The document discusses the Bactria Cultural Centre, a UNESCO-sponsored project in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, which aims to promote local craftsmanship and preserve cultural heritage. Although construction has faced significant funding and security challenges since its inception in 2007, the project has succeeded in fostering traditional building techniques essential for future development. Despite the current status of the project being somewhat of a failure, the initiative has already helped pass on valuable skills to local craftsmen, indicating potential benefits in the long term.

1. project
THE BACTRIA CULTURAL CENTRE:
A UNESCO-sponsored project in
Mazar-e Sharif, war-struck northern
Afghanistan – Success or Failure?
by Alessandro Califano

2. Introduction
The case study of a UNESCO sponsored cultural
centre providing on-site heritage related services
in northern Afghanistan, and of its background
– including the actions to foster traditional build-
ing craftsmanship and preserve immaterial cul-
tural heritage – is compared to two other cases,
in southern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Though
not a complete success per se, this approach may
be seen as potentially useful in similar situations
in post-war and post-disaster countries.
Project's background and setting
About half an hour away from Mazar-e Sharif's
downtown area, driving east towards the border
with Uzbekistan, a new suburb is under construc-
tion. Stretched out to the south of the main road
leading to Khulm (the old town of Tashkurgan,
where the summer residence of the Afghanistan
kings used to be), right below the hills building a
geographical border to the vast northern steppe,
the construction dominates the lower lands. It is
a bit less dusty here, and there is a chance that
rivulets flowing down the mountain will make
their way to gardens and water reservoirs instead
of quickly evaporating in the desert plain, even
before reaching the Amu Darya river farther north.
It is for this reason that the area had always been
used as a pasture for sheep and goats by local
herdsmen. According to my sources, the whole area
was bought about five years ago, by or on behalf
of Tajik Governor Atta Muhammad. He is now con-
trolling the Balkh Region in the name of President
Hamid Karzai's central government after the pre-
vious local leader, Uzbek Abdul Rashid Dostum,
was called to other offices to the Afghan capital.
Measurements and subdivision of the whole area
in different-sized land lots followed quickly. Two
Inside the Bactria Cultural Centre land lot, looking south.
South of the Tashqurgan road to Mazar-e Sharif, a cultural centre named after ancient Bactria is being
built by ACTED and UNESCO in a new suburb. Started in 2007, it should be completed by 2017. But
UNESCO’s funds for the project are exhausted and no more funds have been found in the meantime, so
no further action has taken place since the building’s foundations were completed in late 2008.
In the light of a comparison between this project and another Bactria Cultural Centre built in Tajikistan, it
could be considered that the Afghanistan-based one is not a success so far. It is also perfectly clear
that in the current climate – where security concerns for other provinces have top priority – cultural
heritage issues are lagging behind in getting both funding priority and consideration.
However, UNESCO’s strategy of considering as the main requirement for the funding the production of
special dome tiles needed for the construction has been very effective: fostering traditional
craftsmanship and passing on a traditional, high-quality building technique to the next generation of
craftsmen is now a fact and so are the short and long-term benefits given to a local community in war-
struck northern Afghanistan.
XXe-conservation
THE BACTRIA CULTURAL CENTRE IN MAZAR-E SHARIF

3. large roads were laid out through it, south of the
Mazar-to-Tashkurgan road, while various north-
south diversions drove straight towards the hills.
The very same reasons that made the area very
good for herdsmen made it an excellent choice
for builders and landlords too. In fact, a new sat-
ellite town dedicated to hosting foreign institutes
and affluent members of society couldn't have
been planned better: in the opposite direction of
nearby Balkh's notorious hemp (Cannabis sativa)
plantations, it enjoys a quiet and relatively un-
polluted position, with lots of space to be freely
rearranged, and with an extremely low acquisition
price to start with.
ItisinthisareathatUNESCOandACTEDhadplanned
to built a new cultural centre. The Bactria Centre,
named after the ancient denomination of the wide
area ranging from the mountain ranges of Haza-
rajat up to southern Tajikistan, had to cover mul-
tiple functions. Firstly, it was meant to foster local
artistic efforts, and secondly to provide shelter
to temporary exhibitions of both contemporary
artefacts and of local archaeological findings. It
was meant to be a hub of cultural activities – part
museum, part incubator, part dissemination centre.
There had been some previous similar achievements
in the same macro region: on the one hand the
small on-site museum at Fayaz Tepe in Uzbekistan
and a Buddhist monastery blossoming near today's
Termez from the Kushan period down to the 5th
century, restored by UNESCO and the Japanese
government, and on the other the first Bactria
Centre established by ACTED itself in Dushanbe,
almost as soon as Tajikistan headed out of its
lengthy and bloody civil war1. Socio-economic
conditions in the three states being somehow
similar, though Uzbekistan was, and still is, far
better off than the other two, the past experience
suggested that the opportunity was to be seized
in the Mazar-e Sharif area as well.
Project's description – 2008
In an on-site visit I paid to the construction site
in October 2008, together with Czech fellow pho-
tographer Roman Pekar, ACTED's chief engineer
for all projects in Balkh, Mr. Isar, and Mr. Sayed,
who is monitoring monument control at ACTED,
told me that the actual construction work started
in 2007. The contract said that work should be
finished by 2017 although they were confident
to be able to have everything ready by 2013. The
project, for which UNESCO had generously contri-
buted, was developed by architects of the Russian
Federation and was then handed out to the local
branch of ACTED by UNESCO's office in Tashkent,
which provided the funds. This might have been
a rather uncommon procedure since Afghanistan
already had its own UNESCO office in Kabul at
Rendering of the Bactria Cultural Centre.
XX e-conservation
Looking south-east at the building’s eastern entrance to the
inner court.
ALESSANDRO CALIFANO

4. that time. Ancient Bactria covered, however, the
three locations, each now belonging to a different
state. And since Barry Lane, at that time head of
the UNESCO office in Tashkent, was very active in
fostering both the Fayaz Tepe project in Termez
and the first Bactria Centre in Dushanbe, it made
sense that the impulse should come from one and
the same source – and some of the funds, as well.
At the time of my visit, the about 8,000 square
metre land lot was evened and fenced, while the
building's foundations had been thoroughly laid
out, emerging from the slightly sloping ground
about 1.2 meters on the southern end to 1.6 meters
on the northern end. The platform was laid out
in a east-west direction, the north-south sides
being the shortest. The main entrance was on
the eastern side. Inside the one-storey building,
chambers were clearly outlined in two rows: to-
wards the outside the somewhat more spacious
ones and looking towards the inner court the
less spacious ones. The wide central court was
going to be landscaped as a garden while the
vast outer space had room enough for another
garden as well as for a large parking place. All
chambers were going to be covered by circular
domes, for which special tiles had been provided.
In fact, UNESCO's main strategy was to foster tra-
ditional craftsmanship, and the funds provided
were also meant to cover the production of the
special dome tiles which were considered the
main requirement for the granted funding. Neatly
stacked along the southern fence of the land lot,
two brands of tiles were in fact waiting to be set
in place. One was the coarser, rather fragile sort
of semi-industrial construction bricks every con-
Looking north-west over the building’s foundations.
XXe-conservation
Looking south – ordinary (left) and special tiles (right) are heaped at the entrance.
THE BACTRIA CULTURAL CENTRE IN MAZAR-E SHARIF

5. struction worker uses in the area, those bricks that
one can see being baked at small local manufac-
turing plants all around in the plains, high chim-
neys puffing out vast amounts of pollutants and
fumes. The second ones were of a completely dif-
ferent kind: traditionally used in the region of
Balkh for local long-lasting buildings, these tiles
where comparatively larger, smoother and heavier.
Completely handmade, the latter are prepared
using a thick clay mix pressed into wooden forms,
where the tiles rest for a while to let the water
drip out, to finally be set out into the sun to dry
out until hard. Resistance testing to both impact
and pressure assure these tiles to be much more
long-lasting than the usual construction bricks.
The lengthy and accurate human labour involved
in the production process, as well as the much
higher care in choosing the raw material, caused
however these techniques to be not only neglected,
but even almost forgotten in present-day archi-
tecture, even in a region that had been originally
famous for this very same high-end quality product.
Project's description – 2009
I had the opportunity to travel back to Afghanistan
less than a year later, in May 2009, for a Kabul-
based UNESCO consultancy contract. Though this
of course implied that I would not have a chance
to visit again the Bactria Centre building site on
this occasion, I could nevertheless contact ACTED
for a briefing about the further development since
my previous visit to the country. Sadly, not very
much has moved since. The funds granted by
UNESCO have paid for the construction of the build-
ing's foundations, as well as for hoarding bricks
and tiles for the further construction needs, but
are now exhausted. In the mean time, no more
funds have been found, and no more action has
taken place.
In fact, even the first phase had been a pretty dif-
ficult one, as confirmed by two sources: despite
having the approval of Balkh's Governor Atta him-
self, as well as being able to rely on UNESCO funds
for the foundations, there was much wrangling
to gain approval for the rest of the construction.
There was even the impression of some interfer-
ence from the government side regarding this is-
sue. On the other hand, as was perfectly clear and
well stated by everybody, in the current climate
– seeing security concerns for other provinces
having top priority – it seemed that Culture was
definitely lagging behind in getting both funding
priority and consideration.
ACTED itself had been very restricted in its action
by not having enough funds. To this came staff
changes in the Afghan offices of the NGO and a
rising number of projects, so that they hadn't been
in a condition to really follow up on this project.
However, they were still hoping to come back to
it in 2010, and would still continue to be looking
for funds. But in comparison to the previously ac-
From left to right: measuring the regular construction tiles; measuring the special dome tiles – height; and measuring the spe-
cial dome tiles – width.
XX e-conservation
ALESSANDRO CALIFANO

6. tivated Bactria Centre in Dushanbe, it was evident
that the situation in Afghanistan was either much
more complex or, to say the least, by far not as
positive in its medium-term prospective outcome.
An evaluation attempt
In the light of a comparison between the past and
the prospective evolution of the two Bactria cul-
tural centres, the one in Dushanbe and the one
being presently built in Mazar-e Sharif (the mu-
seum at Fayaz Tepe being a positive achievement
obtained on a much smaller scale), it could be de-
duced that the Afghanistan-based centre wasn't
a success so far. Even more, that the continuing
conditions of social and political uncertainty in
many areas of the country, together with rising
security and military related concerns, let many
further difficulties be viewed ahead.
Nevertheless, it wouldn't be completely fair to let
an evaluation rest entirely on this basis. With the
completion of the foundations and the prepara-
tion of all the tiles and bricks needed for further
building, the most arduous part of the work has
been done. Neatly sheltered under a double lay-
er of plastic sheets and earth, the bricks, and
even more the tile stacks, are securely protected
for future use, while the presence of guards on
site should deter theft. On the other hand, bricks
being readily (and cheaply!) available in the whole
area – and tiles being of uncommon use – theft
prevention partially lies in the materials them-
selves. The relative optimism of engineer Isar re-
garding a timely completion of the whole building
can thus be better understood: even a long inter-
ruption of work at the construction site will not
damage the part of the building completed so far,
much less the material to be used to complete it.
Right: Covering the special tiles to protect them even in the
case of a long interruption of work at the construction site.
Above: ACTED Chief Engineer Isar with a large fragment of the
special tiles and detail of a special tiles fragment.
XXe-conservation
THE BACTRIA CULTURAL CENTRE IN MAZAR-E SHARIF

7. Funds for another year of activity should possibly
bring it to its final shape, while some more time
would of course be needed for its inner decoration,
landscaping, and eventually planning its activities
– which will probably prove the toughest task to
fully achieve.
But if time schedule and milestones for bringing
the building process to an end are to be considered
more or less adequate, (while only time will tell
what will become of the original plan to make it
function as a hub for multi-purpose, heritage re-
lated activities, and whether it will compare to the
lively proposals of its twin in Dushanbe), there is
still another point to take into account.
Choosing the peculiar and lengthy production pro-
cess of old-fashioned hand-made tiles as the main
requirement for their funding, UNESCO has had a
primary role both in fostering traditional crafts-
men's knowledge and passing it on to a younger
generation of Afghan craftsmen, and in working
towards the completion of a real and contemporary
model that could proudly stand against the usual,
pre-fabricated concrete-and-iron building solu-
tions. This choice would then represent a real al-
ternative solution, challenging the nefarious im-
pact of mainstream cash-related building solutions
which have no spin off effects at all on the local
economy. Far from compromising with “modern”
techniques, which in the end are generally revealed
as only apparently cheaper than traditional build-
ing solutions – and certainly much less environ-
mentally friendly – Barry Lane's project chose to
involve local work forces, letting them participate
in a complex but sustainable training and produc-
tion process.
Even if the final product of the Bactria Centre pro-
ject seems still to be largely floating in the future
this at least has been already achieved: passing
on a traditional, high-quality building technique
to the next generation of craftsmen is now already
a fact. It can be considered a healthy and sound
approach, combining traditional craftsmanship
training, planning and actual building, with the
help of external funds to foster sustainability and
economy in a destitute, war-struck area. With all
its shortcomings, it should be considered as a good
case-study of how immediate and long-term bene-
fits can be given to local communities, and of what
could be done – or maybe rather: could and should
have been done – in Afghanistan, to effectively
help a country disrupted by 30 years of war.
Notes
[1] Bactria Cultural Centre, Tajikistan, URL
(last consulted on 4 November 2010)
All pictures © Alessandro Califano, 2008
ALESSANDRO CALIFANO
Curator
Contact: califano.a@mclink.it
Italian national, a Ph.D. in Oriental Studies,
Alessandro Califano has been Research Scholar at
J. Nehru University’s School of Social Sciences (New
Delhi), and Research Fellow in Museum Studies at
the UBC’s Museum of Anthropology (Vancouver).
Senior Curator at Rome’s Heritage Department, he
is also working on material and immaterial cultural
heritage related projects as a free-lance Cultural
Consultant in the Baltic area for the Italian Minis-
try of Foreign Affairs, and in Central Asia (Uzbe-
kistan, Afghanistan) for UNESCO. He is a member
of ICOM, ICOMOS-UK, and the Canadian Museums
Association.
Websites:
http://museumstudies.tumblr.com
http://twitter.com/a_califano
http://www.slideshare.net/califano
XX e-conservation
ALESSANDRO CALIFANO