Creation of the "Arts and Heritage of Afghanistan" Chair

Why is the creation of a Chair on Afghanistan necessary today?

Since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021, Afghanistan's tangible and intangible heritage has been at risk. In the days following this event, the Foundation and Inalco launched an emergency campaign to welcome academics and students in danger, in addition to the Collège de France's Pause program. This campaign enabled two academics and four students to be welcomed at Inalco (more information ici).

The urgent need to act on behalf of the people was followed by a concern to protect the knowledge associated with Afghanistan's arts and heritage, and to create a space in which to gather, nurture and transmit this knowledge in a period of ebb and flow set to continue over time. To this end, Inalco and the Foundation have launched the prefiguration of a teaching and research chair devoted to the arts and heritage of Afghanistan, in close partnership with the Centre de Recherche sur le Monde iranien (CeRMI), a joint research unit 8041 of the CNRS.

This initiative has rapidly brought together partners of the highest calibre, without whom this chair project would not have been possible. We would like to extend our warmest thanks to them. It has also benefited from a particular dynamic in a year dedicated to celebrating the centenary of the DAFA - Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghansitan.

A first international symposium has thus been organized in partnership with the Musée National des Arts Asiatiques - Guimet and the DAFA in November 2022. This event, bringing together the French, Italian, Afghan, Japanese and American archaeological schools, was an opportunity to celebrate a century of scientific collaboration with Afghanistan, but also to highlight the intense vitality of archaeology on Afghanistan and the desire to project into the future and towards the conditions for a return to the field. This colloquium was the subject of a Foundation news item ici.

The chair project was finally able to be the subject of a communication to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres (AIBL) on December 2.

What will the Chair consist of?

The mission of the "Arts and Heritage of Afghanistan" Chair, supported by Inalco, is above all to contribute to the preservation of knowledge about this territory, through its dissemination. To this end, the Chair will teach Afghan heritage, both tangible and intangible, to students (from L2 to M1 and continuing education), from the earliest periods to the present day. At the same time, this Chair will promote the development of knowledge about this territory through research, particularly with regard to its material heritage, its writings, its linguistic heritage and also its contemporary art.

This initiative will produce and disseminate scientific literature, as well as offering post-doctoral support. It will bring together researchers from all horizons for international colloquia and, by becoming a reference chair, will welcome all new research on the cultural history of Afghanistan. In this, the program is fully in line with the scholarly tradition at the roots of Inalco.

We would like to thank our partners

Inalco and the Foundation would like to extend their warmest thanks to the host of prestigious institutions that have kindly supported us throughout this year:

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (AIBL) ; Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) ; Alliance Internationale pour la protection du patrimoine dans les zones de conflit (ALIPH) ; Centre de Recherche sur le Monde iranien (CeRMI) ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) ; Collège de France - Programme Pause ; Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan (DAFA) ; Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (FMSH); Institut Français d'Afghanistan (IFA); Institut National du Patrimoine (INP); Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l'Oriente (ISMEO); Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires Etrangères (MEAE); Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche (MESR); Musée National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet (MNAAG); University of Naples "L'Orientale".