Afghanistan: “Graveyard” of Empires

October 1, 2021-January 31, 2022
Location: Asia Collection

With the current focus on Afghanistan in the media and in the US Congress providing a backdrop to the complexities of the country, this exhibit aims to provide a window into the extensive content at the Library, mainly in the Asia Collection, on a country situated at the crossroads of cultures, countries, civilizations, and empires with a storied history that dates back centuries and has implications for understanding the past with a view of possibilities for the future.

Asia Collection Librarians – Patricia Polansky, Karen Kadohiro Lauer and Monica Ghosh – present an exhibit intended to provide a window into the rich and complex history of Afghanistan from a humanities perspective which consists of historical materials, including examples of engagements with empire – British, Soviet, and US; references to languages; ethnic groups; literature; the diaspora; women; maps; and photographs by Anja Niedringhaus, Associated Press photojournalist, who died in Afghanistan in 2014.

The exhibit is being set up in connection to the Center for South Asian Studies Colloquium Understanding Afghanistan: Historical and Ethnographic Perspectives on October 13, 2021 – 10 to 11:30 am HST.

Funding for this exhibit has been generously provided by the Center for South Asian Studies, UHM Library, and the Sidney Stern Memorial Trust.