Hamid Naweed: Afghan Lapis Lazuli and the Shrines of Power

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The link between humans and lapis lazuli stretches back more than 6,500 years. In its veins and residues of mica, people could see the starry sky. It was first extracted from the mountains of Bactria in Afghanistan, and exported in antiquity to India, Sumeria, China, the Aegean and even Scandinavia. For ancient cultures, gold and lapis were considered signs of holiness. Subsequently, when the stone was grounded into powder to form ultramarine blue, the pigment became a symbol of power, royalty, purity and indeed, an obsession for artists in Europe since the Middle Ages.

Explore with Professor Hamid Naweed the story of the oldest commercial gemstone; its meaning for our ancestors, and how it made its way to the most prestigious buildings in the world, from mosques in Herat to the Sistine Chapel, the Blue Mosque in Mazar, the Ishtar gate, the walls of Babylon and the temple of Karnak—mankind’s shrines of power.

A discussion and audience Q&A will follow the lecture, moderated by award-winning jewellery designer Sima Vaziry.

We thank The Afghan Council of Great Britain, The Afghan Academy International and the SOAS Centre for Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus for their kind support.

About Hamid Naweed

Hamid Naweed has received his M.F.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He was the professor of art history, color theory, studio arts, and art appreciation at the Fine Arts Department of Kabul University and is now an honorary member of the High Counsel of Arts, and the Center for Contemporary in Arts Afghanistan. Hamid Naweed is also an active member of “Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage” (ARCH), based in Washington, DC. As a Fulbright scholar, he conducted many research studies in the field of arts and humanities.

Naweed is the author of the historic novel, “The Music of The Reeds” narrating some of the life episodes of the medieval mystic poet, Mowlana Jalaludin Balkhi also known as Rumi. He has also authored a number of scholarly essays on the art and culture of Afghanistan and the region and has given talks on the same topics at George Washington University, George Mason University, American University, Columbia University and the Historical Society of Williamsburg. His script for the Movie “Loori” won “New York International Film Festival’s Best Feature Film Prize in 2008. In the late 1980s he was working with Afghan Media Resource Center, based in Peshawar and his televised reports on Afghan-Soviet War were broadcasted by Vis News, WTN, ITN, C-Span and CNN World Report.

In September of 2018 he published the first volume of his book “Art through the Ages in Afghanistan” in Dari, being subsequently invited to teach a virtual class on Art History of Afghanistan to Herat University students via Skype.

About Sima Vaziry

Sima Vaziry is an award winning jeweller, whose work has been recognised by the British Museum for whom she has created several commercial jewellery collections and her jewellery is part of the core range at the British Museum luxury shop. To date, Sima has designed five collections for the British Museum, and created the Alina collection for Turquoise Mountain, a non-profit organization established in 2006 at the behest of HRH the Prince of Wales who now work in Afghanistan, Myanmar and the Middle East. Her award winning piece Inner Pearl was used on the cover of the book, “Silversmithing for Jewelry Makers”. She also passes on her knowledge through teaching and lecturing in and around London.

This event is part of the Asia House 2019 Winter Arts and Learning Programme, a completely unique initiative in the UK in presenting a pan-Asian artistic and cultural programme with a scope of more than 40 countries in the region. Through our programme of events on arts, culture and education we act as a catalyst for the discovery of the diverse arts and cultures of Asia and the Asian diaspora, and serve as a bridge of understanding between the UK and Asia.

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