This exhibition of photographs by Susan Schulman, "A Future from the Past" was hosted at DFID on 7 July 2008 with support from the Foreign Office and Turquoise Mountain Foundation.

The pictures illustrate the talents of Afghanistan's crafts men and women and their hope for the future.  The photos reflect people engaged in household chores against a backdrop of antique hand crafted architectural woodwork and portrays crafts people and merchants making a living in one of Kabul's oldest trading precints, Murad Khane.

In 2007 the British Embassy Kabul, provided £37,000 of funding towards Turquoise Mountain's restoration of the Murad Khane Great Serai, arguably Afghanistan's best preserved courtyard merchant's serai. The building was once a school of traditional arts and crafts and Turquoise Mountain is now restoring it as a centre of cultual learning and craft.

The photos convery the pride with which Afghans value their heritage and demonstrates that cultural traditions can also drive economic development, aid post conflict stabilisation and help overcome poverty. The communities photographed are supported by Turquoise Mountain Foundation's Programmes.

The exhibition will now go on tour with details to be confirmed. All photos reproduced below with kind permission of the photographer, Susan Schulman.

• Watch a British Satellite News clip of the event.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.