Archeologia

Professor of Indian Archaeology

Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples, Italie.

In the past, what had been your relation with Afghanistan?

As an archaeologist, I have been working in Afghanistan — chiefly at Ghazni — from 1962 to 1977. For several years I was the head of the Italian Archaeological Mission there. The Mission which had been founded by Professor Giuseppe Tucci in 1957, was supported by the Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (IsMEO, now Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente, IsIAO).

I excavated a large portion (though much is still to be explored) of a Buddhist sacred area (Tapa Sardâr, near Ghazni) datable to the 3^rd though the 9^th century AD. The results of the excavations carried out by my team are published in East and West, in the Annali of the Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples and in the proceedings of the International Conferences of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists (South Asian Archaeology).

After the coup of April 1978, I could visit the country twice : in November 1978 and in November 1982, when I attended the Fourth and Fifth international Seminars of Kushan Studies. In 1982, I was not allowed to visit Ghazni, because of the unsafe situation of the country.

What is your current relationship with this country?

Needless to say, my scientific interest in the country never diminished, though the sudden stoppage of all field work prevented me and my collaborators from achieving any really satisfactory conclusions. We went on studying the documentation which is with us, though the actual finds remained in Afghanistan and the excavation was far from being complete.

Apart from these unfortunate scientific aspects, my ties with the country and its people are emotionally very strong. Fortunately I was able to keep in touch with a few Afghan colleagues who now live abroad.

Quite recently (in October, 1999) I was given the opportunity of visiting Kabul and Ghazni thanks to the Society for the Preservation of Aghanistan's Cultural Heritage (SPACH). Both in Kabul and Ghazni I had the joy of meeting old colleagues and friends.

What do you think of the actions carried out during this last txenty years to ,preserve its archaeological heritage?

I am afraid very little of any importance was actually achieved, though this is nobody's fault, as the situation was really hopeless for many years. From the point of view of the cultural heritage, the worst years were those which saw the armed confrontation between the mujaheddin and the pro-Soviet government of Kabul and between the various groups of mujaheddin : the Kabul Museum looted, other collections dispersed, archaeological sites and architectural monuments badly damaged, pillaged and sometimes even razed to the ground. Unfortunately the situation did not improve in more recent years especially insofar as the "illegal" diggings are concerned (but what is left of "legal" there ?). Moreover, while the Western press during the Soviet occupation was ready to spread malicious reports on the sack of the Kabul Museum by the Russians (which was a mere falsehood), the disasters which took place in later years hardly attracted the attention of the media.

I do not mean that what was done by the various organizations and associations was useless. Their efforts were certainly useful in keeping the attention alive and in letting the various Afghan governments understand that they were somehow under observation by the international public opinion. Unfortunately the main threat now comes from unscrupulous art dealers and art collectors abroad, who order illegal diggings in Afghanistan, out of any possible control.

Much was done by the SPACH in their attempt to rescue whatever still survives of the Kabul Museum's collections (which is not little !) and — most important of all — in attracting the attention of the present rulers, the taleban, to the significance of the country's cultural heritage, and not only the Islamic antiquities but the pre-Islamic as well.

What are your future projects in Afghanistan?Are you ready to engage the means or new programmes to safeguard this heritage?

I dare not make any plans for the near future in the perspective of a personal engagement in field work. I am certainly ready to help the Afghan colleagues in resuming their full responsibility in safeguarding their own cultural heritage and will suggest to all the agencies concerned that the best way to act is that of helping the Afghans by sending them books and other equipments for carrying on the necessary work of conservation and restoration.

In Afghanistan there are still many people who are perfectly capable of making those minor repairs that can prevent many monuments from being irremediably damaged by the atmospheric agents. They only need a little money to pay labour and the traditional materials to be employed.

Another way of protecting the Kabul Museum's objects still surviving both in Afghanistan an in private hands abroad, is that of producing a catalogue (either in printed form or available in Internet) of the Museum's collections as they were before the sack. This is possible thanks to the photographic archives kept in various institutions in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Needless to say, the IsIAO and myself are ready to give our contribution to the achievement of this project. Its aim is that of providing a repertory of images from which anybody may learn whether any given piece on the market was stolen from the Kabul Museum or not.

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