Simon Norfolk
‘The Museum of the Jihad’, Herat. A diorama illustrating the city rising up against the Soviets.

‘The Museum of the Jihad’, Herat. A diorama illustrating the city rising up against the Soviets.

© Simon Norfolk / Gallery Luisotti

‘The Museum of the Jihad’, Herat. A diorama illustrating the city rising up against the Soviets.
‘The Museum of the Jihad’, Herat. A diorama illustrating the city rising up against the Soviets.
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • ‘The Museum of the Jihad’, Herat. A diorama illustrating the city rising up against the Soviets.
  • from the portfolio Burke + Norfolk: Photographs from the War in Afghanistan
Date2010–2011, printed September 2011
Place depictedHerat, Afghanistan
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 14 3/8 × 19 3/16 in. (36.5 × 48.7 cm)
 Sheet: 15 × 20 in. (38.1 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Morris Weiner
Object number2016.224.96
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
The swimming pool that crowns Tepe Wazir Akbar Khan, built by the Soviets in the 1970s and restored in recent times at great expense by USAID. It is uncertain if it will ever be used.
Simon Norfolk
The swimming pool that crowns Tepe Wazir Akbar Khan, built by the Soviets in the 1970s and restored in recent times at great expense by USAID. It is uncertain if it will ever be used.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.20
Internet café, Herat.
Simon Norfolk
Internet café, Herat.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.28
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
A shelter against rocket and mortar attack, Camp Leatherneck, Helmand.
Simon Norfolk
A shelter against rocket and mortar attack, Camp Leatherneck, Helmand.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.104
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
The Sham-e-Paris (‘Parisian Evenings’) wedding hall in the Taymani neighbourhood. Common in Pakistan, these huge wedding complexes have sprung up all over Kabul with dining and entertainment halls to seat a thousand on each storey and even an on-site honeymoon hotel.
Simon Norfolk
The Sham-e-Paris (‘Parisian Evenings’) wedding hall in the Taymani neighbourhood. Common in Pakistan, these huge wedding complexes have sprung up all over Kabul with dining and entertainment halls to seat a thousand on each storey and even an on-site honeymoon hotel.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.13
Young women in the indoor skatepark of the NGO ‘Skateistan’, set up by American volunteers to help young Afghans improve their skateboarding and indoor rock-climbing skills.
Simon Norfolk
Young women in the indoor skatepark of the NGO ‘Skateistan’, set up by American volunteers to help young Afghans improve their skateboarding and indoor rock-climbing skills.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.61
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
An informal market in the ‘Mikrorayon 4’ housing area, covered up for the night.
Simon Norfolk
An informal market in the ‘Mikrorayon 4’ housing area, covered up for the night.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.33
The districts of Wazir Akbar Khan and Sherpur, home to all the NGOs and contractors, occupy the site of the former British fortress from the Second Anglo-Afghan War, ‘the Cantonment’. Glitzy, kitschy ‘poppy-palaces’, flung up in a hectic property boom after the land was illegally re-possessed from squatters, can command rents of $20,000 per week when leased out to Internationals.
Simon Norfolk
The districts of Wazir Akbar Khan and Sherpur, home to all the NGOs and contractors, occupy the site of the former British fortress from the Second Anglo-Afghan War, ‘the Cantonment’. Glitzy, kitschy ‘poppy-palaces’, flung up in a hectic property boom after the land was illegally re-possessed from squatters, can command rents of $20,000 per week when leased out to Internationals.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.22
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