Simon Norfolk
Old biplane on a display plinth at the Exhibition Grounds in Kabul. Fighting birds are a source of great pride to Afghan men, but were banned by the Taliban as un-Islamic

Old biplane on a display plinth at the Exhibition Grounds in Kabul. Fighting birds are a source of great pride to Afghan men, but were banned by the Taliban as un-Islamic
Old biplane on a display plinth at the Exhibition Grounds in Kabul. Fighting birds are a source of great pride to Afghan men, but were banned by the Taliban as un-Islamic
Old biplane on a display plinth at the Exhibition Grounds in Kabul. Fighting birds are a source of great pride to Afghan men, but were banned by the Taliban as un-Islamic
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • Old biplane on a display plinth at the Exhibition Grounds in Kabul. Fighting birds are a source of great pride to Afghan men, but were banned by the Taliban as un-Islamic
  • from the series Afghanistan: Chronotopia
Date2001–2002
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 39 7/8 × 49 15/16 in. (101.3 × 126.9 cm)
 Sheet: 39 7/8 × 49 15/16 in. (101.3 × 126.9 cm)
 Mount: 39 7/8 × 49 15/16 in. (101.3 × 126.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Dr. Philip A. Greider
Object number2019.664
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Provenance[Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, California]; Dr. Philip A. Greider, Los Angeles; given to MFAH, 2019.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions recto or verso]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Historically, Kuchis were strongly pro-Taliban; feelings made more intense by being bombed by NATO off their traditional grazing lands in Helmand. They are allowed to set up camp here on Kabul’s periphery only because it is below a large, new Afghan Army base.
Simon Norfolk
Historically, Kuchis were strongly pro-Taliban; feelings made more intense by being bombed by NATO off their traditional grazing lands in Helmand. They are allowed to set up camp here on Kabul’s periphery only because it is below a large, new Afghan Army base.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.46
At a music school in Kabul, boys are taught the traditional Afghan instrument the rubab. Difficult to play, it is a skill which nearly became extinct during the Taliban prohibition on secular music.
Simon Norfolk
At a music school in Kabul, boys are taught the traditional Afghan instrument the rubab. Difficult to play, it is a skill which nearly became extinct during the Taliban prohibition on secular music.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.60
Refugees from fighting between NATO and the Taliban in Nangarhar province, close to the Pakistan border, now sheltering on wasteground in Kabul.
Simon Norfolk
Refugees from fighting between NATO and the Taliban in Nangarhar province, close to the Pakistan border, now sheltering on wasteground in Kabul.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.35
At Wasalabad high above West Kabul. It has taken 26 men from the Mine Detection Centre and four de-mining dogs more than three months to clear mines from an area the size of a few soccer pitches. Kabul’s rapid expansion has increased pressure for building land. Mined areas that were once marginal are now in demand for house construction.
Simon Norfolk
At Wasalabad high above West Kabul. It has taken 26 men from the Mine Detection Centre and four de-mining dogs more than three months to clear mines from an area the size of a few soccer pitches. Kabul’s rapid expansion has increased pressure for building land. Mined areas that were once marginal are now in demand for house construction.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.44
Jawad, who like many Afghans uses just the one name, out playing with an old tyre in the Mikrorayon district of Kabul.
Simon Norfolk
Jawad, who like many Afghans uses just the one name, out playing with an old tyre in the Mikrorayon district of Kabul.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.2
‘Radio TV Mountain’ in the centre of Kabul seen from where the Kabul River cuts through the mountains creating the Deh Mazang gorge. In the First Anglo-Afghan War it was the site of a crucial skirmish and hasty retreat by badly outnumbered British cavalry who had blundered into the midst of a massive Afghan army.
Simon Norfolk
‘Radio TV Mountain’ in the centre of Kabul seen from where the Kabul River cuts through the mountains creating the Deh Mazang gorge. In the First Anglo-Afghan War it was the site of a crucial skirmish and hasty retreat by badly outnumbered British cavalry who had blundered into the midst of a massive Afghan army.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.3
A watchtower guarding a street of foreign embassies in central Kabul. For the British army these improvised fortifications are called ‘sangars’, although the term is Dari for ‘barricade’ and is one of the few words the British brought home from the Anglo-Afghan Wars.
Simon Norfolk
A watchtower guarding a street of foreign embassies in central Kabul. For the British army these improvised fortifications are called ‘sangars’, although the term is Dari for ‘barricade’ and is one of the few words the British brought home from the Anglo-Afghan Wars.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.14
The future home of The Afghan Cash And Carry Superstore on the road between the foreign embassies and Kabul Airport.
Simon Norfolk
The future home of The Afghan Cash And Carry Superstore on the road between the foreign embassies and Kabul Airport.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.8
Shah-do-Shamshira Mosque was built in the 1920s on the site of one of Kabul’s first mosques, the Mosque of the King with Two Swords, named in honour of an early Muslim king who died fighting Hindu invaders.
Simon Norfolk
Shah-do-Shamshira Mosque was built in the 1920s on the site of one of Kabul’s first mosques, the Mosque of the King with Two Swords, named in honour of an early Muslim king who died fighting Hindu invaders.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.5
The peripheries of the city of Kabul, especially to the north and east are endless building sites. Since most of the documentation concerning land title was lost during the war, much of this speculative and illegal construction is concerned more with establishing undisputable ‘facts on the ground’. Apartments and shops are, almost exclusively, unoccupied.
Simon Norfolk
The peripheries of the city of Kabul, especially to the north and east are endless building sites. Since most of the documentation concerning land title was lost during the war, much of this speculative and illegal construction is concerned more with establishing undisputable ‘facts on the ground’. Apartments and shops are, almost exclusively, unoccupied.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.24
Bonetta Cemetery at Comfortess Cove
Simon Norfolk
Bonetta Cemetery at Comfortess Cove
2003
Chromogenic print
2019.666
The oil-fired Power Station at Jiyeh bombed in the first few days of the war
Simon Norfolk
The oil-fired Power Station at Jiyeh bombed in the first few days of the war
2006
Chromogenic print
2019.667