‘Faces of Kabul’, the photodocumentary exhibition produced by Heartstone photographer and writer, Nick Sidle, opened at Eden Court on Friday October 1st 2021 with opening address by Ms Kate Forbes, MSP. It tells the human story of the people of Kabul and the surrounding areas of Afghanistan in the early months of 2002, shortly after the Taliban regime had fallen, their interface with the soldiers of ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force, who formed the peacekeeping forces based in the country, and the social changes starting to take shape in that period.
It is a story of Afghanistan from a different perspective, with a reminder that beyond the politics and conflict, we must never forget the lives of ordinary people – the men, women, children – lives not that dissimilar from our own. Viewing Afghanistan from the relatively recent historical setting of 2002, provides a route to help everyone explore, understand and empathise further with the same world today.
Kate Forbes spoke of the relevance of the story, both in the context of the events of August 2021 and also the role of the Scottish Government in welcoming Afghan refugees into Scotland. She highlighted, as did all the speakers, the need to tell the ‘human story’ as portrayed through the exhibition.
Cllr Margaret Davidson, Highland Council Leader (right) spoke of the importance and role of the exhibition in the context of Highland, including newly arrived refugee families.
Cllr Gordon Adam (left), Chair of Committees of Highland Council with past connections to Afghanistan through the BBC, also spoke of the relevance of the exhibition in highlighting ordinary lives.
High Life Highland CEO, Mr Stephen Walsh (right), has a particularly close connection with Afghanistan having been an RAF officer and had his first contact with the country a month after 9/11. He was able to bring a uniquely personal story connected to this period but he was also able to present why the exhibition is important in the context of the artistic and cultural life of Highland. The exhibition takes audiences into the world of the people, to feel what it was like to be there in 2002, just six months after 9/11, to understand through the images the powerful sense of hope that was there at the time was as well as all the other emotions captured through the images. He said:
“ This exhibition has particularly timely and powerful images, allowing a unique and detailed insight of Kabul and the surrounding areas of Afghanistan in early 2002. The exhibition follows soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force, a peacekeeping mission, charged with supporting the country at the time. It’s a human story with Nick capturing images showing the lives of ordinary people in Afghanistan – which with 20 years hindsight was a period of remarkable change for the country, filled with an optimism and promise for the future.”
John West, Head of Culture for High Life Highland, another special guest said:
‘The images were so powerful, for me there were two in particular that remain vivid, the one of the three girls in the interplay of light and shadow and there was one that featured a young girl with big brown eyes. Really brings it home in terms of what the future holds for young women in Afghanistan today. Nick has really captured something special.’
Sitakumari, Heartstone Director (above) explained the background to the story, the special access secured for Nick at the time, and Creative Scotland funding for him, as the individual artist, in 2020 to produce a new exhibition, re-visiting this story with the purpose of presenting this in 2021, the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It opens with New York, to set the scene for what was to happen next.
Nick was ‘embedded’ with the soldiers of 1 Royal Anglian, who formed the British contingent of ISAF, the NATO—led International Security Assistance Force whose role was as a peacekeeping mission to support the country post the Taliban regime era at that time.
The photodocumentary is a moving story which takes audiences into a world which everyone has seen through the media but helps see it with new eyes. Nick was invited to tell this story given his policy of not interfering with images, but telling a story with honesty and truth as it happens. During the period he was there, in following the soldiers in their day-to-day role and in contact with the Afghan people, he was able to capture ordinary life. This included for example, the rebuilding of homes, de-mining the landscape and seeing girls go to school for the first time in a number of years. It was a story of hope, resilience and reflected an optimism about the future. It was a unique portrayal, won international recognition, was presented at locations including the British Library in London, House of Commons, European Parliament in Brussels and prestige venues across the UK.
No-one could have foreseen the historic events which unfolded in Afghanistan in August 2021 with the final withdrawal of western troops and linked agencies, and which have made this exhibition so timely and relevant.
On October 1st, special guests included Lt Col (retd) Jon Heap (left), the Commanding Officer of C Company in 2002 where Nick Sidle was ‘embedded’, who joined by videocall from Australia and spoke about his part in this story. In answer to the question posed by Steve Walsh as to the role the exhibition can play now, 20 years later, Jon answered with no hesitation:
‘It will keep the story of Afghanistan in the public eye, especially the story that people don’t see of the ordinary people, well after the usual media are gone, and ensure that what was achieved at that time is not forgotten.’
A special event on October 17th, ‘Afghan Lunch’, supported by the Inverness Interfaith Group and Inverness Mosque saw the exhibition become the setting for individuals and families of Afghan, Syrian, Pakistani, Indian and other communities resident in Highland, to come together and share personal stories and experiences drawing on the exhibition images as starting inspiration.
The food was donated by two Inverness restaurants – Sam’s Indian Cuisine and Pepe’s Piri Piri – providing an ideal setting for this event which brought together recently arrived Afghan families and many other Highland residents in Highland’s prestige setting for arts and culture.
Oud Musician, Belal Abd El Ghani Shtat, based on the Black Isle provided the finishing touch to the exhibition event with his beautiful music. He is pictured here with his daughter, his excellent translator.
The ‘Afghan Lunch’ event was opened by Cllr Bet Mcallister, Inverness Central. She is pictured with Sitakumari (blue sari) and Cllr Gordon Adam, left, and Cllr Alex MacInnes, right, all of whom have helped initiate a touring satellite programme of the exhibition across Highland stretching from Wick down to Fort William
Supporting the event were Edinburgh Interfaith Women’s Group (EWIG), set up by Nila Joshi in the months after 9/11, pictured here at front left. They are supporting Nick together with Heartstone and Glasgow Afghans United in the staging of this exhibition across Scotland. They had travelled from Edinburgh leaving very early that morning to be there as supporters of the opening event in Inverness.
A longtime supporter of Heartstone and a co-Director of the Heartstone Confederation of International Story Circles, Nila spoke of how and why she founded EWIG just after 9/11 for women in the area who were feeling the direct impact of 9/11 through incidents of racism and Islamophobia. The group stage and support numerous exhibitions and events in Scotland.
A special guest (below) was someone whose world in Afghanistan resonated closely with one of the images of girls in school in the exhibition and drew from her own story as a girl in school in Kabul at the time, roughly of similar age, then fulfilling her ambition to become a teacher and now a resident in Highland.
Special guests included Alpha Munro pictured (right) who helped to bring this exhibition to Eden Court and her husband, Clan Chief Hector Munro, who spoke at the event. Alpha Munro, musician and founder of Kiltearn Fiddlers, met Belal, the Syrian Oud player and his daughter.
Hector Munro (left) gave a Highland welcome. including a brief introduction to the history of Highland Clans, to all the guests, in particular, the new Afghan families now resident in Highland.
One further special event took place during the time the exhibition was at Eden Court – the Mòd. To ensure this was given due recognition and acknowledgement, the exhibition was additionally captioned throughout with Gaelic captions. Seona McClintock, the Eden Court Gaelic adviser and lead, is pictured right, with Sitakumari.
‘Faces of Kabul’ was presented at Eden Court for the month of October and will next be presented at at Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery in Glasgow in March 2022. A touring programme with a satellite version of the exhibition will be starting across the Highlands in February 2022. The event was featured in the press and media, including STV and BBC, and on Creative Scoctland’s One Creative Voice website at https://www.ourcreativevoice.scot/stories
Back row left to right: Sitakumari, Nick Sidle, Lt Col (retd) Jon Heap on screen, Dr Waheed Khan, Cllr Gordon Adam, local resident, Steve Walsh, CEO – High Life Highland
Front row left to right: Nila Joshi, Cllr Margaret Davidson, Tanya Paroj
Nick Sidle and Heartstone are grateful for the support of Creative Scotland, Eden Court, Highland Council, the Inverness Interfaith Group and Inverness Mosque, the Edinburgh Women’s Interfaith Group, Glasgow Afghans United and many others who have made this first event in Highland possible. We would also like to thank Paul Hamlyn Foundation for their support towards the online events staged from the exhibition.
