The Afghan Community In London

The first Afghans arrived in London in early 1970. They were not asylum seekers, but rather students or employees of the Afghan government. Afghan refugees began to come a little later, in three waves.

The first wave of arrived in London in the mid 80s, fleeing the communist regime; the second biggest group came to London in early 90s fleeing mujahideen whilst a third group arrived in mid 1990 when the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

It has been estimated that almost 40 – 50,000 Afghans live in London, the majority of them having come for political reasons. Being such recent arrivals they are still establishing themselves in the capital, and only recently have Afghan community organisations been able to take part in art and history exhibitions, run in partnership with museums, libraries and local authorities.

One of the few organisations so far to chart the history of Afghan refugees in London - why they came, their experiences since - has been the Evelyn Oldfield Unit. They have recently produced a CD of ten lifestories of Afghans who have come to London as refugees in the past 20 years. They talk about why they fled Afghanistan, their experiences of the UK asylum system, learning the language and raising their children in a new culture. Many talk about the support they got from Afghan community organisations already in the UK. You can get a copy of the CD from the Evelyn Oldfield Unit - and some of these stories will feature in an exhibition at the Museum of London during November.

The UK black market in Afghani antiquities

The succession of wars in modern Afghanistan has made ancient archaeological sites vulnerable to plunder for things to sell on the international black market. Unlike trafficking in drugs and weapons, selling looted antiquities does not carry such severe sentences for those who are caught. Curator Robert Knox at the British Museum estimates that there is not an ancient site left in the whole country that has not been partly or fully looted, with the goods going to London, Brussels, Tokyo and New York.

Many Afghan objects smuggled into Britain but then seized by UK customs are brought to the British Museum for identification and dating – but also so that the museum can act as a temporary ‘holding place’ for these artefacts until it is safe to return the objects to Afghanistan. These pieces will most likely be given to Kabul Museum, whose own collections have mostly disappeared - both by looting and because of deliberate destruction by the Taliban.

Afghan Objects At The British Museum

The British Museum probably also holds the largest bona fide collection of Afghan objects in London, although this is still not a huge collection, and objects are scattered across the museum. Frohar Poya went to look at the range of things that the museum holds.

19th century Afghanistan at the British Library

The British Library collections include 19th century oil paintings, print books and photographs from Afghanistan. Many were purchased by the India Office in the 19th century when Afghanistan was important to the colonial ambitions of the British.

Now the library has created a touring exhibition about Afghanistan through history. You can find out where to see it in London on this site shortly. If you’re interested in borrowing the exhibition to show in a public or community space, contact The British Library for a chat.

You can see many of the British Library’s holdings online – the main Afghan collections are here. If you would prefer to browse images of Afghanistan – many of them 19th century – you can see them on the Collect Britain site by typing ‘Afghanistan’ into the search box.

If you want to go and visit the painting and artwork you need to make an appointment and state what which of the collections (painting, books, or photographs) you would like to see.

Early 20th century Afghanistan at the Conway Library

The Conway Library at the Courtauld Institute holds a series of pictures that the traveller and writer Robert Byron took in Afghanistan in 1933 – 34. Many of these pictures show gorgeous palaces that no longer exist.

The Institute has put a number of these pictures online – you can see Byron’s photographs of the Bamiyan Buddhas. The pictures show the progress of their decline before their final destruction by the Taliban – in the 7th century these enormous statues were probably covered in gold.

Byron also photographed Herat and Mazar-I-Sharif - most of the buildings here were created in the 15th century during the Timurid renaissance.

You can search 35,000 pictures held by the Courtauld Institute, including the complete Afghanistan series here

Modern Afghan history and culture in London

There are a scattering of events in London during the summer that touch on Afghan history and experience. A photography exhibition at St Ethelburga’s in the City of London looks at the lives of Afghan women. Meanwhile a film is showing at the Amnesty International Action Centre at New Inn Yard on 21st June about two young Afghani brothers who flee from a refugee camp in Peshawar and make a journey to the West in the hands of people smugglers.

The British Museum’s exhibition Word Into Art looks at works from across the Middle East that uses lettering incorporated into artwork. The exhibition ranges from pure form and beautiful art books, to works that address politics and war in Middle Eastern countries.

The Afghan group 'Ariana' worked with Redbridge Museum earlier in the year. (Ariana is an ancient name for Afghanistan). The group looked at aspects of Afghani heritage through workshops and activities in the museum and elsewhere: the museum has purchased a few Afghani artefacts as a result.

The project is part of a London-wide project in which museums aim to support the preservation of the cultural heritage of refugee communities in London.

An Afghan shop in London

Entering the Turkmen gallery in Central London one gets the feeling of entering a traditional shop in a village in central Asia and Northern Afghanistan. Established by Omar Masom, who was born in Northern Afghanistan and immigrated to UK in 1977, the Turkmen Gallery has been around for 10 years.

Omar’s inspiration for the gallery came when he realised there was little representation of Central Asian and Afghan textiles, weaving and other works of art in London. It took him many years to gather the materials needed to establish the gallery.

Almost both the upper and lower level of the gallery has hand made kilims and carpets in different sizes and colours from different parts of Afghanistan, but mainly a very good collection from the North of Afghanistan.

The hand made suzanies including ‘tent bands’, ‘embroideries for hanging on the wall’ and materials for different uses. The suzanies are rich in terms of the colours used and the design they are embroidered.

The Turkmen Gallery is open to public everyday, from 10am – 5pm at 8 Eccleston Street, London, SW1W 9LT


Although this overview of the capital’s Afghani collections and artefacts may seem small, there are a significant amount of items to keep you busy should you wish to find them.

Perhaps as the Afghani community grows and becomes more established they will take a greater hand in telling their histories so all Londoners can learn about this ancient and fascinating country.

Where next?

You can read a comprehensive history of the country at Afghanistan Online

There are a series of exhibitions relating to the Islamic world in London during June and July 2006.

The National Army museum website has an online exhibition about the Afghan Wars - from the three Victorian wars fought in the country to the conflict today.