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Emran Feroz is an Afghan-Austrian journalist currently based in Stuttgart, Germany. He is regularly writing from Afghanistan, often focusing on the Middle East, Central Asia, drone warfare, refugee policies and human rights. Emran is writing in both German and English. His work has already appeared in international media outlets such as Al Jazeera, The Intercept, Alternet, The Atlantic or the New York Times and in various German and Austrian news papers and magazines.
How The Ancient Art Of Glass Blowing Survived In Western Afghanistan
Glass blowing is something that many people know but they rarely see. In fact, it is a dying art. However, there is at least one place where it is still alive: The ancient city of Herat in Western Afghanistan. For the last 200 years, Ghulam Sakhi's family has been blowing glass there.
ABC News' Ian Pannel visited Sakhi's work place to show the world the Afghan's handcraft.
Ghulam Sakhi himself estimates that nowadays there are only three glassblowers left in all of Afghanistan. Personally, I have not ever seen a single one (I have not visited Herat yet but many other parts of the country).
The piece describes Sakhi's work in much detail:
"Watching him at work is mesmerizing as he blows, twists and fashions the molten liquid into shape. The heat is intense with the oven’s core temperature rising to a blistering 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit."
Once upon a time – before all the chaos, war and terror started – Afghanistan was famous for such arts. Cities like Herat, Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif or Kandahar were full of skilled craftsmen. And the example of Ghulam Sakhi proves that not all of them vanished.
