Amid turmoil, Afghanistan pavilion arrives at Dubai's Expo
ABC News
Afghanistan's pavilion has finally arrived at the first world's fair in the Middle East, a week after Dubai's Expo opened without it
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- When Afghanistan's president was killed in a communist coup in 1978 and the country plunged into violent chaos, Mohammed Omer Rahimy bundled up his family’s treasures and fled to Vienna.
More than 40 years later, amid yet another violent upheaval in his home country, Rahimy found himself frantically loading those same artifacts onto a plane in cotton-stuffed boxes — this time to the first world's fair in the Middle East.
For the 62-year-old Rahimy, it was a mad rush to Dubai’s Expo 2020. He barely slept. But Rahimy was careful. He chose among the finest bronzes, jades, calligraphy and pottery from the vast Afghan antique collection he had amassed in Austria over the decades, which arrived at the fair earlier this week.
“It is important for the world to know that even though there is war and we are poor, our history is rich," Rahimy said. "Our culture is rich.”