Book blog

Looking at those amazing color photos from Bukhara, I eventually noticed the doors behind the emir — big, slender, doors carved in wood.  Then I suddenly remembered that I had seen those doors before — in an exhibit at the Islamic Art Museum in Doha, Qatar, last year. They were advertised as coming from “Afghanistan” but surely Bukhara is what they refer to.  Or rather, the art of door making must have been spread throughout much of Central Asia.

It’s great to see different images from Afghanistan than the usual images of war.  Skilled craftsmen doing what they do best.  The ordinary as an antidote to the extraordinary.  Make doors, not wars.