Restoring the Bamiyan Buddhas?

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Unesco-stops-unauthorized-reconstruction-of-Bamiyan-Buddhas/31660

The Buddhas of Bamiyan before destruction
watanafghanistan.tumblr.com

Hello Everyone:

One of the saddest things that can happen to a cultural landmark is destruction.  Especially if said landmark is destroyed by a dictatorial regime because the landmark is somehow perceived as an affront to the dictator's ideology.  The cultural landmark I'm referring to are the Buddhas of Bamiyan located between the mountains of Hindu Kush in the central Afghan highlands, in the Bamiyan Valley.  The Buddhas, who stood at 55 meters and 38 meters respectively,  date from the sixth to the tenth centuries CE and were carved into the Bamiyan Cliffs.  They were part of a ensemble of wall paintings and series of seated Buddhas linked together by galleries created by travelers along the Silk Road.  The caves were part of a network of chapels, sanctuaries, and monasteries, dating to the third to fifth centuries CE. (whc.unesco.org)  In March 2001, the loathsome Taliban regime dynamited the Buddhas, shocking the world. In a recent article for Art Newspaper, Sandro Martini and Emanno Rivetti report a story of a team of archeologists that have set about reconstructing the feet and the smaller Buddha. The news of this project, undertaken without UNESCO's permission or knowledge, was debated during the Twelfth Meeting of UNESCO's Bamiyan's working group, in Italy this past December.

The Buddhas of Bamiyan after destruction
cnn.com

A team of archeologists from the German branch of International Council on Monuments and Sites, led by Michael Petzet, the former head of the organization between 1999 and 2008, has spent most of the year rebuilding the shorter Buddha's lower extremities with iron reinforced concrete and bricks.  Franceso Bandarin, UNESCO's assistant director-general for culture describes this as, "wrong on every level."  Mr. Bandarin add, "UNESCO has nothing to do with this.  It was undertaken without the consent of the Afghan government and has now been stopped."  Andrea Bruno, the architectural consultant to the organization for the last forty years confirms that the work was undertaken "against "UNESCO's decision [taken in 2011] not to rebuild the Buddhas."  Mr. Bruno adds that the work had not begun when he visited Afghanistan last March.

Color projection of the Buddhas of Bamiyan c.10th Century CE
photograph by Arnold Metzinger
world-hertiage-site.com

Professor Michael Petzet said that his team's funding was originally provided by UNESCO, a fact confirmed by Mr. Bandarin in a statement, "...has a contract with ICOMOS Germany to build a platform [where the smaller Buddha once stood] to protect visitors from falling rocks," but stresses that the reconstruction work was not part of the original plan and UNESCO wants to dismantle the work already done.  Professor Petzet told the Art Newspaper that he and his team "just wanted to preserve what can be preserved."  He continued, "Everything we have was discussed with the Afghan authorities: the [project] is nothing new."  On the contrary, Mr. Bandarin said that the Afghan minister of culture was not aware of the work when it was halted.

Caves near the Buddhas of Bamiyan
commons.wikimedia.org

One of the big question is how did Petzet's team carry out the extensive project without anyone noticing?  Francesco Bandarin offers this reason, "Things like this can happen in such a remote Afghanistan province."  I suppose.  Mr Bandarin continues, "...especially since they have worked there for years before this."  Founded in 1965, ICOMOS us dedicated to the conservation and protection of world heritage sites, advises UNESCO on said sites, but UNESCO is in charge of their management, conservation, and restoration.  Experts at UNESCO have asked the central ICOMOS office to file a report with the Afghan authorities and an additional report on the issue is due to the World Heritage Committee in June.  The Buddhas once stood along the Silk Route in the remote Hazarajat region, about 250 kilometers west of Kabul.  The sculptures were carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan Valley around the 6th Century CE, at the height of the Kushan empire, prior to the Islamic invasion in the 7th Century.  Despite several previous attempts t o destroy them, the Taliban brought them down with anti0aircraft guns, artillery, and dynamite.

Laser project of the lost Buddhas
southasiajournal.net

At the 2011 UNESCO meeting in Tokyo, the future of the site was formally decided.  At the meeting, a number of conservation and restoration plans were reviewed, including laser projections on the side of the cliff and Michael Petzet's proposal to reassemble the surviving smaller Buddhas in its niche using metal frames. Ultimately, the decision was made to leave the niches empty.  In the May 2012 issue of The Art Newspaper, Andrea Bruno lamely told the publication, "the void is the true sculpture" and the Buddhas would be best remembered by their absence.  Further, rebuilding them could be deemed offensive to the country's Muslims (Sunni) because Islam forbids religious iconography. Yet, Mr. Bruno failed to acknowledge the fact that the local population of Shia Muslims, persecuted by the Taliban, were deprive of what little income the earned from tourists visiting the area. A UNESCO initiative plans to encourage future visitors with sponsored programs.

Stamps with the Buddhas
international.ucla.edu

Since Professor Petzet's was halted, UNESCO has asked Andrea Bruno's Turin based architecture studio to supervise four related projects:

1) The largest project is a cultural center and museum dedicated to the region's rich Buddhist and Muslim history.  According to Mr. Bruno, it "goes beyond the missing Buddhas."  The building references the traditional "fortress-house" and will sit on a plateau that faces the cliff were the statues were carved.  South Korea has offered to pay for the estimated $5.4 billion work, which is expected to be completed by October 2016.

2) A hidden underground viewing chamber will be constructed at the foot of the larger Buddha.  A small replica of the statue will stand at the end of the room and visitors will be able to gaze upon the empty niche through an opening in the ceiling.

3) A bazaar, of course, is being planned along the remnants of the historic Silk Road on the promenade between the cliff face and the plateau near the proposed museum.  Good idea, should help make up some of the lost local revenue.

4) Three interconnected caves at Shahr-i-Ghulghulah, the 13th Century city in the Bamiyan Valley that was conquered by Genghis Khan, will be restored with a one million dollar grant from Italy.  Andrea Bruno is anticipating that the caves can be used to host temporary exhibitions an other cultural events.

The overarching question is should anyone have attempted to restore the Buddhas, in part or in whole, in the first place?  The Buddhist in me says no because the essence of the Buddha exists within all of us and the statues are just material manifestations.  Andrea Bruno's reason for not rebuilding the Buddhas is a very weak attempt at political correctness.  Michael Petzet's attempt at restoring the fragments of the smaller Buddhas is a nice effort but, honestly, it sounds like someone was not communicating with the right people.  Regardless the proposed UNESCO initiatives are a positive step in restoring the local economy and calling attention to a World Heritage Site.  What will come out of all these proposals remains to be seen.

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