TEDGlobal 2011
Monika Bulaj: The hidden light of Afghanistan
Monika Bulaj: Afghanistans skjulte lys
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Fotograf Monika Bulaj deler stærke, intime billeder af Afghanistan -- af hjemliv, af ritauler, af mænd og kvinder. Bag overskrifterne hvad ved verden så egentlig om dette sted?
Monika Bulaj - Photographer
Monika Bulaj’s stunning, painting-like photographs blur religious and cultural divisions, exploding stereotypes. She is a TED Fellow. Full bio
Monika Bulaj’s stunning, painting-like photographs blur religious and cultural divisions, exploding stereotypes. She is a TED Fellow. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
My travels to Afghanistan
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Mine rejser til Afghanistan
00:18
began many, many years ago
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begyndte for mange, mange år siden
00:21
on the eastern border of my country,
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ved mit lands østlige grænse,
00:24
my homeland, Poland.
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mit hjemland, Polen.
00:27
I was walking through the forests
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Jeg gik gennem skovene
00:29
of my grandmother's tales.
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fra min bedstemors historier.
00:33
A land where every field hides a grave,
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Et land, hvor hver mark gemmer en grav,
00:38
where millions of people
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hvor millioner af mennesker
00:40
have been deported or killed
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er blevet deporteret eller dræbt
00:43
in the 20th century.
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i det 20. århundrede.
00:46
Behind the destruction,
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Bag ødelæggelsen
00:48
I found a soul of places.
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fandt jeg stedernes sjæl.
00:51
I met humble people.
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Jeg mødte ydmyge folk.
00:53
I heard their prayer
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Jeg hørte deres bønner
00:55
and ate their bread.
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og spiste deres brød.
00:57
Then I have been walking East for 20 years --
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Siden har jeg gået mod øst i 20 år --
01:02
from Eastern Europe to Central Asia --
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fra Østeuropa til Centralasien --
01:05
through the Caucasus Mountains,
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gennem Kaukasusbjergene,
01:07
Middle East,
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Mellemøsten,
01:09
North Africa,
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Nordafrika,
01:11
Russia.
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Rusland.
01:13
And I ever met more humble people.
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Og jeg mødte hele tiden flere ydmyge folk.
01:17
And I shared their bread and their prayer.
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Og jeg delte deres brød og deres bønner.
01:20
This is why I went to Afghanistan.
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Det er derfor, jeg tog til Afghanistan.
01:23
One day, I crossed the bridge
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En dag krydsede jeg broen
01:27
over the Oxus River.
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over Oxusfloden.
01:29
I was alone on foot.
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Jeg var alene til fods.
01:31
And the Afghan soldier was so surprised to see me
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Og den afghanske soldat var så overrasket over at se mig,
01:33
that he forgot to stamp my passport.
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at han glemte at stemple mit pas.
01:36
But he gave me a cup of tea.
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Men han gav mig en kop te.
01:38
And I understood
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Og jeg forstod,
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that his surprise was my protection.
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at hans overraskelse bestod i min beskyttelse.
01:43
So I have been walking and traveling,
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Så jeg har gået og rejst,
01:46
by horses, by yak, by truck, by hitchhiking,
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til hest, med yakokse, med lastbil, ved at blaffe,
01:49
from Iran's border
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fra Irans grænse
01:51
to the bottom, to the edge of the Wakhan Corridor.
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til bunden, til kanten af Wakhankorridoren.
01:56
And in this way
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Og på denne måde
01:58
I could find noor, the hidden light of Afghanistan.
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kunne jeg finde noor, Afghanistans skjulte lys.
02:05
My only weapon
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Mit eneste våben
02:07
was my notebook and my Leica.
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var min notesbog og mit Leica.
02:12
I heard prayers of the Sufi --
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Jeg hørte sufiernes bønner --
02:14
humble Muslims,
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ydmyge muslimer,
02:16
hated by the Taliban.
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hadet af Taleban.
02:18
Hidden river,
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Skjult flod,
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interconnected with the mysticism
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indbyrdes forbundet med mysticismen
02:22
from Gibraltar to India.
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fra Gibraltar til Indien.
02:25
The mosque where the respectful foreigner
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Moskeen, hvor den respektfulde fremmede
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is showered with blessings
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bliver badet i velsignelser
02:32
and with tears,
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and i tårer
02:35
and welcomed as a gift.
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og budt velkommen som en gave.
02:39
What do we know
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Hvad ved vi
02:41
about the country and the people
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om landet og folket,
02:43
that we pretend to protect,
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som vi påstår at beskytte,
02:46
about the villages
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om landsbyerne,
02:49
where the only one medicine
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hvor den eneste medicin
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to kill the pain and to stop the hunger
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til at slå smerten ned og stoppe sulten
02:53
is opium?
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er opium?
02:55
These are opium-addicted people
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Disse er opiumafhængige folk
02:58
on the roofs of Kabul
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på Kabuls tage
03:01
10 years after the beginning of our war.
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10 år efter vores krigs begyndelse.
03:05
These are the nomad girls
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Disse er nomadepigerne,
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who became prostitutes for Afghan businessmen.
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som blev prostituerede for afghanske forretningsmænd.
03:12
What do we know about the women
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Hvad ved vi om kvinderne
03:14
10 years after the war?
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10 år efter krigen?
03:16
Clothed in this nylon bag,
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Indsvøbt i denne nylonpose,
03:18
made in China,
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lavet i Kina,
03:20
with the name of burqa.
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med navnet burka.
03:24
I saw one day,
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Jeg så en dag
03:26
the largest school in Afghanistan,
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Afghanistans største skole,
03:29
a girls' school.
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en pigeskole.
03:31
13,000 girls
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13.000 piger,
03:34
studying here
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der studerer her
03:38
in the rooms underground,
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i lokalerne under jorden
03:41
full of scorpions.
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fyldt med skorpioner.
03:44
And their love [for studying]
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Og deres kærlighed [til studierne]
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was so big that I cried.
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var så stor, at jeg græd.
03:52
What do we know
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Hvad ved vi
03:54
about the death threats by the Taliban
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om dødstruslerne fra Taleban,
03:57
nailed on the doors
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der er sømmet på dørene
03:59
of the people who dare to send their daughters to school as in Balkh?
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til de folk, der vover at sende deres døtre i skole som i Balkh?
04:05
The region is not secure, but full of the Taliban,
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Regionen er ikke sikker, men fyldt med Talebanere,
04:08
and they did it.
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og de gjorde det.
04:10
My aim is to give a voice
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Mit mål er at give en stemme
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to the silent people,
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til det stille folk,
04:15
to show the hidden lights
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at vise det skjulte lys
04:19
behind the curtain of the great game,
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bag det store spils gardin,
04:22
the small worlds ignored by the media
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de små verdener, der bliver ignoreret af medierne,
04:25
and the prophets of a global conflict.
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og den globale konflikts profeter.
04:27
Thanks.
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Tak.
04:29
(Applause)
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(Bifald)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Monika Bulaj - PhotographerMonika Bulaj’s stunning, painting-like photographs blur religious and cultural divisions, exploding stereotypes. She is a TED Fellow.
Why you should listen
Monika Bulaj is a photographer and writer who explores -- in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe -- the dim areas of monotheism, where the sacred can transcend borders: Bonfires, dances, cults of the dead, possession rites. She describes outskirts and deserts, frontiers and megalopolis. And the world of the last ones: nomads, farmers, immigrants, outcasts, untouchables and impure.
Her photos and reportaging have been published by GEO, National Geographic (Italy), La Repubblica, periodicals by Gruppo Espresso and Rcs, Courrier International, Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland), Internazionale, Freundin, Teatr (Poland) and other international magazines.
She has displayed more than 50 personal exibitions in Italy, Germany, Ungheria, Bulgaria, Egypt.
Her books include Libya felix, a travel into Sufism and the world of the Tuaregh; Figli di Noè, on minorities and faiths in Azerbaijian; Rebecca e la pioggia, on the nomadic tribe of the Dinka of South Sudan; Gerusalemme perduta with Paolo Rumiz, the special correspondent of La Repubblica, on the pellegrinage in the research of the Eastern Christians; Genti di Dio, viaggio nell'Altra Europa, a synthesis of 20 years of research in East Europe and Israel, and her latest book, Bozy ludzie.
She has screenwritten documentaries, among which is the movie Romani Rat (2002) by M. Orlandi, on the Holocaust of the Roms, with the contribution of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. She's the director, photography director, and screenwriter of the documentary Figli di Noè, about the villages of Caucasus on the border between Dagestan and Azerbaigian.
Bulaj is a TED Fellow. Read TED's Q&A with Monika Bulaj >>
Monika Bulaj | Speaker | TED.com