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POPSResurgent Taliban in Afghanistan Another result of "successful" troop surge in Iraq? As forces that could be used in Afghanistan continue to be diverted to Iraq the failure of the US/NATO Afghan war becomes even clearer.
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POPSPhotoGallery / Wall Paintings in the Afghan Region of Bamiyan The world was in shock when in 2001 the Taliban destroyed two ancient colossal Buddha statues in the Afghan region of Bamiyan. Behind those statues, there are caves decorated with precious paintings from 5th to 9th century A.D. The caves also suffered from Taliban destruction, as well as from a severe natural environment, but today they have become the source of a major discovery. Scientists have proved, thanks to experiments performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), that the paintings were made of oil, hundreds of years before the technique was “invented” in Europe.
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POPS Oil painting 'invented in Asia, not Europe' A dozen out of the 50 caves were painted with oil painting technique, using perhaps walnut and poppy seed oils, conclude Ms Yoko Taniguchi from the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties in Tokyo. "This is the earliest clear example of oil paintings in the world, although drying oils were already used by ancient Romans and Egyptians, but only as medicines and cosmetics", explains Ms Taniguchi, leader of the team. The results showed a high diversity of pigments as well as binders and the scientists identified original ingredients and alteration compounds. Apart from oil-based paint layers, some of the layers were made of natural resins, proteins, gums, and, in some cases, a resinous, varnish-like layer. The paintings are probably the work of artists who travelled on the Silk Road.
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POPS Buddhist Relics Latest Casualties of Pakistan's Talibanization
The picturesque Swat Valley has become infested with Taliban militants in recent weeks as the influence of the radical Islamic movement sweeps rapidly across northwest Pakistan. The militants have launched a bloody vice campaign that has left 47 dead, decimated the valley's tourism industry and terrorized the local community. Locals tell ABC News authorities have made no effort to stop the spread of "Talibanization" in a normally peaceful region, often described as "Pakistan's Switzerland." "For me at least, the Jehanabad Buddha was the most beautiful," said Fidaullah Sehrai, a retired professor of archaeology and a leading expert in ancient Buddhist art. Buddhism flourished in Pakistan and Afghanistan during the 7th century, and the Swat Valley is considered the birthplace of Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism. In his memories, the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang described hundreds of Buddha sculptures, monasteries and stupas in the valley. Only a handful has been excavated so far.
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POPSWar's sacred toll A brief history of wartime destruction of sacred buildings from 587BC through present day. The author recounts his pride in the American military bombers having spared the Cologne cathedral , whose spires were the tallest structures in Europe until the Eiffel tower, during WWII, until an Air Force veteran told him the truth--the Cologne cathedral was not bombed because it was sacred, but because its spires were an essential navigational aid. Why are sacred buildings targets of wartime attack? The author relates the attacks to attacks on religious meaning: "intimate connection between the divine and its expression, including the architecture and design of sacred buildings, enables believers to experience the touch of God on earth. However much religious impulses can be complicit in violence, that ineffable and precious touch is the absolute opposite of war. Human beings can never kill each other without killing God."
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POPSSites listed on world's 100 most endangered
Early modern Shanghai architectures and over 1,000-year-old Xumishan Grottoes in northern China were listed by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) on the 100 most endangered architectural and cultural sites in the world on Wednesday. The watch list, announced every two years by the non-profit organization based in New York City, highlights this year three critical man-made threats: political conflict, unchecked urban and industrial development, and global climate change. WMF said some of the most prominent early modern structures in Shanghai have been recognized as landmarks and the threats to the buildings from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s persist due to lack of awareness and development pressures. Shanghai, China's primary economic hub, is once again experiencing a period of remarkable growth. The work of the early Chinese architects is significant historically and architecturally but lacks long-term safeguarding, WMF said. As for Xumishan, a Buddhist enclave with more than 130
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POPSGiant Buddhas: Rubble is history, too. 'The destruction of the Buddhas by the Taliban in the 21st century, it is history also,' said Nasir Mudabir, the site director for the Afghan Ministry of Information, Culture and Youth. 'If you reconstruct them, you destroy the history.'
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POPSLaser show in Afganistan It may be silly, but I think this is amazing. It is a small gesture, but it is right to do something to remember what was lost and what is still there interms of peoples belief.
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