New York Times Revisits 'Hidden Treasures' Exhibit
When the 228 historic artifacts that make up the exhibit "Hidden Treasures of the National Museum, Kabul" arrived in Washington, D.C. in May 2008 for an opening at the National Gallery of Art, New York Times art reviewer Roberta Smith called them "revelatory and heart-rending."
"Often, in the cosseted quarters of a museum, we forget that every work of ancient art is a survivor, a representative of untold numbers of similar artworks that perished," she wrote. "This triumphant exhibition makes us remember, while demonstrating that every survivor saves much more than just itself: long strands of culture, identity and history waiting to be woven back together."
With the June 23 opening of the exhibit at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in its final show of an 18-month U.S. tour (it also stopped in San Francisco and Houston), Smith decided to revisit the acclaimed exhibit for a second impression. The exhibit "alternates between sparkling vitality and quiet grandeur," she wrote. "Here this beautiful and important show has more room, and possibly better lighting, resulting in a greater sense of clarity and drama."
Over 750,000 people in the U.S. have visited the exhibit since May 2008. The exhibit will remain in New York until September 20, after which it will travel to Canada and Europe before making its way back to Kabul's National Museum.
Related News: Silent Survivors of Afghanistan's 4,000 Tumultous Years (NYT)
Precious Works From a Perilous Land (NYT)
'Hidden Treasures' Exhibit Opens Final U.S. Show in New York
