231027 Collection Digital Cover 1 - Flipbook - Page 86
TURQUOISE MOUNTAIN
“Many of the artisans’ masterful makings –
handblown Herati glasses, gold lotus
flowers, Qat paintings, mosaic tables –
are produced for international clients
and can be experienced at exhibitions.”
Its first project began in Murad Khani, a district in Kabul’s Old City
known for its traditional earth architecture, bustling bazaar, and
previously being one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Afghanistan’s
peak-skirted capital. Non-profit organisation Turquoise Mountain
and residents laboured hard to change the latter, reviving over 150 of
the region’s historical and community buildings, including the Double
Column Serai, a trading centre dating back to the nineteenth century,
and establishing the Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture.
Founded in 2006 in Scotland by King Charles, it’s no surprise that
Turquoise Mountain has won a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Award for
its restoration of significant areas and traditional crafts in Afghanistan,
Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Jordan and other heritage-threatened places.
What’s more, the charity has launched over 250 businesses, runs primary
education programmes in five centres, and has provided healthcare
to 165,000 patients. Each year, its family clinic in Kabul tends to 20,000
people alone – 70 per cent of whom are women.
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A powerful project from 2023? To help mitigate Afghanistan’s economic
crisis since the Taliban’s military takeover in 2021, Turquoise Mountain
and its fair-trade partner, Label STEP, have amplified their support
for female carpet weavers, distributing ergonomic looms and eyeglasses,
as well as carrying out medical check-ups, for almost 5,000 women.
Around the world, the charity has created sustainable jobs for over
10,000 artisans. Many of their masterful makings – handblown Herati
glasses, gold lotus flowers, Qat paintings, mosaic tables – are produced
for international clients such as British jewellery designer Pippa Small,
and can be experienced at exhibitions in museums and cultural centres,
from Buckingham Palace to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.
So far, the Royal Warrant holder has sold and supported 19 million
dollars’ worth of timeless crafts, and, perhaps even more importantly,
helped reignite a sense of pride and purpose in the communities that
need this most.
