TEDGlobal 2011
Monika Bulaj: The hidden light of Afghanistan
Monika Bulaj: la luz oculta de Afganistán
Filmed:
Readability: 3.6
669,507 views
La fotógrafa Monika Bulaj comparte imágenes potentes e íntimas de Afganistán. Imágenes de la vida hogareña, de rituales, de hombres y de mujeres. Detrás de los titulares, ¿qué sabe el mundo realmente sobre este lugar?
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
0
0
3000
Mis viajes a Afganistán
00:18
began many, many years ago
1
3000
3000
comenzaron hace muchísimos años
00:21
on the eastern border of my country,
2
6000
3000
en la frontera este de mi país,
00:24
my homeland, Poland.
3
9000
3000
mi patria, Polonia.
00:27
I was walking through the forests
4
12000
2000
Yo caminaba por los bosques
00:29
of my grandmother's tales.
5
14000
4000
de los relatos de mi abuela.
00:33
A land where every field hides a grave,
6
18000
5000
Una tierra en la que cada campo esconde una tumba,
00:38
where millions of people
7
23000
2000
donde millones de personas
00:40
have been deported or killed
8
25000
3000
han sido deportadas o asesinadas
00:43
in the 20th century.
9
28000
3000
en el siglo XX.
00:46
Behind the destruction,
10
31000
2000
Detrás de la destrucción
00:48
I found a soul of places.
11
33000
3000
hallé el alma de los lugares.
00:51
I met humble people.
12
36000
2000
Conocí gente humilde.
00:53
I heard their prayer
13
38000
2000
Oí sus plegarias
00:55
and ate their bread.
14
40000
2000
y comí de sus panes.
00:57
Then I have been walking East for 20 years --
15
42000
5000
Después recorrí el este durante 20 años,
01:02
from Eastern Europe to Central Asia --
16
47000
3000
desde Europa del Este hasta Asia Central.
01:05
through the Caucasus Mountains,
17
50000
2000
pasando por el Cáucaso,
01:07
Middle East,
18
52000
2000
Medio Oriente,
01:09
North Africa,
19
54000
2000
norte de África,
01:11
Russia.
20
56000
2000
Rusia.
01:13
And I ever met more humble people.
21
58000
4000
Era la gente más humilde que conocí.
01:17
And I shared their bread and their prayer.
22
62000
3000
Y compartí sus panes y sus plegarias.
01:20
This is why I went to Afghanistan.
23
65000
3000
Por eso fui a Afganistán.
01:23
One day, I crossed the bridge
24
68000
4000
Un día crucé el puente
01:27
over the Oxus River.
25
72000
2000
que está sobre el río Oxus.
01:29
I was alone on foot.
26
74000
2000
Iba sola y a pie.
01:31
And the Afghan soldier was so surprised to see me
27
76000
2000
El soldado afgano se sorprendió tanto al verme
01:33
that he forgot to stamp my passport.
28
78000
3000
que olvidó sellar mi pasaporte.
01:36
But he gave me a cup of tea.
29
81000
2000
Pero me ofreció un té.
01:38
And I understood
30
83000
2000
Y ahí entendí
01:40
that his surprise was my protection.
31
85000
3000
que su sorpresa fue mi protección.
01:43
So I have been walking and traveling,
32
88000
3000
Así, he estado caminando y viajando,
01:46
by horses, by yak, by truck, by hitchhiking,
33
91000
3000
a caballo, en yak, en camión, a dedo,
01:49
from Iran's border
34
94000
2000
desde la frontera iraní
01:51
to the bottom, to the edge of the Wakhan Corridor.
35
96000
5000
hasta el otro lado, en el borde del corredor de Wakhan.
01:56
And in this way
36
101000
2000
Y de este modo
01:58
I could find noor, the hidden light of Afghanistan.
37
103000
7000
pude encontrar a noor, la luz oculta de Afganistán.
02:05
My only weapon
38
110000
2000
Mi únicas armas
02:07
was my notebook and my Leica.
39
112000
5000
eran mi cuaderno y mi Leica.
02:12
I heard prayers of the Sufi --
40
117000
2000
Oí las oraciones de los sufíes
02:14
humble Muslims,
41
119000
2000
-musulmanes humildes-
02:16
hated by the Taliban.
42
121000
2000
odiados por los talibanes.
02:18
Hidden river,
43
123000
2000
Un río escondido
02:20
interconnected with the mysticism
44
125000
2000
conectado con el misticismo,
02:22
from Gibraltar to India.
45
127000
3000
desde Gibraltar hasta la India.
02:25
The mosque where the respectful foreigner
46
130000
5000
La mezquita donde el extranjero respetuoso
02:30
is showered with blessings
47
135000
2000
es empapado en lágrimas
02:32
and with tears,
48
137000
3000
y bendiciones
02:35
and welcomed as a gift.
49
140000
4000
y recibido como un regalo.
02:39
What do we know
50
144000
2000
¿Qué sabemos
02:41
about the country and the people
51
146000
2000
del país y de las personas
02:43
that we pretend to protect,
52
148000
3000
que fingimos proteger,
02:46
about the villages
53
151000
3000
y de las aldeas
02:49
where the only one medicine
54
154000
2000
en las que la única medicina
02:51
to kill the pain and to stop the hunger
55
156000
2000
que calma el dolor y detiene el hambre
02:53
is opium?
56
158000
2000
es el opio?
02:55
These are opium-addicted people
57
160000
3000
Estas son personas adictas al opio
02:58
on the roofs of Kabul
58
163000
3000
que están en los techos de Kabul
03:01
10 years after the beginning of our war.
59
166000
4000
10 años después del comienzo de nuestra guerra.
03:05
These are the nomad girls
60
170000
3000
Estas son chicas nómadas
03:08
who became prostitutes for Afghan businessmen.
61
173000
4000
devenidas prostitutas de los empresarios afganos,
03:12
What do we know about the women
62
177000
2000
¿Qué sabemos de las mujeres
03:14
10 years after the war?
63
179000
2000
10 años después de la guerra?
03:16
Clothed in this nylon bag,
64
181000
2000
Vestidas con estas bolsas de nylon,
03:18
made in China,
65
183000
2000
hechas en China
03:20
with the name of burqa.
66
185000
4000
bajo el nombre de burka.
03:24
I saw one day,
67
189000
2000
Un día vi
03:26
the largest school in Afghanistan,
68
191000
3000
la escuela más grande de Afganistán;
03:29
a girls' school.
69
194000
2000
una escuela de niñas.
03:31
13,000 girls
70
196000
3000
13 mil niñas
03:34
studying here
71
199000
4000
estudian aquí
03:38
in the rooms underground,
72
203000
3000
en aulas subterráneas,
03:41
full of scorpions.
73
206000
3000
llenas de escorpiones.
03:44
And their love [for studying]
74
209000
3000
Y su amor [al estudio]
03:47
was so big that I cried.
75
212000
5000
era tan grande que lloré.
03:52
What do we know
76
217000
2000
¿Qué sabemos
03:54
about the death threats by the Taliban
77
219000
3000
de las amenazas de muerte talibanas
03:57
nailed on the doors
78
222000
2000
clavadas en las puertas
03:59
of the people who dare to send their daughters to school as in Balkh?
79
224000
6000
como símbolo para quienes se atrevan a mandar a sus hijas a la escuela?
04:05
The region is not secure, but full of the Taliban,
80
230000
3000
La región no es segura, está llena de talibanes,
04:08
and they did it.
81
233000
2000
y ellos lo hicieron.
04:10
My aim is to give a voice
82
235000
2000
Mi propósito es darle voz
04:12
to the silent people,
83
237000
3000
a los que no la tienen,
04:15
to show the hidden lights
84
240000
4000
para mostrar las luces ocultas
04:19
behind the curtain of the great game,
85
244000
3000
que hay tras las bambalinas del gran juego,
04:22
the small worlds ignored by the media
86
247000
3000
los pequeños mundos ignorados por los medios de comunicación
04:25
and the prophets of a global conflict.
87
250000
2000
y los profetas de un conflicto mundial.
04:27
Thanks.
88
252000
2000
Gracias.
04:29
(Applause)
89
254000
9000
(Aplausos)
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