Simon Norfolk
Radio Afghanistan’s new transmitters paid for by American money; broadcasting official government news and anti-Taliban security alerts.

Radio Afghanistan’s new transmitters paid for by American money; broadcasting official government news and anti-Taliban security alerts.

© Simon Norfolk / Gallery Luisotti

Radio Afghanistan’s new transmitters paid for by American money; broadcasting official government news and anti-Taliban security alerts.
Radio Afghanistan’s new transmitters paid for by American money; broadcasting official government news and anti-Taliban security alerts.
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • Radio Afghanistan’s new transmitters paid for by American money; broadcasting official government news and anti-Taliban security alerts.
  • from the portfolio Burke + Norfolk: Photographs from the War in Afghanistan
Date2010–2011, printed September 2011
Place depictedKabul, Afghanistan
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 14 3/8 × 19 1/8 in. (36.5 × 48.6 cm)
 Sheet: 15 × 20 in. (38.1 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Morris Weiner
Object number2016.224.39
Not on view

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Department
Photography
Object Type
ProvenanceThe artist; [Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, California]; purchased by Morris Weiner, Houston, 2012; given to MFAH, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Stamped in black ink, verso, lower right: Burke + Norfolk // Photographs from the war in Afghanistan // by John Burke and Simon Norfolk // Printed by Simon Norfolk, September 2011 // An archival, digital, chromogenic print on Fujicolor Crystal Archive // Photograph by Simon Norfolk [signed in pencil over a stamped underline] // One of 104 prints in a Burke + Norfolk portfolio special edition // Edition number 1 of eight [1 is handwritten in pencil over a stamped underline]
Norfolk prints are signed and numbered on verso lower right, within artist's stamp

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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‘The Museum Of The Jihad’ in Herat. In the centre of the tableau of anti-Soviet mujahedeen guerrillas is Ismail Khan, one-time Governor of Herat and minister in the national government. Mythologising their role in the Jihad helps justify their control and ownership of Afghanistan’s modern warlord economy.
Simon Norfolk
‘The Museum Of The Jihad’ in Herat. In the centre of the tableau of anti-Soviet mujahedeen guerrillas is Ismail Khan, one-time Governor of Herat and minister in the national government. Mythologising their role in the Jihad helps justify their control and ownership of Afghanistan’s modern warlord economy.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.12
Pakistani ‘jingle trucks’ end their long journey up from Karachi at the gates of Kandahar Airfield where they wait to be scanned, X-rayed and searched. Only people, ammunition and emergency requirements come by aircraft. Warlord-owned security companies protecting convoys can charge $15,000 per truck, but a large part of the fee is paid to Taliban protection rackets.
Simon Norfolk
Pakistani ‘jingle trucks’ end their long journey up from Karachi at the gates of Kandahar Airfield where they wait to be scanned, X-rayed and searched. Only people, ammunition and emergency requirements come by aircraft. Warlord-owned security companies protecting convoys can charge $15,000 per truck, but a large part of the fee is paid to Taliban protection rackets.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.77
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
A dumping ground for an abandoned Russian-era bomber that has now been incorporated into the car park of ‘Shamshad TV’, a new media company heavily supported by American money.
Simon Norfolk
A dumping ground for an abandoned Russian-era bomber that has now been incorporated into the car park of ‘Shamshad TV’, a new media company heavily supported by American money.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.25
Some of the astonishing new architecture mushrooming up in cities all over Afghanistan. Part Disney, part wedding cake; inspired by Bollywood but reverential to Greek classicism; it represents an architectless kind of architecture.
Simon Norfolk
Some of the astonishing new architecture mushrooming up in cities all over Afghanistan. Part Disney, part wedding cake; inspired by Bollywood but reverential to Greek classicism; it represents an architectless kind of architecture.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.36
Security lights and communications antennae at Camp Leatherneck.
Simon Norfolk
Security lights and communications antennae at Camp Leatherneck.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.88
Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador Sir William Charters Patey KCMG; his private secretaries and his Nepalese mercenary security guards.
Simon Norfolk
Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador Sir William Charters Patey KCMG; his private secretaries and his Nepalese mercenary security guards.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.71
A security guard’s booth at the newly restored Ikhtyaruddin citadel, Herat.
Simon Norfolk
A security guard’s booth at the newly restored Ikhtyaruddin citadel, Herat.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.29
Strongly pro-Taliban refugees. For the photograph, they chose to partially cover their faces.
Simon Norfolk
Strongly pro-Taliban refugees. For the photograph, they chose to partially cover their faces.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.68
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
‘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