Countering

Back to Kabul
Hiebert & Cambon eds. 2011: 31; Masoudi 2012, p. 15). A selection of these objects was
later put on display in the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul and the exhibition
opened on 6 October 2009 by Mark Sedwill, then Acting British Ambassador in Kabul,
and Abdul Karim Khurram, then Minister for Information and Culture in Afghanistan
(Masoudi 2012, Fig. 12).
In July 2012, immediately before the opening of the Olympic Games in London, the
Begram ivories, the Sarai Khuja Buddha and the second consignment of illicitly excavated
objects were carefully packed and despatched to Kabul with the assistance of the British
Armed Forces, and a fully illustrated inventory and a set of condition reports were handed
in advance to Dr Masoudi (Figs. 9-10). The safe return of this second consignment was
announced on 19 July by Prime Minister David Cameron during the course of an official
visit to Kabul. This was followed by a formal hand-over ceremony at the museum in
Kabul on 5 August 2012 with Colin Crorkin, the British Consul General in Afghanistan,
acting on behalf of the British Museum. Identical press releases in Dari and English were
simultaneously issued by the National Museum of Afghanistan and the British Museum,
and a number of local and international press stories followed immediately (e.g., Alberge
2012; Farmer 2012; Ralph 2012). In addition, footage was released by the Ministry of
Defence and a blog post simultaneously issued on the British Museum website at URL:
< http://blog.britishmuseum.org/category/exhibitions/afghanistan-crossroads-of-theancient-world/
>.
Conclusion
These examples highlight some of the areas of very successful collaboration which the
two museums have enjoyed in the past years. They also highlight several key points.
The first is the effectiveness of close cooperation between different organizations, in this
case between two national museums, the UK Border Force and the Metropolitan Police
in London. These relationships were built over time with regular dialogue and trust,
and underpinned by official Memoranda of Understanding. Seizing the opportunity to
catalogue confiscated objects, use scientific techniques where possible, and publishing
the results are also important outcomes of these actions and they help compensate for
the loss of archaeological context, offer more information to the receiving museum, and
create a full and open record for the academic as well as the law enforcement community.
It is essential that the wider public is aware of what can and is being done, and to highlight
positive outcomes rather than simply dwell on the problems without offering solutions.
This approach underlines the importance of harnessing the considerable public and
media interest in this topic by issuing regular reports which highlight positive results.
These stories reach a huge global audience and build awareness of international efforts
to combat illegal trafficking. They show that museums have an important role in this
process as they are centres of specialist knowledge in ancient cultures, have curators who
understand objects and they share the same fundamental concerns over the preservation,
interpretation and display of past or living cultures.
Bibliography
Akhtar, A. & Neubacher, B. 1998. ‘An interview with Prof. A. H. Dani’. In SPACH
Newsletter 4 (April): 3–4.
Alberge, Dalya. 2003. ‘Looters dig into Afghanistan’s ancient heritage’. In The Times,
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