TEDGlobal 2011
Monika Bulaj: The hidden light of Afghanistan
Monika Bulaj: a luz oculta de Afghanistan
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A fotógrafa Monika Bulaj amosa imaxes sobrecolledoras e íntimas de Afghanistan: vida no fogar, ritos, homes e mulleres. Que sabe realmente sobre este lugar alén dos tópicos?
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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As miñas viaxes a Afghanistán
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began many, many years ago
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comezaron hai moitos anos
00:21
on the eastern border of my country,
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na fronteira oriental do meu país,
00:24
my homeland, Poland.
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a miña terra, Polonia.
00:27
I was walking through the forests
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Estaba paseando polas fragas
00:29
of my grandmother's tales.
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dos contos da miña avoa.
00:33
A land where every field hides a grave,
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Unha terra onde cada campo oculta un sepulcro
00:38
where millions of people
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onde millóns de persoas
00:40
have been deported or killed
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foron deportadas ou asasinadas
00:43
in the 20th century.
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no século XX.
00:46
Behind the destruction,
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Alén da destrucción,
00:48
I found a soul of places.
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atopei a alma dos lugares.
00:51
I met humble people.
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Coñecín xente humilde.
00:53
I heard their prayer
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Escoitei as suas pregarias
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and ate their bread.
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e comín o seu pan.
00:57
Then I have been walking East for 20 years --
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Logo camiñei cara o Leste durante vinte anos
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from Eastern Europe to Central Asia --
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de Europa oriental deica Asia central...
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through the Caucasus Mountains,
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através das montañas do Cáucaso,
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Middle East,
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Medio Oriente,
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North Africa,
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o Norte de África,
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Russia.
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Rusia.
01:13
And I ever met more humble people.
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Non atopei xente máis humilde.
01:17
And I shared their bread and their prayer.
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Compartiron o seu pan e as súas pregarias.
01:20
This is why I went to Afghanistan.
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Por iso fun a Afghanistán.
01:23
One day, I crossed the bridge
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Un día, crucei a ponte
01:27
over the Oxus River.
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sobre o río Oxus.
01:29
I was alone on foot.
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Ía soa, a pé.
01:31
And the Afghan soldier was so surprised to see me
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E un soldado afgán sorprendeuse tanto cando me veu
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that he forgot to stamp my passport.
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que esqueceu estampar o meu pasaporte.
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But he gave me a cup of tea.
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Pero deume una taza de té.
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And I understood
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E comprendín
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that his surprise was my protection.
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que a súa sorpresa era a miña protección.
01:43
So I have been walking and traveling,
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Así que camiñei e viaxei
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by horses, by yak, by truck, by hitchhiking,
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en cabalo, en iaque, en camión, en autoestop,
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from Iran's border
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dende a fronteira con Irán
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to the bottom, to the edge of the Wakhan Corridor.
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deica o fondo, no límite do Corredor de Wakhan.
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And in this way
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E nesta travesía
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I could find noor, the hidden light of Afghanistan.
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puiden achar Noor, a luz oculta do Afghanistán.
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My only weapon
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A miña única arma
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was my notebook and my Leica.
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era o meu caderno e a miña Leica.
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I heard prayers of the Sufi --
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Escoitei as oracións dos Sufi
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humble Muslims,
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humildes musulmáns,
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hated by the Taliban.
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odiados polos musulmáns.
02:18
Hidden river,
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Río oculto,
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interconnected with the mysticism
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interconectado co misticismo
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from Gibraltar to India.
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dende Xibraltar até a India.
02:25
The mosque where the respectful foreigner
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A mesquita onde o respetuoso estranxeiro
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is showered with blessings
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é agasallado con benzóns
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and with tears,
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e con bágoas,
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and welcomed as a gift.
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e recibido coma un agasallo.
02:39
What do we know
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O que sabemos nós
02:41
about the country and the people
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sobre o país e xentes
02:43
that we pretend to protect,
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aos que finximos protexer
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about the villages
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sobre as aldeas
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where the only one medicine
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onde o único remedio
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to kill the pain and to stop the hunger
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para calmar a dor e saciar a fame
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is opium?
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é o opio?
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These are opium-addicted people
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Estes son os adictos ao opio
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on the roofs of Kabul
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nos teitos de Cabul
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10 years after the beginning of our war.
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dez anos despois de comezarmos a nosa guerra.
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These are the nomad girls
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Estas son as rapazas nómadas
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who became prostitutes for Afghan businessmen.
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convertidas en rameiras para os empresarios afgáns.
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What do we know about the women
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Que sabemos nós das mulleres
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10 years after the war?
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dez anos após a guerra?
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Clothed in this nylon bag,
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Vestidas con esas bolsas de nilon,
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made in China,
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fabricadas en China,
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with the name of burqa.
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que levan por nome burqa.
03:24
I saw one day,
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Un día vin,
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the largest school in Afghanistan,
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a meirande escola en Afghanistán,
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a girls' school.
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unha escola de nenas.
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13,000 girls
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Trece mil nenas
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studying here
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estudando alí
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in the rooms underground,
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en habitacións baixo o chan,
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full of scorpions.
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cheas de escorpións.
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And their love [for studying]
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E a súa paixón polo estudo
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was so big that I cried.
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era tan grande que chorei.
03:52
What do we know
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Que sabemos nós
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about the death threats by the Taliban
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sobre as ameazas de morte dos talibáns
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nailed on the doors
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cravadas nas portas
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of the people who dare to send their daughters to school as in Balkh?
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da xente que ousa enviar as súas fillas á escola coma en Balkh?
04:05
The region is not secure, but full of the Taliban,
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A rexión non é segura, pois está chea de talibáns,
04:08
and they did it.
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e fixérono eles.
04:10
My aim is to give a voice
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O meu obxectivo é darlle voz
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to the silent people,
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á xente silenciada,
04:15
to show the hidden lights
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amosar as luces ocultas
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behind the curtain of the great game,
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detrás das cortinas do grande xogo,
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the small worlds ignored by the media
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os pequenos mundos ignorados polos medios
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and the prophets of a global conflict.
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e polos profetas dun conflicto universal.
04:27
Thanks.
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Grazas.
04:29
(Applause)
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(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