Cultural training

Afghanistan's first art school was set up in 1921 by the artist Ghulam Mohammad Musawwer Maimanagi (1873-1935). Known as the Fine Arts College, it was initially located in the Ayesha Durrani School, on the bank of the Kabul Riverin a building which now serves as a girls' high school. Among the skills taught there were painting, ceramics, sewing, carpet and fabric weaving and printing. Technical and financial support was subsequently provided by the German government.

In 1933, on his return from study in Germany the artist, musician and playwright Abdul Ghafur Breshna (1907-1974) - best known as the composer of the Afghan National Anthem - became director of the College. At this time, efforts were made to improve and standardise the quality of Afghan arts and crafts, while Breshna also promoted western styles of painting and sculpture.

In 1972, the Fine Arts College was renamed the Ghulam Mohammad Maimanagi Afghan Traditional Arts Training School and it subsequently expanded its curriculum and brought in foreign teachers. Many of Afghanistan's leading artists and teachers trained at the school.

In the early 1960s, a secondary School of Art and Music was opened with Austrian assistance in Kabul's Dehburi district, offering courses in art and music as well as the more traditional classroom subjects.

Tertiary training in fine art began in 1967 with the opening of an Arts Department within the University of Kabul In 1985 this Department became a fully-fledged Faculty of Fine Arts, with Departments of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts.

In 1988 the University of Herat was established with a Faculty of Fine Art incorporating Departments of Painting, Calligraphy and Miniatures.

During the conflict of the 1990s both the secondary School of Art and Music and the Faculty of Fine Arts at Kabul University sustained serious damage, and the former ceased operations. During the Taliban administration, the Ghulam Mohammad Maimanagi Afghan Traditional Arts Training School and the Faculties of Fine Arts at the Universities of Kabul and Herat continued to teach calligraphy and landscape painting, avoiding any figurative representation.

In 2002, the building of the secondary School of Art and Music was repaired and training resumed, with international assistance. The Ghulam Mohammad Maimanagi Afghan Traditional Arts Training School was relocated to new premises in 2006 and resumed activities. In the following year, following the closure of the secondary School of Art and Music in preparation for the construction of the new National Institute of Music, its former Art Department was renamed as the Institute of Local Industry and Construction and relocated to another site, where it now shares a campus with two other training institutions. However, its Departments of Architecture, Carpentry, Carpet and Rug Making, Embroidery and Printing remain inactive due to lack of funds.

The Higher Education Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture, a project of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, was registered with the Ministry of Education in 2007 and teaches ceramics, calligraphy, woodwork and jewellery with the aim of preserving traditional skills and furthering indigenous design.

Non-formal training in fine arts is also offered at the Centre for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan (CCAA), a dedicated women's art centre set up by Rahraw Omarzad. The NGO Aschiana also holds classes for street children in painting, calligraphy, carpentry and carpet weaving and runs its own gallery.

Court musician Ustaad Ghulam Hussein (1887-1967) is credited with opening the first music schools outside Kuche Kharabat, the district in Kabul where singers, dancers and artists traditionally congregated, and with promoting music education in schools.

In the early 1960s a secondary School of Art and Music was opened in Kabul with Austrian assistance. Many of Afghanistan’s most accomplished musicians and singers trained at this school, including Mohammed Hussein Arman, Saleem Sarmast, Nangialai, Tahir Shabab, Rohullah Ruheen and Hamid Gulistani.

Tertiary music training began in 1967 with the opening of an Arts Department within University of Kabul. In 1985 this Department became a fully-fledged Faculty of Fine Arts, with a dedicated Department of Music. Soviet support was subsequently offered for courses in non-Afghan music, and the department was supplied with instruments and teaching materials.

In 1984, the Ministry of Information and Culture established a Centre for Classical Music, which offered tuition in traditional Afghan musical instruments, including rubab, sitar, tambour, dhol, harmonium and tabla, as well as voice. In the following year a Department of Theatre and Cinema was opened within the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Kabul, offering Afghanistan's first degree courses in these subjects.

During the conflict of the 1990s, both the secondary School of Art and Music and the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Kabul sustained serious damage, and the former ceased operations altogether. Under the Taliban administration, training at the Faculty of Fine Arts continued behind closed doors.

In 2002, the Centre for Classical Music and the University of Kabul Faculty of Fine Arts Departments of Music and of Theatre and Cinema reopened, as did the secondary School of Art and Music. The Aga Khan Music Initiative for Central Asia (AKMICA) was launched in Afghanistan in 2006, employing ustaads (masters) to teach students on its premises in both Kabul and Herat.

In 2007 the Secondary School of Art and Music at Dehburi was closed in preparation for the construction of the new National Institute of Music. The Institute opened in 2009 with international assistance, offering training in both Afghan traditional and western classical music. In the same year the Centre for Classical Music was closed.

In 2004 international support also played an important part in the establishment of a Dramatic Arts Centre and the refurbishment of the Department of Theatre Auditorium at the University of Kabul. Two years after this the Department of Theatre and Cinema split into two departments - the Department of Cinema and the Department of Theatre.

Faculties of Language and Literature exist at the University of Kabul, at the Kabul Education University and at the Universities of Balkh, Herat and Nangarhar. All of these faculties offer courses in Dari and Pashtu. For Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Spanish, Chinese and Urdu students need to select a university.

Since 2001, the sector has benefited from international support that has included a wide range of short-term training programmes offered by local NGOs such as the Centre for International Journalism (CIJ) and NAI Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan, and by international agencies such as Internews Network, Mediothek Community Centres Afghanistan (MCCA) and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), Afghanistan.