan Kebap Pizza Salzburg
www.jazzfoto.at/konzertfotos19/_take_the_a_train/_tag3/ku...
Besetzung:
Fathi Kutlu: perc
Sezgin Akca: perc
Verena Aziz: dance
BUZKASHI : In Pashto/Persian "GOAT PULLING" national horse-mounted sport and passion. The riders, called CHAPANDAZ, have to take a decapiteded carcass of a goat, often a calf, from the ground and carry it behind the goal under the whip of the opponents. Bamiyan Valley. Hazaristan.
Ektachrome
Nikon_F_Photomic_TN.
Nikkor_MF_Zoom_80-200_f/4.5.
Artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen
"The Light That Shines Through The Universe"
A 27 foot tall sculpture that pays homage to the 6th century Bamiyan Buddha of Afghanistan. It is a monument to cultural loss and enduring spirit. The original buddhas were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. While this sculpture is not an exact replica it is described as an echo. The hands are cast from melted down artillery shells and positioned to represent fearlessness and compassion.
From the website "this resurrected and reimagined figure serves as a powerful reminder that memory and our shared humanity are the best antidote against those who seek to break and scatter the human spirit"
Many (many) years ago when I was LOTS younger, I had worked around the clock, lived frugally, and saved an enormous amt. of money.....$5000.
I bought myself a back pack and one way air ticket and took off to see the world.
Europe, a bit of north Africa, over to Israel, back up thru Greece, Yugoslavia, across Asia.....Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal.
I was on the road for two years.
Cluelessly, I bought a little camera not too heavy to carry, and for whatever reason converted them to slides.
I have hundreds of them.
For Christmas, my son bought me this little gadget that transfers a slide into a photo. Many of them don't translate that well, others do better and I can edit a bit.
This is Bamiyan, in Afghanistan.
An old Buddhist monastery, the monks lived in the caves.
It was a small, one dirt road town when I was there. I've read it's grown since then.
These carved Buddha's no longer exist, the Taliban blew them up.
It was a different world I traveled through.
Another photo in the first comment box. Some Afghanis I "met" while walking. I hope you can see it.
On my tour I discovered that people around the world are different......but so much the same.
We all just want to have a decent life, basic needs met.....and we all seem to want to get to know and enjoy each other. Even without speaking a common language. When our differences aren't used to divide us, we can celebrate them together. Our coat of many colors.......but it's the same coat.
I wish we could remember that.
ps....it was NOT taken in the year 2000. I don't know where Flickr got that from.
It was quite a ways before that.
A standing Buddha statue, 24.3 metres (80 feet) in height, inspired by the Buddhas of Bamiyan, is located on the grounds of the Thai temple and monastery at Sarnath.
Location: Sarnath
Gandhara is the name given to an ancient region or province invaded in 326 B.C. by Alexander the Great, who took Charsadda (ancient Puskalavati) near present-day Peshawar (ancient Purusapura) and then marched eastward across the Indus into the Punjab as far as the Beas river (ancient Vipasa). Gandhara constituted the undulating plains, irrigated by the Kabul River from the Khyber Pass area, the contemporary boundary between Pakistan and Afganistan, down to the Indus River and southward towards the Murree hills and Taxila (ancient Taksasila), near Pakistan"s present capital, Islamabad. Its art, however, during the first centuries of the Christian era, had adopted a substantially larger area, together with the upper stretches of the Kabul River, the valley of Kabul itself, and ancient Kapisa, as well as Swat and Buner towards the north.
A great deal of Gandhara sculptures has survived dating from the first to probably as late as the sixth or even the seventh century but in a remarkably homogeneous style. Most of the arts were almost always in a blue-gray mica schist, though sometimes in a green phyllite or in stucco, or very rarely in terracotta. Because of the appeal of its Western classical aesthetic for the British rulers of India, schooled to admire all things Greek and Roman, a great deal found its way into private hands or the shelter of museums.
Gandhara sculpture primarily comprised Buddhist monastic establishments. These monasteries provided a never-ending gallery for sculptured reliefs of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. The Gandhara stupas were comparatively magnified and more intricate, but the most remarkable feature, which distinguished the Gandhara stupas from the pervious styles were hugely tiered umbrellas at its peak, almost soaring over the total structure. The abundance of Gandharan sculpture was an art, which originated with foreign artisans.
In the excavation among the varied miscellany of small bronze figures, though not often like Alexandrian imports, four or five Buddhist bronzes are very late in date. These further illustrate the aura of the Gandhara art. Relics of mural paintings though have been discovered, yet the only substantial body of painting, in Bamiyan, is moderately late, and much of it belongs to an Iranian or central Asian rather than an Indian context. Non-narrative themes and architectural ornament were omnipresent at that time. Mythical figures and animals such as atlantes, tritons, dragons, and sea serpents derive from the same source, although there is the occasional high-backed, stylized creature associated with the Central Asian animal style. Moldings and cornices are decorated mostly with acanthus, laurel, and vine, though sometimes with motifs of Indian, and occasionally ultimately western Asian, origin: stepped merlons, lion heads, vedikas, and lotus petals. It is worth noting that architectural elements such as pillars, gable ends, and domes as represented in the reliefs tend to follow the Indian forms
.
Gandhara became roughly a Holy Land of Buddhism and excluding a handful of Hindu images, sculpture took the form either of Buddhist sect objects, Buddha and Bodhisattvas, or of architectural embellishment for Buddhist monasteries. The more metaphorical kinds are demonstrated by small votive stupas, and bases teeming with stucco images and figurines that have lasted at Jaulian and Mora Moradu, outpost monasteries in the hills around Taxila. Hadda, near the present town of Jalalabad, has created some groups in stucco of an almost rococo while more latest works of art in baked clay, with strong Hellenistic influence, have been revealed there, in what sums up as tiny chapels. It is not known exactly why stucco, an imported Alexandrian modus operandi, was used. It is true that grey schist is not found near Taxila, however other stones are available, and in opposition to the ease of operating with stucco, predominantly the artistic effects which can be achieved, must be set with its impermanence- fresh deposits frequently had to be applied. Excluding possibly at Taxila, its use emerges to have been a late expansion.
Architectural fundamentals of the Gandhara art, like pillars, gable ends and domes as showcased in the reliefs, were inclined to follow Indian outlines, but the pilaster with capital of Corinthian type, abounds and in one-palace scene Persepolitan columns go along with Roman coffered ceilings. The so-called Shrine of the Double-Headed Eagle at Sirkap, in actuality a stupa pedestal, well demonstrates this enlightening eclecticism- the double-headed bird on top of the chaitya arch is an insignia of Scythian origin, which appears as a Byzantine motif and materialises much later in South India as the ga1J.qa-bheru1J.qa in addition to atop European armorial bearings.
In Gandhara art the descriptive friezes were all but invariably Buddhist, and hence Indian in substance- one depicted a horse on wheels nearing a doorway, which might have represented the Trojan horse affair, but this is under scan. The Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, familiar from the previous Greek-based coinage of the region, appeared once or twice as standing figurines, presumably because as a pair, they tallied an Indian mithuna couple. There were also female statuettes, corresponding to city goddesses. Though figures from Butkara, near Saidan Sharif in Swat, were noticeably more Indian in physical type, and Indian motifs were in abundance there. Sculpture was, in the main, Hellenistic or Roman, and the art of Gandhara was indeed "the easternmost appearance of the art of the Roman Empire, especially in its late and provincial manifestations". Furthermore, naturalistic portrait heads, one of the high-points of Roman sculpture, were all but missing in Gandhara, in spite of the episodic separated head, probably that of a donor, with a discernible feeling of uniqueness. Some constitutions and poses matched those from western Asia and the Roman world; like the manner in which a figure in a recurrently instanced scene from the Dipankara jataka had prostrated himself before the future Buddha, is reverberated in the pose of the defeated before the defeater on a Trojanic frieze on the Arch of Constantine and in later illustrations of the admiration of the divinised emperor. One singular recurrently occurring muscular male figure, hand on sword, witnessed in three-quarters view from the backside, has been adopted from western classical sculpture. On occasions standing figures, even the Buddha, deceived the elusive stylistic actions of the Roman sculptor, seeking to express majestas. The drapery was fundamentally Western- the folds and volume of dangling garments were carved with realness and gusto- but it was mainly the persistent endeavours at illusionism, though frequently obscured by unrefined carving, which earmarked the Gandhara sculpture as based on a western classical visual impact.
The distinguishing Gandhara sculpture, of which hundreds if not thousands of instances have outlived, is the standing or seated Buddha. This flawlessly reproduces the necessary nature of Gandhara art, in which a religious and an artistic constituent, drawn from widely varied cultures have been bonded. The iconography is purely Indian. The seated Buddha is mostly cross-legged in the established Indian manner. However, forthcoming generations, habituated to think of the Buddha as a monk, and unable to picture him ever possessing long hair or donning a turban, came to deduce the chigon as a "cranial protuberance", singular to Buddha. But Buddha is never depicted with a shaved head, as are the Sangha, the monks; his short hair is clothed either in waves or in taut curls over his whole head. The extended ears are merely due to the downward thrust of the heavy ear-rings worn by a prince or magnate; the distortion of the ear-lobes is especially visible in Buddha, who, in Gandhara, never wore ear-rings or ornaments of any kind. As Foucher puts it, the Gandhara Buddha is at a time a monk without shaving and a prince stripped off jewellery.
The western classical factor rests in the style, in the handling of the robe, and in the physiognomy of Buddha. The cloak, which covers all but the appendages (though the right shoulder is often bared), is dealt like in Greek and Roman sculptures; the heavy folds are given a plastic flair of their own, and only in poorer or later works do they deteriorate into indented lines, fairly a return to standard Indian practice. The "western" treatment has caused Buddha"s garment to be misidentified for a toga; but a toga is semicircular, while, Buddha wore a basic, rectangular piece of cloth, i.e., the samghiifi, a monk"s upper garment. The head gradually swerves towards a hieratic stylisation, but at its best, it is naturalistic and almost positively based on the Greek Apollo, undoubtedly in Hellenistic or Roman copies.
Gandhara art also had developed at least two species of image, i.e. not part of the frieze, in which Buddha is the fundamental figure of an event in his life, distinguished by accompanying figures and a detailed mise-en-scene. Perhaps the most remarkable amongst these is the Visit to the Indrasala Cave, of which the supreme example is dated in the year 89, almost unquestionably of the Kanishka period. Indra and his harpist are depicted on their visit in it. The small statuettes of the visitors emerge below, an elephant describing Indra. The more general among these detailed images, of which approximately 30 instances are known, is presumably related with the Great Miracle of Sravasti. In one such example, one of the adjoining Bodhisattvas is distinguished as Avalokiteshwara by the tiny seated Buddha in his headgear. Other features of these images include the unreal species of tree above Buddha, the spiky lotus upon which he sits, and the effortlessly identifiable figurines of Indra and Brahma on both sides.
Another important aspect of the Gandhara art was the coins of the Graeco-Bactrians. The coins of the Graeco-Bactrians - on the Greek metrological standard, equals the finest Attic examples and of the Indo-Greek kings, which have until lately served as the only instances of Greek art found in the subcontinent. The legendary silver double decadrachmas of Amyntas, possibly a remembrance issue, are the biggest "Greek" coins ever minted, the largest cast in gold, is the exceptional decadrachma of the same king in the Bibliotheque Nationale, with the Dioscuri on the inverse. Otherwise, there was scanty evidence until recently of Greek or Hellenistic influences in Gandhara. A manifestation of Greek metropolitan planning is furnished by the rectilinear layouts of two cities of the 1st centuries B.C./A.D.--Sirkap at Taxila and Shaikhan Pheri at Charsadda. Remains of the temple at Jandial, also at Taxila and presumably dating back to 1st century B.C., also includes Greek characteristics- remarkably the huge base mouldings and the Ionic capitals of the colossal portico and antechamber columns. In contrast, the columns or pilasters on the immeasurable Gandhara friezes (when they are not in a Indian style), are consistently coronated by Indo-Corinthian capitals, the local version of the Corinthian capital- a certain sign of a comparatively later date.
The notable Begram hoard confirms articulately to the number and multiplicity of origin of the foreign artefacts imported into Gandhara. This further illustrates the foreign influence in the Gandhara art. Parallel hoards have been found in peninsular India, especially in Kolhapur in Maharashtra, but the imported wares are sternly from the Roman world. At Begram the ancient Kapisa, near Kabul, there are bronzes, possibly of Alexandrian manufacture, in close proximity with emblemata (plaster discs, certainly meant as moulds for local silversmiths), bearing reliefs in the purest classical vein, Chinese lacquers and Roman glass. The hoard was possibly sealed in mid-3rd century, when some of the subjects may have been approximately 200 years old "antiques", frequently themselves replicates of classical Greek objects. The plentiful ivories, consisting in the central of chest and throne facings, engraved in a number of varied relief techniques, were credibly developed somewhere between Mathura and coastal Andhra. Some are of unrivalled beauty. Even though a few secluded instances of early Indian ivory carving have outlived, including the legendary mirror handle from Pompeii, the Begram ivories are the only substantial collection known until moderately in present times of what must always have been a widespread craft. Other sites, particularly Taxila, have generated great many instances of such imports, some from India, some, like the appealing tiny bronze figure of Harpocrates, undoubtedly from Alexandria. Further cultural influences are authenticated by the Scytho Sarmatian jewellery, with its characteristic high-backed carnivores, and by a statue of St. Peter. But all this should not cloud the all-important truth that the immediately identifiable Gandhara style was the prevailing form of artistic manifestation throughout the expanse for several centuries, and the magnitude of its influence on the art of central Asia and China and as far as Japan, allows no doubt about its integrity and vitality.
In the Gandhara art early Buddhist iconography drew heavily on traditional sources, incorporating Hindu gods and goddesses into a Buddhist pantheon and adapting old folk tales to Buddhist religious purposes. Kubera and Harm are probably the best-known examples of this process.
Five dated idols from Gandhara art though exist, however the hitch remains that the era is never distinguished. The dates are in figures under 100 or else in 300s. Moreover one of the higher numbers are debatable, besides, the image upon which it is engraved is not in the conventional Andhra style. The two low-number-dated idols are the most sophisticated and the least injured. Their pattern is classical Gandhara. The most undemanding rendition of their dates relates them to Kanishka and 78 A.D. is assumed as the commencement of his era. They both fall in the second half of the 2nd century A.D. and equally later, if a later date is necessitated for the beginning of Kanishka`s time. This calculation nearly parallels numismatics and archaeological evidences. The application of other eras, like the Vikrama (base date- 58 B.C.) and the Saka (base date- 78 A.D.), would place them much later. The badly battered figurines portray standing Buddhas, without a head of its own, but both on original figured plinths. They come to view as depicting the classical Gandhara style; decision regarding where to place these two dated Buddhas, both standing, must remain knotty till more evidence comes out as to how late the classical Gandhara panache had continued.
Methodical study of the Gandhara art, and specifically about its origins and expansion, is befuddled with numerous problems, not at least of which is the inordinately complex history and culture of the province. It is one of the great ethnical crossroads of the world simultaneously being in the path of all the intrusions of India for over three millennia. Bussagli has rightly remarked, `More than any other Indian region, Gandhara was a participant in the political and cultural events that concerned the rest of the Asian continent`.
However, Systematic study of the art of Gandhara, and particularly of its origins and development, is bedeviled by many problems, not the least of which is the extraordinarily complex history and culture of the region.
In spite of the labours of many scholars over the past hundred and fifty years, the answers to some of the most important questions, such as the number of centuries spanned by the art of Gandhara, still await, fresh archaeological, inscriptional, or numismatic evidence.
Gandhara is the name given to an ancient region or province invaded in 326 B.C. by Alexander the Great, who took Charsadda (ancient Puskalavati) near present-day Peshawar (ancient Purusapura) and then marched eastward across the Indus into the Punjab as far as the Beas river (ancient Vipasa). Gandhara constituted the undulating plains, irrigated by the Kabul River from the Khyber Pass area, the contemporary boundary between Pakistan and Afganistan, down to the Indus River and southward towards the Murree hills and Taxila (ancient Taksasila), near Pakistan"s present capital, Islamabad. Its art, however, during the first centuries of the Christian era, had adopted a substantially larger area, together with the upper stretches of the Kabul River, the valley of Kabul itself, and ancient Kapisa, as well as Swat and Buner towards the north.
A great deal of Gandhara sculptures has survived dating from the first to probably as late as the sixth or even the seventh century but in a remarkably homogeneous style. Most of the arts were almost always in a blue-gray mica schist, though sometimes in a green phyllite or in stucco, or very rarely in terracotta. Because of the appeal of its Western classical aesthetic for the British rulers of India, schooled to admire all things Greek and Roman, a great deal found its way into private hands or the shelter of museums.
Gandhara sculpture primarily comprised Buddhist monastic establishments. These monasteries provided a never-ending gallery for sculptured reliefs of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. The Gandhara stupas were comparatively magnified and more intricate, but the most remarkable feature, which distinguished the Gandhara stupas from the pervious styles were hugely tiered umbrellas at its peak, almost soaring over the total structure. The abundance of Gandharan sculpture was an art, which originated with foreign artisans.
In the excavation among the varied miscellany of small bronze figures, though not often like Alexandrian imports, four or five Buddhist bronzes are very late in date. These further illustrate the aura of the Gandhara art. Relics of mural paintings though have been discovered, yet the only substantial body of painting, in Bamiyan, is moderately late, and much of it belongs to an Iranian or central Asian rather than an Indian context. Non-narrative themes and architectural ornament were omnipresent at that time. Mythical figures and animals such as atlantes, tritons, dragons, and sea serpents derive from the same source, although there is the occasional high-backed, stylized creature associated with the Central Asian animal style. Moldings and cornices are decorated mostly with acanthus, laurel, and vine, though sometimes with motifs of Indian, and occasionally ultimately western Asian, origin: stepped merlons, lion heads, vedikas, and lotus petals. It is worth noting that architectural elements such as pillars, gable ends, and domes as represented in the reliefs tend to follow the Indian forms
.
Gandhara became roughly a Holy Land of Buddhism and excluding a handful of Hindu images, sculpture took the form either of Buddhist sect objects, Buddha and Bodhisattvas, or of architectural embellishment for Buddhist monasteries. The more metaphorical kinds are demonstrated by small votive stupas, and bases teeming with stucco images and figurines that have lasted at Jaulian and Mora Moradu, outpost monasteries in the hills around Taxila. Hadda, near the present town of Jalalabad, has created some groups in stucco of an almost rococo while more latest works of art in baked clay, with strong Hellenistic influence, have been revealed there, in what sums up as tiny chapels. It is not known exactly why stucco, an imported Alexandrian modus operandi, was used. It is true that grey schist is not found near Taxila, however other stones are available, and in opposition to the ease of operating with stucco, predominantly the artistic effects which can be achieved, must be set with its impermanence- fresh deposits frequently had to be applied. Excluding possibly at Taxila, its use emerges to have been a late expansion.
Architectural fundamentals of the Gandhara art, like pillars, gable ends and domes as showcased in the reliefs, were inclined to follow Indian outlines, but the pilaster with capital of Corinthian type, abounds and in one-palace scene Persepolitan columns go along with Roman coffered ceilings. The so-called Shrine of the Double-Headed Eagle at Sirkap, in actuality a stupa pedestal, well demonstrates this enlightening eclecticism- the double-headed bird on top of the chaitya arch is an insignia of Scythian origin, which appears as a Byzantine motif and materialises much later in South India as the ga1J.qa-bheru1J.qa in addition to atop European armorial bearings.
In Gandhara art the descriptive friezes were all but invariably Buddhist, and hence Indian in substance- one depicted a horse on wheels nearing a doorway, which might have represented the Trojan horse affair, but this is under scan. The Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, familiar from the previous Greek-based coinage of the region, appeared once or twice as standing figurines, presumably because as a pair, they tallied an Indian mithuna couple. There were also female statuettes, corresponding to city goddesses. Though figures from Butkara, near Saidan Sharif in Swat, were noticeably more Indian in physical type, and Indian motifs were in abundance there. Sculpture was, in the main, Hellenistic or Roman, and the art of Gandhara was indeed "the easternmost appearance of the art of the Roman Empire, especially in its late and provincial manifestations". Furthermore, naturalistic portrait heads, one of the high-points of Roman sculpture, were all but missing in Gandhara, in spite of the episodic separated head, probably that of a donor, with a discernible feeling of uniqueness. Some constitutions and poses matched those from western Asia and the Roman world; like the manner in which a figure in a recurrently instanced scene from the Dipankara jataka had prostrated himself before the future Buddha, is reverberated in the pose of the defeated before the defeater on a Trojanic frieze on the Arch of Constantine and in later illustrations of the admiration of the divinised emperor. One singular recurrently occurring muscular male figure, hand on sword, witnessed in three-quarters view from the backside, has been adopted from western classical sculpture. On occasions standing figures, even the Buddha, deceived the elusive stylistic actions of the Roman sculptor, seeking to express majestas. The drapery was fundamentally Western- the folds and volume of dangling garments were carved with realness and gusto- but it was mainly the persistent endeavours at illusionism, though frequently obscured by unrefined carving, which earmarked the Gandhara sculpture as based on a western classical visual impact.
The distinguishing Gandhara sculpture, of which hundreds if not thousands of instances have outlived, is the standing or seated Buddha. This flawlessly reproduces the necessary nature of Gandhara art, in which a religious and an artistic constituent, drawn from widely varied cultures have been bonded. The iconography is purely Indian. The seated Buddha is mostly cross-legged in the established Indian manner. However, forthcoming generations, habituated to think of the Buddha as a monk, and unable to picture him ever possessing long hair or donning a turban, came to deduce the chigon as a "cranial protuberance", singular to Buddha. But Buddha is never depicted with a shaved head, as are the Sangha, the monks; his short hair is clothed either in waves or in taut curls over his whole head. The extended ears are merely due to the downward thrust of the heavy ear-rings worn by a prince or magnate; the distortion of the ear-lobes is especially visible in Buddha, who, in Gandhara, never wore ear-rings or ornaments of any kind. As Foucher puts it, the Gandhara Buddha is at a time a monk without shaving and a prince stripped off jewellery.
The western classical factor rests in the style, in the handling of the robe, and in the physiognomy of Buddha. The cloak, which covers all but the appendages (though the right shoulder is often bared), is dealt like in Greek and Roman sculptures; the heavy folds are given a plastic flair of their own, and only in poorer or later works do they deteriorate into indented lines, fairly a return to standard Indian practice. The "western" treatment has caused Buddha"s garment to be misidentified for a toga; but a toga is semicircular, while, Buddha wore a basic, rectangular piece of cloth, i.e., the samghiifi, a monk"s upper garment. The head gradually swerves towards a hieratic stylisation, but at its best, it is naturalistic and almost positively based on the Greek Apollo, undoubtedly in Hellenistic or Roman copies.
Gandhara art also had developed at least two species of image, i.e. not part of the frieze, in which Buddha is the fundamental figure of an event in his life, distinguished by accompanying figures and a detailed mise-en-scene. Perhaps the most remarkable amongst these is the Visit to the Indrasala Cave, of which the supreme example is dated in the year 89, almost unquestionably of the Kanishka period. Indra and his harpist are depicted on their visit in it. The small statuettes of the visitors emerge below, an elephant describing Indra. The more general among these detailed images, of which approximately 30 instances are known, is presumably related with the Great Miracle of Sravasti. In one such example, one of the adjoining Bodhisattvas is distinguished as Avalokiteshwara by the tiny seated Buddha in his headgear. Other features of these images include the unreal species of tree above Buddha, the spiky lotus upon which he sits, and the effortlessly identifiable figurines of Indra and Brahma on both sides.
Another important aspect of the Gandhara art was the coins of the Graeco-Bactrians. The coins of the Graeco-Bactrians - on the Greek metrological standard, equals the finest Attic examples and of the Indo-Greek kings, which have until lately served as the only instances of Greek art found in the subcontinent. The legendary silver double decadrachmas of Amyntas, possibly a remembrance issue, are the biggest "Greek" coins ever minted, the largest cast in gold, is the exceptional decadrachma of the same king in the Bibliotheque Nationale, with the Dioscuri on the inverse. Otherwise, there was scanty evidence until recently of Greek or Hellenistic influences in Gandhara. A manifestation of Greek metropolitan planning is furnished by the rectilinear layouts of two cities of the 1st centuries B.C./A.D.--Sirkap at Taxila and Shaikhan Pheri at Charsadda. Remains of the temple at Jandial, also at Taxila and presumably dating back to 1st century B.C., also includes Greek characteristics- remarkably the huge base mouldings and the Ionic capitals of the colossal portico and antechamber columns. In contrast, the columns or pilasters on the immeasurable Gandhara friezes (when they are not in a Indian style), are consistently coronated by Indo-Corinthian capitals, the local version of the Corinthian capital- a certain sign of a comparatively later date.
The notable Begram hoard confirms articulately to the number and multiplicity of origin of the foreign artefacts imported into Gandhara. This further illustrates the foreign influence in the Gandhara art. Parallel hoards have been found in peninsular India, especially in Kolhapur in Maharashtra, but the imported wares are sternly from the Roman world. At Begram the ancient Kapisa, near Kabul, there are bronzes, possibly of Alexandrian manufacture, in close proximity with emblemata (plaster discs, certainly meant as moulds for local silversmiths), bearing reliefs in the purest classical vein, Chinese lacquers and Roman glass. The hoard was possibly sealed in mid-3rd century, when some of the subjects may have been approximately 200 years old "antiques", frequently themselves replicates of classical Greek objects. The plentiful ivories, consisting in the central of chest and throne facings, engraved in a number of varied relief techniques, were credibly developed somewhere between Mathura and coastal Andhra. Some are of unrivalled beauty. Even though a few secluded instances of early Indian ivory carving have outlived, including the legendary mirror handle from Pompeii, the Begram ivories are the only substantial collection known until moderately in present times of what must always have been a widespread craft. Other sites, particularly Taxila, have generated great many instances of such imports, some from India, some, like the appealing tiny bronze figure of Harpocrates, undoubtedly from Alexandria. Further cultural influences are authenticated by the Scytho Sarmatian jewellery, with its characteristic high-backed carnivores, and by a statue of St. Peter. But all this should not cloud the all-important truth that the immediately identifiable Gandhara style was the prevailing form of artistic manifestation throughout the expanse for several centuries, and the magnitude of its influence on the art of central Asia and China and as far as Japan, allows no doubt about its integrity and vitality.
In the Gandhara art early Buddhist iconography drew heavily on traditional sources, incorporating Hindu gods and goddesses into a Buddhist pantheon and adapting old folk tales to Buddhist religious purposes. Kubera and Harm are probably the best-known examples of this process.
Five dated idols from Gandhara art though exist, however the hitch remains that the era is never distinguished. The dates are in figures under 100 or else in 300s. Moreover one of the higher numbers are debatable, besides, the image upon which it is engraved is not in the conventional Andhra style. The two low-number-dated idols are the most sophisticated and the least injured. Their pattern is classical Gandhara. The most undemanding rendition of their dates relates them to Kanishka and 78 A.D. is assumed as the commencement of his era. They both fall in the second half of the 2nd century A.D. and equally later, if a later date is necessitated for the beginning of Kanishka`s time. This calculation nearly parallels numismatics and archaeological evidences. The application of other eras, like the Vikrama (base date- 58 B.C.) and the Saka (base date- 78 A.D.), would place them much later. The badly battered figurines portray standing Buddhas, without a head of its own, but both on original figured plinths. They come to view as depicting the classical Gandhara style; decision regarding where to place these two dated Buddhas, both standing, must remain knotty till more evidence comes out as to how late the classical Gandhara panache had continued.
Methodical study of the Gandhara art, and specifically about its origins and expansion, is befuddled with numerous problems, not at least of which is the inordinately complex history and culture of the province. It is one of the great ethnical crossroads of the world simultaneously being in the path of all the intrusions of India for over three millennia. Bussagli has rightly remarked, `More than any other Indian region, Gandhara was a participant in the political and cultural events that concerned the rest of the Asian continent`.
However, Systematic study of the art of Gandhara, and particularly of its origins and development, is bedeviled by many problems, not the least of which is the extraordinarily complex history and culture of the region.
In spite of the labours of many scholars over the past hundred and fifty years, the answers to some of the most important questions, such as the number of centuries spanned by the art of Gandhara, still await, fresh archaeological, inscriptional, or numismatic evidence.
Fathi Kutulu & Sezgin Agca & Verena Aziz - Take the A-Train Musikfestival Salzburg - 13.09.2019 - Bamiyan Kebap Pizza Salzburg
www.jazzfoto.at/konzertfotos19/_take_the_a_train/_tag3/ku...
Besetzung:
Fathi Kutlu: perc
Sezgin Akca: perc
Verena Aziz: dance
La vallée de Bamyan à 2500m d'altitude avec au fond des sommets de près de 5000m. La région peuplée est par une minorité ethnique, les Hazaras, d'origine mongole et musulmans chiites.
Bamyan est célèbre pour ses statues de Buddha détruites en partie en Mai 2001 par les Talibans.
Les statues sont taillées dans la falaise de grès et ont été sculptées entre le III ème et le VIII ème siècle.
Le Grand Buddha (53m de haut) qu'on aperçoit au fond.
Le Petit Buddha (38 m de haut)
et un 3ème de 10 m à 4 km.
Diapositive scannée.
Back in 1970, I had the chance to visit Afghanistan and the valley of Bamiyan. The two Bouddha statues (53 and 38 m.) were still standing then. Built around fifteen centuries ago, they had survived the invasion of Genghis Khan in 1221 but the Talibans, in 2001, after a month of bombing and rocketting, managed to obliterate them.
Excerpt from the plaque:
Founded in 2014, ArtLords was the first group to create contemporary mural paintings in Afghanistan. They have one underground office in Afghanistan, an office in Istanbul, Turkey, and an office in Virginia, United States. With 7 employees and 53 artists, ArtLords’ aim is to pave the way for social transformation through the power of art and culture. They wish to give local communities visual representations of their shared desire to move from war, conflict, and strife towards peace and inter-communal harmony. While their work started on the streets of Kabul, they are now painting murals in places as far flung as Australia, the USA, Turkey and Colombia and, to date, they have completed over 2,200 murals in total.
Blast walls are put up to protect the people of Kabul from bombs and explosions. ArtLords saw a way to turn these into a more positive experience. By decorating the walls with issues relevant to ordinary citizens, ArtLords have been able to create public spaces where social problems can be given visual expression and discussed in the street. It is in these spaces that they also organize their open art workshops.
This mural was painted collaboratively by ArtLords and Museum visitors over eight weekends in October and November 2022. Approximately 1000 people contributed to the mural’s creation. The wings in the center were left for visitors to interpret without any direction from ArtLords. ArtLords hoped that this would give visitors the opportunity to paint what inspires them and, in their words, “give the little girl wings.”
This mural was created specifically for this exhibition. Inspired by ArtLords’ work in and for Afghanistan, it is designed to provide a meeting place for all the cultures that call Toronto and Canada their home. The images in the mural highlight key themes of shared interest and concern: strength and hope, the need to empower girls, and a recognition of the may complex ways in which all our histories intertwine. In the mural, the Canadian Rockies house the well-known Afghan Bamiyan Buddhas. This combination unites different cultural histories in a new, shared history. The Canadian maple leaf and the field of red poppies reflect the shared grief for lives lost during the protracted conflicts, conflicts which have impacted both Canadians and Afghans. The Afghan girl holding the map of Afghanistan in her arms represents the arrival of Afghan newcomers. These new arrivals bring their hopes, dreams, art and unique stories to Canada and add to the rich cultural tapestry of this country.
The niche of one of the smaller buddha statues situated between the two main Buddhas of Bamiyan. As suggested by @hutsman, it either crumbled under the tyranny of time or was ruined by one of the many conquerors
But I needed something soothing. This was taken in Bamiyan province, Afghanistan. It is impossible to reconcile such a beautiful landscape with what is going on in the country right now. The girls we are trying to save are Hazara, members of an ethnic and religious minority always targeted by the Taliban. When they took Bamyan last week, they destroyed the statue of a revered Hazara leader. Who will be next?
Afghanistan will disappear from the headlines soon, once the way-too-short evacuation campaign is over. But we mustn't forget millions of vulnerable people are trapped there.
I think today or tomorrow is our last chance to get Saliha out. Every day, there is a new obstacle 😭
The stunning view of the rugged montuains around the Bamiyan Valley, where the famous giant Buddhas were destroyed by the talibans. Hazarajat, central Afghanistan.
View of one of the giant Buddha's destroyed by the talibans in 2001. Even the niches remaning are impressive.
Fathi Kutulu & Sezgin Agca & Verena Aziz - Take the A-Train Musikfestival Salzburg - 13.09.2019 - Bamiyan Kebap Pizza Salzburg
www.jazzfoto.at/konzertfotos19/_take_the_a_train/_tag3/ku...
Besetzung:
Fathi Kutlu: perc
Sezgin Akca: perc
Verena Aziz: dance
O Buddha Eden Garden é um espaço com cerca de 35 hectares, idealizado e concebido pelo Comendador José Berardo, em resposta à destruição dos Budas Gigantes de Bamyan, naquele que foi, um dos maiores actos de barbárie cultural, apagando da memória obras primas, do período tardio da Arte de Gandhara.
Em 2001, profundamente chocado com a atitude do Governo Talibã, que destruiu, intencionalmente, monumentos únicos do Património da Humanidade, o Comendador Berardo deu início, a mais um, dos seus sonhos, a construção deste extenso jardim oriental. Prestando, de certo modo, homenagem aos colossais Budas esculpidos na rocha do vale de Bamyan, no centro do Afeganistão, e que durante séculos foram referências culturais e espirituais.
Le Bouddha Eden Garden est une parc d'environ 35 hectares dessiné et conçu par José Berardo Commandeur en réponse à la destruction des Bouddhas de Bamiyan les Géants, dans ce qui était l'un des plus grands actes de barbarie culturelle, effaçant les chefs-d'œuvre de la mémoire, de la période fin du Gandhara Art.
En 2001, profondément choqué par l'attitude du gouvernement taliban, qui a détruit intentionnellement monuments uniques du site du patrimoine mondial, le Commandeur Berardo a commencé, un de ces rêves, la construction de ce vaste jardin oriental. Fournir, en quelque sorte, un hommage aux bouddhas colossaux sculpté dans la roche de la vallée de Bamyan, dans le centre de l'Afghanistan, et que pendant des siècles étaient des références culturelles et spirituelles.
Bamian, Afghanistan - July 1978
The We are Here challenge on December 2 2016 was: Reading Inspired
If you like travel/adventure memoirs (In Patagonia, The Great Railway Bazaar, A Walk in the Woods, etc.), and you don't know this one, you really really really must read this one too: A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby.
PARIGI - Georges Wolinski era un artista, uno dei giganti delle “bandes dessinées”, e della satira libera contro ogni Potere e contro ogni intolleranza. Di questa prodigiosa, nuova, magica arte del grande fumetto d'autore. Dagli anni '70 era in Italia tra gli autori più conosciuti, grazie a Linus e all'affermazione in quegli anni di questo nuovo fenomeno creativo.
Cabu, Charb, Tignous erano altri artisti, come Wolinski. Sono stati mitragliati, fucilati, abbattuti dal totalitarismo fondamentalista, e con loro altri nomi meno noti, che credevano nella cultura libera. E' stato ucciso -come in un mattatoio, come alle Fosse Ardeatine- un poliziotto già ferito a terra.
Non voglio commentare la barbarie e l'odio distruttivo di questi nuovi nazisti. Voglio solo tornare a dire che il primo obiettivo delle dittature e dei regimi totalitari è quello di mettere a tacere la cultura. Di bruciare i libri. Di distruggere le opere d'arte, come i Buddah di Bamiyan o gli antichi manoscritti di Timbuctù.
Difendere e promuovere la cultura è oggi l'unica risposta vincente a questo orrore. Bisogna ricordarlo soprattutto a chi ha le responsabilità politiche e di governo.
“Di tutte le superstizioni”, scriveva Voltaire nel Trattato sulla Tolleranza, “la più pericolosa è quella di odiare il prossimo per le sue opinioni”.
210720_Sony_DSC5189_HDR
chaumont-sur-loire.billets-chateaux-de-la-loire.fr/
en cristallisant, par le verre en fusion, la mémoire des livres, ... opèrent un retour quasi alchimique dans la bibliothèque.
“Chaque œuvre de Pascal Convert porte en elle une incroyable profondeur, une puissance émotionnelle rare, qui provient des sujets et des objets sur lesquels se porte inlassablement son regard. Qu’il évoque, par la photographie, les bouddhas disparus de Bâmiyân, ou, par ses sculptures ou ses gravures, les lieux de guerre de tous ordres, la trace, l’empreinte, la mémoire sont au cœur de la création de cet artiste, toujours proche de ce qui blesse nos âmes et des souffrances qui nous creusent le cœur.
Quoi de plus naturel que la relation de cet écrivain, également cinéaste, aux livres et aux bibilothèques, qui changent notre regard sur le monde et ouvrent nos portes intérieures. Mais, par un procédé fascinant de transsubstantiation, il va bien au-delà de l’attrait pour ces objets de savoir, en cristallisant, par le verre en fusion, la mémoire des livres, qui demeurent ainsi au cœur de ses sculptures. Au Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, en un lieu où, paradoxalement, les ouvrages de la princesse de Broglie avaient disparu par le feu d’un incendie, en 1957, les livres pétrifiés de Pascal Convert, enserrant l’âme des textes disparus dans une gangue de verre translucide, opèrent un retour quasi alchimique dans la bibliothèque et lui confèrent ainsi, dans nos mémoires, une inaltérable éternité.” Chantal Colleu-Dumond, Memento, 2020
CHAMBRE INTÉRIEURE CRISTALLISÉE
Rien n’est plus fragile à voir que ce lit fait de courbes en verre légèrement perlées de sable blanc, empreintes miraculeuses des arabesques en fer forgé qui dessinent une cage protectrice autour d'un sommeil d'enfant. Dans ce lieu que l’on imagine innocent, loin des remous du monde, dans un battement de lumière, "vit la vie, rêve la vie, souffre la vie.1"
D’un côté, veilleurs devenus éternels, des candélabres aux rugueuses aspérités de cristal scellent dans le verre la flamme éblouissante des bougies dont les reflets, devenus intérieurs, n’éclaireront plus les fenêtres une fois le soleil couché.
De l’autre, des encadrements de miroir cristallisés en verre ne renvoient plus les multiples images de soi mais découpent des écrans, ouverts comme des livres.
Cette chambre, d’une transparence immobilisée dans le rêve, entre l’envol et l’enclos, présente et absente, abrite ainsi le sentiment frémissant d’une conscience intérieure.
"L'art est une véritable transmutation de la matière. La matière y est spiritualisée, les milieux physiques y sont dématérialisés, pour réfracter l'essence, c'est-à-dire la qualité d'un monde originel.2"
The Hindu Kush is an 800-kilometre-long (500 mi) mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the western section of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region (HKH); to the north, near its northeastern end, the Hindu Kush buttresses the Pamir Mountains to the north near the point where the borders of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet, after which it runs southwest through Pakistan and into Afghanistan near their border.
The eastern end of the Hindu Kush merges with the Karakoram Range. Towards its southern end, it connects with the White Mountains near the Kabul River. It divides the valley of the Amu Darya (the ancient Oxus) to the north from the Indus River valley to the south. The range has numerous high snow-capped peaks, with the highest point being Tirich Mir or Terichmir at 7,708 metres (25,289 ft) in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
The Hindu Kush range region was a historically significant center of Buddhism, with sites such as the Bamiyan Buddhas. The range and communities settled in it hosted ancient monasteries, important trade networks and travelers between Central Asia and South Asia. While the vast majority of the region has been majority-Muslim for several centuries now, certain portions of the Hindu Kush only became Islamized relatively recently, such as Kafiristan, which retained ancient polytheistic beliefs until the 19th century when it was converted to Islam by the Emirate of Afghanistan and renamed Nuristan ("land of light"). The Hindu Kush range has also been the passageway for invasions of the Indian subcontinent, and continues to be important to contemporary warfare in Afghanistan.