[youtube]<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RDbrZaoXh4I&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RDbrZaoXh4I&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>[/youtube]A sequence on the Bamiyan statues from "Adventure in Afghanistan" from Hal, Halla and David Linker's television travelogue series, "The Wild, the Weird, and the Wonderful", circa 1973. The Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003; it is noted as being a World Heritage Site in Danger. The film clip is from the Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution collection of historical moving images.
[youtube]<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t9Cu5iOjHQo&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t9Cu5iOjHQo&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>[/youtube]In 2001 the Taliban swept through Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley. Their target was the colossal stone Buddha statues which had stood for over 1500 years. The world watched powerless as one of its true wonders was lost. In Rebuilding Bamiyan Al Jazeera's Nadene Ghouri travels to Bamiyan to explore the restoration work being done on the site, and to talk to those planning to rebuild the statues.