EXHIBITION  AT LINDENMUSEUM-STUTTGART: STUTTGART – AFGHANISTAN

connect - recount - encounter

27 January - 28 July 2024

Faraway or very close?

The exhibition explores the multi-layered connections between Stuttgart, Germany, and Afghanistan. It shows historical artefacts, pre-Islamic and Islamic works of art, and everyday objects.

Personal and contemporary

The exhibition was developed by the Linden-Museum in collaboration with the Entangled: Stuttgart - Afghanistan working group. Since 2019, people from the Stuttgart region, many with international and Afghanistan-related histories, as well as partners from the academic and artistic fields, have contributed their memories and thoughts to the exhibition. These contributions have shaped its concept and content on a very personal level. Throughout the exhibition, even when historical themes are explored, there are always references to the present.

The exhibition

The exhibition begins by showing transcontinental relations with the territory of present-day Afghanistan that date back thousands of years, providing an insight into the beginnings of German-Afghan history just over 100 years ago. Based on the museum's collections, it shows depictions of Buddha and marble panels from the Ghaznavid period (11th/12th century), in conjunction with new research and information on object provenance. The Stuttgart Badakhshan expedition of 1962/63, the Linden-Museum's largest research trip, forms a focal point of the exhibition. This project is retold through the research and involvement of a range of participants between Stuttgart and Afghanistan. The exhibition also recounts journeys to Afghanistan in the 1970s, and the lives of German families in Kabul. Another part of the display is dedicated to objects - especially from the 20th and 21st centuries - and their various meanings. Textiles, jewellery, furniture and crockery are linked to stories of travel, but also to migration, war and flight, raising political questions.

Selected works by Abdul Ghafur Brechna (1907 - 1974) accompany the themes of the exhibition. Brechna was one of Afghanistan's most important artists. His multifaceted work as a painter, composer, poet and theatre director influenced the development and renewal of art and culture in Afghanistan in the 20th century.

Two special rooms, the "Library" and the "Tea Room", invite visitors to read, play, listen to music, reflect, linger and participate. An extensive programme and a multifaceted magazine accompany the exhibition.

Text: Lindenmuseum

Abdul Ghafur Brechna - Linden-Museum Stuttgart (lindenmuseum.de)