ART 170 Hannah Anderle by Anderle, Hannah J

Should We Rebuild the Bamiyan Buddhas?

hande333 — 2025-12-07 22:26:13 UTC

In March of 2001, the magnificent Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed by the Taliban. Some people were in favor of rebuilding these impressive statues (which stood approximately 180 and 125 feet tall), while others were not in favor of rebuilding them. I personally do not think they should be rebuilt, and that there could be alternative ideas to promote tourism to the area if that is of main concern.

Even though these massive statues were a huge tourist pull to an area that was otherwise really not on the map, I do not believe we would be able to replace them appropriately, even with our modern day technology. Funding is always going to be an issue, and it would be unfortunate if the project was started and unable to be finished. From what I understand the Taliban is not as active as it was in the early 2000's, but rebuilding the statues could also make them a target for terrorist groups yet again.

I also fear that due to costs that corners may be cut during the rebuilding of these statues. This could cause decreased structural integrity and could be dangerous. I think that we should consider our motives as well when it comes to the debate of whether or not to rebuild. The monks that built these Buddhas likely meditated as they were building them, and it was an almost spiritual practice for them. They also built the Buddhas for a practical purpose as well--to store sacred relics and manuscripts. Many of these paintings were stomped out by the Taliban and cannot be replaced.

I think that instead of rebuilding the Buddhas out of stone that there can be other things done to form an attraction in the area with modern technology if tourism remains a main goal of the local area. There are still giant caverns in the cliffs that are now vacant, and we could potentially use some sort of projection/laser shows in the nighttime to display an image of the Buddhas where they once stood. In the documentary we watched in class they were still trying to find bits and pieces of the Buddhas and the relics that were stored inside, and maybe some sort of museum could be built in the town nearby to display these items.

Overall, although I know that the local economy was hurt when the Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed, I don't believe they can truly be rebuilt to the level of their former glory, rebuilding them could put them up as a target yet again for terrorist groups, and the relics stored within the Buddhas cannot be replaced. I believe that there are safer alternatives such as using technology like projections and laser shows that can somewhat recreate the Buddhas for tourists, and that funds could be used to make a museum about them with relics that were able to be recovered.

Title: Head of a Bodhisattva, Material: Stucco/stone, Period: Kushan Period (201 CE-500 CE), Country: Modern day Afghanistan or Pakistan, from ancient region of Gandhara, Museum: Art Institute of Chicago

hande333 — 2025-12-15 21:30:43 UTC

I chose this statue for my padlet because I believe that it accurately represents the style of Kushan art that was made through the period, especially the eyes. This particular sculpture was made in either the Ghandara and/or the Mathura workshops. Since the red sandstone was not prominent, it's more likely to come from a Ghandaran workshop. I also really appreciate the level of detail in the face of this statue and it shows how much people at this time valued art and detail.

Title: Reclining Mouflon, Material: Marble, Period: Mature Harappan (2600-1900 BCE), Country: Indus Valley, India, Museum: The Met

hande333 — 2025-12-15 22:00:11 UTC

I chose this statue because it really spoke to me, I love the curved lines and how the shape flows. I also think it looks different that some of the other art pieces from this time period which makes this one stack ou.

Title: Cauldron, Material: Bronze, Period: Zhou Dynasty (1050 BCE-771 BCE), Country: China, Museum: Art Institute of Chicago

hande333 — 2025-12-15 22:16:19 UTC

I picked this statue for my padlet because it reminded me a lot of the vessels that we saw in class, specifically the symetrical swirls on the main part of the cauldron. Because of those symmetrical swirls, this would be from the late western Zhou period as that's when they began to show interest in having their pieces of art being symmetrical and using symmetrical modifs.

Venn Diagram

hande333 — 2025-12-15 22:32:19 UTC

Title: Winged Beast (Tomb Figure), Material: Gray Earthenware, Period: Han Dynasty (200 BCE- 101 BCE), Country: China, Museum: Art Institute of Chicago

hande333 — 2025-12-15 22:40:42 UTC

I know that this object is a mingqi because this is not an object that people would use outside of the afterlife. Dragons were considered to be almost sacred and could help lead the soul into the afterlife. If this were in Lady Dai's tomb this would be with all of the souls that would become her soldiers in the afterlife.

Title: Cong, Material: Jade, Period: Neolithic Period (3000 BCE to 2000 BCE), Country: China, Museum: Art Instute of Chicago

hande333 — 2025-12-15 22:53:10 UTC

I chose this specific object because I was having trouble finding other jade pieces of art from thie time period. You can tell that it's very old because the typical green hue that you see in jade objects is hard to see due to how it has aged. Congs were used for rituals, specifically funeral related rituals. From my research, Congs were often made by the Laingzhu people/culture