Bamiyan Development Community Preserves and Protects Local Culture
The online Bamiyan Development Community has attracted experts from all over the world to explore the development of Bamiyan’s infrastructure and local culture. With the mission of “bridg[ing] the gap between different generations, disciplines and cultures on a global scale,” the Bamiyan Development Community works to support UNESCO’s designation of Bamiyan a world heritage site and the restoration and protection of Bamiyan’s cultural history. The website is a clearing house for information on development in Bamiyan, including event listings, ongoing projects, a call for papers, updated news, a discussion forum, a photo gallery and even travel diaries. Scholars, researchers, development practitioners and potential investors have taken advantage of the website’s extensive network and discussion board to share resources and information. The Bamiyan Develoment Community has already worked successfully with the Afghanistan Ministry of Urban Development and Housing to create a development plan for Bamiyan that would preserve the areas cultural and historical sites as the town expands into a bustling provincial center.
The world’s attention was first fixed on Afghanistan by the destruction of the giant Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban in March of 2001. After the U.S. intervention, attention was focused on Bamiyan once more, as reconstruction and preservation started on the important historical sites in the area.
Bamiyan was a key point on the Silk Road and home to several Buddhist monasteries from the 6th to the 9th centuries. The artwork of that period still permeates the town. Archaeological sites, cave paintings, and local architecture tells a fragmentary story of the period when Bamiyan was a center for Buddhist thought and art.
Thanks to the efforts of the Bamiyan Development Community, people will be living comfortably alongside the Buddhist artwork of Bamiyan for centuries to come.
For more information, visit: http://www.bamiyan-development.org/
