Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Kabul (BNA) A one-day workshop under the name of “Giving awareness on Afghanistan’s Cultural heritage” was held in ethnography hall of National Museum in Kabul, reported The Kabul Times reporter.
This workshop was organized for school students and employees of the museum. At the outset, addressing the workshop and talking on the values of the cultural heritage, the director of National Museum, Omara Khan Massoudi said, it would not be exaggerating to say that human being is the product of his culture and this is the culture that engraves and distinguishes his lofty values in the pages of history. The cultural phenomena are the result of uninterrupted efforts and crystallization of the consecutive generations’ talents in the course of history. Since the dawn of history, human being and culture and vice versa not only developed and nourished but also produced and educated each other.
Massoudi added this is our national obligation and responsibility to safeguard and preserve our national identity, instigate our children and youth to realize, understand it and be proud of it and as a result be steadfast and devoted in its preservation. Touching the position and importance of the National Museum, Massoudi went on to say, the National Museum of Afghanistan has been preserving and keeping our cultural riches and reputable evident of our national identity for several decades and has been invaded many times mercilessly by hostile elements and sustained heavy damages but once again has raised on its feet and resumed its course confidently towards future. Today, we are proud to open this workshop at the presence of you scholars and cultural professionals. On behalf of National Museum, I oblige myself to welcome your participation.
Later on, talking on the issue, Mrs. Nancy Dupree said, it is our job to preserve cultural works and heritage and introduce the past interestingly so to be understandable to students and public opinion. The MoIC and MoE have grave responsibility in this connection she added, how we could connect the cultural institutions to the people and we should insert a subject in schools curriculum to introduce our cultural heritages and how to introduce our proud past? Afterwards, speaking at the workshop, the National Museum advisor, Najeeb Popal said, giving awareness workshop on cultural heritages is a positive step for their preservation because they are our national identity. If mankind has a sound culture and healthy soul, the society will be sound socially and individually. If the culture is weak and sick the society will be directly affected with sickness and leads toward destruction.
Popal added, it is the obligation of every nation to defend its own culture. Protection of cultural heritages is our collective responsibility. We only cannot expect the National Museum to protect our culture we are also responsible to protect it. This workshop could open a ray of hope for future to our society and youth. Talking on the workshop’s objectives Noor Agha said, in 2014 we started an awareness program for private and public schools students in which presentation was delivered by coordinators and professional members of chief curator National Museum to students of fourteen schools and under that program, brochures, pens and notebooks were distributed to them free of charge. He went on to say at the end of the program we organized a workshop in National Museum in which government organizations that were involved in cultural activities were invited to share their opinions on how to present awareness on Afghanistan’s cultural heritages to people with the following objectives, “Coordination between museum and government and non-government education organizations, giving awareness on protection of smuggled works, attraction of visitors to National Museum prevention of illegal excavations in archeological sites”.
Talking on the importance of the workshop, an employee of the National Museum, Mohammad Rafiq Hafizi said holding of such workshops are good steps for preservation of cultural heritages especially for the museum employees. Qandi Gul, another employee of the National Museum said this workshop gives awareness on protection of ancient sites and cultural heritages and will promote and improve knowledge of museum employees and school students and the participants. In the workshop representatives of France embassy, UNESCO, Kabul University, Agha Khan Cultural Foundation, director of Koshanids, media and students had been attended.
