The Western Australian Museum is delighted to announce it is extending its season of the stunning exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul until 18 January 2015.

This beautiful exhibition of treasures once thought lost to the world contains more than 200 rare and beautiful objects dating back to the Bronze Age, from a place that was once at the crossroads of the world’s great civilisations.

WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said he was pleased that more Western Australians and their visiting friends and relatives would now get the chance to see it over the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

“Standing as it did at the heart of the ancient Silk Road, Afghanistan was the historic link between Iran, Central Asia, India, and China and became a trading place for gold, glass, ceramics and precious stones with civilisations as far away as Rome, Greece and even Egypt,” Mr Coles said.

“The objects in this exhibition span 2,000 years of exquisite craftsmanship, and the fact we even have them here at all is an incredible story in itself.

I would go as far to say that this is one of the most extraordinary exhibitions that we have ever shown at the WA Museum: this is an absolutely unique opportunity to see treasures that were thought to have been lost to the world.”

These objects were thought to have been stolen or destroyed during Afghanistan’s years of conflict, when thousands of irreplaceable antiquities were lost.  But a brave group of five staff from the National Museum in Kabul hid them, risking their lives to save their cultural heritage for future generations.       

Please visit the WA Museum website for more information including ticket prices and opening times, at http://museum.wa.gov.au/museums/perth/afghanistan-hidden-treasures

 

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WA Museum media contact:

Flora Perrella  T  6552 7804  M  0424 027 646   Flora.Perrella@museum.wa.gov.au