Check out “Narcotecture in Herat,”
Monocle’s excellent
narrated
slideshow of the gaudy mansions blooming in Herat.
Journalist Rachel Morarjee (better known for her work at the Financial Times) accompanies
photographer Ash Sweeting inside some of these lavish shrines built on opium.
It’s not pretty...
A premise of the piece is that “Herat’s
past glories are slowly being erased by new fortunes,” and they speak with
groups like Agha Khan who are “waging a
losing battle to prevent the city’s
heritage being bulldozed to make way for acres of glass and candy colored
mansions.” Unfortunately, the piece doesn’t
offer many details about what specifically is being destroyed, and my sense was
that these mansions--objectionable as they might be--don’t necessarily threaten Herat’s
cultural heritage.
The conclusions asks “whether the rest of the city’s
heritage survives the outbreak of peace and prosperity the way that it
outlasted three decades of war remains to be seen”…clever, but more than a bit
cynical. Whatever aesthetic or moral objections it might provoke, the
construction
boom comprises roughly half of Afghanistan’s
economic growth and has a multiplier
effect which helps a lot of ordinary Afghans. Even with many of the funds are
leaving the country, as Sweeting keenly observes with a shot of a “Made in
China” tag on a bouquet of plastic flowers, and even with impunity and growing
inequity, I imagine few Heratis would wish to end their recent peace and
prosperity.
Nevertheless, these words and images are striking, and give us a glimpse at an under told story of the new Afghanistan.
Photos: Ash Sweeting, Monocle (c).
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he usually buy some silkroad online gold to start his game
most of the time he will win the silk road gold back and give me some cheap silkroad gold to play the game.
Posted by: cheap silkroad gold | January 19, 2009 at 09:57 PM
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Posted by: 出会い | February 23, 2009 at 10:26 PM
Yesterday, my boyfriend gave me a lot of Asda Story gold and I buy Asda Story Gold as the gift to return him.
The Asda Story money is attractive and I have plenty of the cheap Asda Story gold.
Posted by: Asda Story money | February 23, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Do you know buy lindens? I like it.
My brother often go to the internet bar to buy second life linden and play it.
After school, He likes playing games using these cheap linden with his friends.
I do not like to play it. Because I think that it not only costs much money but also spend much time. One day, he give me many linden dollars and play the game with me.
I came to the bar following him and found secondlife money was so cheap. After that, I also go to play game with him.
Posted by: buy lindens | March 14, 2009 at 05:16 AM
Posted by: chaaat | March 17, 2009 at 07:40 PM
Posted by: chaaat | March 17, 2009 at 07:41 PM
Posted by: chaaat | March 17, 2009 at 07:41 PM
Posted by: chaaat | March 17, 2009 at 07:41 PM
Posted by: chaaat | March 17, 2009 at 07:43 PM