This & That, Art & design

Afghanistan, wie geht es dir?

19. November 2024

The Kulturhuus Schanfigg as a guest at the Stadtgalerie Chur

In 1963, the Sargans mountaineer and filmmaker Viktor Wyss sel. took part in the "first Swiss Hindu Kush expedition". The two 16mm films Afghanistan, wie geht es dir? and Wilder Hindukusch were made during the trip, in which Wyss documented cultural life in Afghanistan in the 1960s and the first ascent of the 7038m high Urgent. In the Stadtgalerie, the two contemporary testimonies are juxtaposed with current film footage taken by Mohammad Saadat with the original Bolex film cameras of Viktor Wyss himself in the Schanfigg valley.

The two 16mm films by Viktor Wyss himself are among the few surviving records of the "first Swiss Hindu Kush expedition" in 1963. The expedition was a daring project of the Swiss Himalayan Foundation Lucerne, which was founded in the same year. The expedition team included cameraman and chef Viktor Wyss sel. (1917, Biel), expedition leader Max Eiselin (1932, Kriens-Lucerne), expedition doctor Dr. Simon Burkhardt (1934, Bern), mechanic and car attendant Alois Strickler (1924, Baar) and equipment manager Hanspeter Ryf (1940, Rumisberg). Once they arrived in Afghanistan, Smaray Kasi joined the troops and from then on supported the five Swiss as a local guide and Afghan interpreter. The aim of the expedition was to "get to know the Kingdom of Afghanistan" and to "explore the Wachan Mountains for mountaineering" - with the aim of making the first ascent of a five-, six- or seven-thousand-metre peak. An ambitious goal that was achieved: in the expedition documentation, Max Eiselin proudly records that on August 26, 1963, a Swiss flag flew for the first time on the "second highest mountain in the world".

In Wilder Hindukusch (CH 1963, 39min), Wyss documents the lengthy journey from Lucerne to Afghanistan by VW bus and the adventurous ascent with porters, donkeys, horses and yaks up to the pointy bus ice on the Urgent. In Afghanistan, how are you? (CH 1963, 45min), Wyss focuses more on Afghan handicrafts, such as making beaked shoes, painting water pipes or weaving and knotting carpets. The film's optimistic commentary on the soon unveiled women or the shots of the Buddah statues of Bamiyan, which were still preserved in 1963, are melancholy. Thanks to Regula Wyss - the daughter of Viktor Wyss himself - the exhibition not only shows the two films, but also private documents and objects belonging to Viktor Wyss himself, including photographs and biographical notes, as well as his Paillard-Bolex 16mm film camera. As part of the preparations for the exhibition and in the spirit of a change of perspective, Mohammad Saadat and Carla Gabrí worked with these original 16mm film cameras belonging to Viktor Wyss himself. The result is a third work on 16mm - Schanfigg, how are you? - in which Mohammad Saadat portrays three over 80-year-old women from Schanfigg.

At the vernissage on November 23, 2024 (5 p.m.), the three filmic works will be commented on by Regula Wyss, Mohammad Saadat and the director of the Kulturhuus Schanfigg and film scholar Dr. phil. Carla Gabrí. In the spirit of interculturality, Mohammad Saadat will play his dambura - an Afghan side instrument that he built himself from Schanfigg maple wood. Admission free, collection.

Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.