Category Archives: Arts

Coming soon…

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Melanie

New posts are on the way about my trip in October to Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif, and about my upcoming trip later this month – just waiting for proper permissions from the organisation I’m working with. I know it’s a bit … Continue reading →

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Khala Mahgul

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Melanie

Khala Mahgul is the eldest lady in the community of Murad Khane. Khala is the Dari equivalent of “Auntie”, Dari is the dialect of Persion spoken in Afghanistan. For those of you new to my blog, Murad Khane is an … Continue reading →

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Salam Melanie jan! Chetor Astid?…

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Melanie

(Literally translated as “Peace Melanie my soul. How are you?”. However a more accurate English equivalent would be “Hello Melanie dear, how are you?”. This is always followed by questions further enquiring into your health and wellbeing, the health and … Continue reading →

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Spring in Kabul

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Melanie

Here I was thinking that it was high time that I sat down and got myself organised to put up more posts and photos of my two months last autumn at Turquoise Mountain in Kabul but this post is actually … Continue reading →

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Gem-cutting design workshop – Lapis Lazuli

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Melanie

Gem-cutting at the Institute here at Turquoise Mountain is carried out using both  modern and traditional equipment.  It’s difficult to know where to start with the gem-cutting students because they truly blow me away whenever I visit them. I haven’t gotten to … Continue reading →

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Design workshop – Looking to the Turkmen style

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Melanie

 I have had a great time carrying out some design workshops and technical exercises with the students. I’ll be posting some of the highlights of these over the next few days. The students had asked me to design something … Continue reading →

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Technical Difficulties

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Melanie

Sorry for my delay in having new posts up about my time here. On top of a very hectic schedule I have unfortunately been experiencing some technical difficulties. Namely that my computer, after a few intense days and evenings of … Continue reading →

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Murad Khane

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Melanie

Before I even arrived in Afghanistan I had read about Turquoise Mountain’s regeneration project in Murad Khane, which is in the heart of Kabul’s old city, a historic quarter of Kabul on the banks of the Kabul River. It is … Continue reading →

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Islamic Pattern 101

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Melanie

I decided to spend most of my first week familiarizing myself with the other disciplines here besides jewellery: gem-cutting, woodworking, calligraphy, and to some extent ceramics as I have been asked to provide supplementary lectures on research methodology across the … Continue reading →

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Welcome to Afghanistan!

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Melanie

As I stepped onto the landing of the stairs to disembark I realized it was raining! That was honestly the last thing I was expecting, figuring to leave the rain back in London! (Seriously, the average wet days for autumn … Continue reading →

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