Joint media release:
- Senator the Hon. Bob Carr, Minister for Foreign Affairs
- The Hon Simon Crean MP, Minister for the Arts
1 November 2012
Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Arts Minister Simon Crean today announced that the Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures of the National Museum, Kabul exhibition would tour Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane in 2013 and 2014.
Comprising more than 230 artefacts dating from sites along the Silk Road between 2200 BC to AD 200, the exhibition attests to the role Afghanistan has played as a crossroads of the ancient world.
Senator Carr said the items were feared destroyed after Soviet occupation and civil war in Afghanistan, and were kept hidden by museum staff during the period of Taliban rule.
"The exhibition illustrates the motto of Afghanistan's National Museum – 'a nation stays alive when its culture stays alive'," Senator Carr said.
"The human stories behind these artefacts add to their value as a cultural record of ancient Afghanistan."
Minister Crean said the exhibition highlights the important role cultural diplomacy and exchange plays in strengthening Australia's engagement with the rest of the world.
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Read the full media release here: http://www.foreignminister.gov.au/releases/2012/bc_mr_121101b.html
Find out more about the exhibition: http://museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/afghanistan
The exhibition will feature at the Western Australian Museum from 26 July 2014 – 16 November 2014.
