Skateistan Mural Brightens Historic Kabul

Skateistan's first outdoor art project took place recently at Murade Khane Primary school in one of Kabul's historic districts. A group of students and skate instructors from Skateistan worked with children in the area to undertake a mural depicting the Murade Khane area - with all of its stalls, people, mosques and everyday life. With Skateistan youth Merza, Noorzai, Noman and Khalid leading the project, several young students from the school stopped by to assist and to add extra features to the mural.

The Turquoise Mountain Foundation, which operates a traditional arts institute beside the primary school, supplied the paints for the mural project. It took several painting sessions on Fridays (the Afghan weekend) but everyone involved is enthusiastic to keep on creating more artwork around the city.

The Murade Khane neighbourhood is part of Kabul's old city, with traditional buildings and Islamic street patterns, dating back to the 18th century. The area was granted by King Ahmad Shah Durrani to members of his court, and was a thriving community before the conflicts beginning with Soviet invasion in the 70s began taking their toll on the local people and architecture. Turquoise Mountain has engaged in a conservation project in the area, restoring over twenty historic buildings.