TEDGlobal 2011
Monika Bulaj: The hidden light of Afghanistan
Monika Bulaj: Das verborgene Licht Afghanistans
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Die Fotografin Monika Bulaj zeigt beeindruckende, intime Bilder Afghanistans – vom häuslichen Leben, von Riten, von Männern und Frauen. Was weiß die Welt wirklich von diesem Ort, über die Schlagzeilen hinaus?
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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Meine Reisen nach Afghanistan
00:18
began many, many years ago
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begannen vor vielen Jahren
00:21
on the eastern border of my country,
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an der östlichen Grenze meines Landes,
00:24
my homeland, Poland.
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meiner Heimat Polen.
00:27
I was walking through the forests
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Ich spazierte durch die Wälder
00:29
of my grandmother's tales.
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der Geschichten meiner Großmutter.
00:33
A land where every field hides a grave,
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Ein Land mit einem Grab in jedem Feld,
00:38
where millions of people
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in dem während des zwanzigsten
00:40
have been deported or killed
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Jahrhunderts Millionen Menschen
00:43
in the 20th century.
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deportiert oder getötet wurden.
00:46
Behind the destruction,
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Hinter der Zerstörung
00:48
I found a soul of places.
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fand ich eine Seele von Orten.
00:51
I met humble people.
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Ich traf demütige Menschen,
00:53
I heard their prayer
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ich hörte deren Gebet
00:55
and ate their bread.
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und aß deren Brot.
00:57
Then I have been walking East for 20 years --
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Dann ging ich zwanzig Jahre lang ostwärts –
01:02
from Eastern Europe to Central Asia --
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von Osteuropa nach Zentralasien –
01:05
through the Caucasus Mountains,
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durch die Berge des Kaukasus,
01:07
Middle East,
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Mittlerer Osten,
01:09
North Africa,
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Nordafrika,
01:11
Russia.
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Russland.
01:13
And I ever met more humble people.
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Und ich traf jedesmal weitere demütige Menschen,
01:17
And I shared their bread and their prayer.
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und teilte deren Brot und Gebet.
01:20
This is why I went to Afghanistan.
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Darum ging ich nach Afghanistan.
01:23
One day, I crossed the bridge
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Eines Tages überquerte ich die
01:27
over the Oxus River.
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Brücke über den Oxus.
01:29
I was alone on foot.
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Ich marschierte allein,
01:31
And the Afghan soldier was so surprised to see me
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und der afghanische Soldat war so überrascht mich zu sehen,
01:33
that he forgot to stamp my passport.
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dass er vergaß, meinen Pass zu stempeln.
01:36
But he gave me a cup of tea.
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Aber er gab mir eine Tasse Tee;
01:38
And I understood
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und ich verstand,
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that his surprise was my protection.
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dass diese Überraschung mich schützte.
01:43
So I have been walking and traveling,
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Also wanderte und reiste ich
01:46
by horses, by yak, by truck, by hitchhiking,
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auf Pferden, Yaks, LKW, oder per Anhalter,
01:49
from Iran's border
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von der Grenze Irans
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to the bottom, to the edge of the Wakhan Corridor.
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nach unten zum Rand des Wakhan-Korridors.
01:56
And in this way
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So konnte ich Noor finden,
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I could find noor, the hidden light of Afghanistan.
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das verborgene Licht Afghanistans.
02:05
My only weapon
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Meine einzige Waffe
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was my notebook and my Leica.
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waren mein Notebook und meine Leica.
02:12
I heard prayers of the Sufi --
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Ich hörte Gebete der Sufi –
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humble Muslims,
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demütige Muslime,
02:16
hated by the Taliban.
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gehasst von den Taliban.
02:18
Hidden river,
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Verborgener Fluss,
02:20
interconnected with the mysticism
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verwoben mit dem Mystizismus
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from Gibraltar to India.
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von Gibraltar bis Indien.
02:25
The mosque where the respectful foreigner
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Die Moschee in der respektvolle Fremde
02:30
is showered with blessings
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mit Segnungen und Tränen
02:32
and with tears,
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überhäuft und
02:35
and welcomed as a gift.
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als Geschenk begrüßt werden.
02:39
What do we know
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Was wissen wir über
02:41
about the country and the people
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dieses Land und die Menschen
02:43
that we pretend to protect,
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die wir angeblich beschützen,
02:46
about the villages
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über die Dörfer in denen
02:49
where the only one medicine
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die einzige Medizin gegen
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to kill the pain and to stop the hunger
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Schmerzen und Hunger
02:53
is opium?
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Opium ist?
02:55
These are opium-addicted people
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Das sind opiumsüchtige Menschen
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on the roofs of Kabul
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auf den Dächern von Kabul,
03:01
10 years after the beginning of our war.
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zehn Jahre nachdem unser Krieg begann.
03:05
These are the nomad girls
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Die sind die Nomadenmädchen,
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who became prostitutes for Afghan businessmen.
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die zu Prostituierten für afghanische Geschäftsleute wurden.
03:12
What do we know about the women
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Was wissen wir von den Frauen
03:14
10 years after the war?
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zehn Jahre nach dem Krieg?
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Clothed in this nylon bag,
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Gekleidet mit diesem
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made in China,
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Nylonsack aus China,
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with the name of burqa.
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mit dem Namen Burqa.
03:24
I saw one day,
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Ich sah eines Tages
03:26
the largest school in Afghanistan,
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die größte Schule in Afghanistan,
03:29
a girls' school.
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eine Mädchenschule.
03:31
13,000 girls
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13.000 Mädchen
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studying here
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studierten hier in
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in the rooms underground,
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unterirdischen Räumen
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full of scorpions.
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voller Skorpione.
03:44
And their love [for studying]
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Und deren Liebe [zum Studium]
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was so big that I cried.
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war so groß, dass ich weinte.
03:52
What do we know
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Was wissen wir von
03:54
about the death threats by the Taliban
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den Todesdrohungen der Taliban,
03:57
nailed on the doors
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die an die Türen der Menschen
03:59
of the people who dare to send their daughters to school as in Balkh?
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genagelt werden, die wagen ihre Töchter an Schulen wie in Balkh zu schicken?
04:05
The region is not secure, but full of the Taliban,
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Die Gegend ist unsicher, aber voller Taliban,
04:08
and they did it.
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und sie taten es.
04:10
My aim is to give a voice
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Mein Ziel ist, den stillen Menschen
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to the silent people,
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eine Stimme zu geben,
04:15
to show the hidden lights
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die verborgenen Lichter hinter
04:19
behind the curtain of the great game,
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dem Vorhang des großen Spiels zu zeigen,
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the small worlds ignored by the media
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die kleinen – von den Medien ignorierten – Welten
04:25
and the prophets of a global conflict.
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und die Propheten eines globalen Konflikts.
04:27
Thanks.
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Danke.
04:29
(Applause)
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(Applaus)
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