Case Studies
Turquoise Mountain - Afghanistan
For the past five years, The Turquoise Mountain Foundation has been working in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul to revive ancient building skills, create jobs, and renew a sense of national identity through the regeneration of the country’s traditional crafts and its artistic heritage.
Since it was established by The Prince of Wales in 2006, the Foundation has set up the Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture, rebuilt homes, preserved historic buildings and opened a school and clinic in Murad Khane, the artistic quarter of Kabul’s old city. It has also sold more than $1.2 million in traditional Afghan arts and crafts products.
Among those to have benefited from the Turquoise Mountain’s remarkable work has been Fazel Ahmad Durrani. The 23 year-old former plumber graduated in December 2010 from the Institute of Afghan Arts & Architecture, where he learned the traditional art of jewellery-making which, according to him, “is an art diminishing in the new generation, as 30 years of war and destruction has overshadowed this part of our ancient cultural heritage”.
Having saved money from commissions earned during his final year at the Institute, Fazel has since set up a jewellery workshop called “Key of Art”. “Through establishing my own workshop, I want to create an opportunity for future graduates and young Afghans to get a job,” he explains. Fazel feels indebted to Turquoise Mountain, which provided him a chance to learn the traditional skills that now enable him to prosper in a new career. He is determined to pass on this unique skill to other young Afghans, so as they can earn a living and enjoy a new sense of national pride in their revived cultural heritage.