Introduction
The Afghan National Gallery (ANG) has been working as part of National Art Directorate of the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC). The ANG houses 800 paintings of foreign and national painters, with branches in 15 provinces of Afghanistan and its headquarter in Kabul city (Asamayee Road). The ANG has 17 professional and administrative male and female personnel.

  • History

    The Afghan National Gallery - referred to at the time as the Gallery - was created in May 1983 under the Ministry of Information and Culture, with a capacity of 200 paintings of contemporary Afghan artists and ancient paintings, some of which art collections of the king’s fortress and some were collected from museums. Later on, it was renamed the Afghan National Gallery (ANG) in October 1983. Now, the ANG has 800 works of art, which includes 580 paintings of national artists and 220 paintings done by foreign artists. The current collection includes works of art on paper, oil paintings, miniatures, collage, embroidery and needle work, pastel, wood graving on wood and metal, posters and synthetic pieces of modern art in different styles.
    Some 210 pieces of art were partially/fully destroyed during the Civil Wars and by the Taliban. With funding from the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund (BC-CPF), these paintings’ conditions were assessed by team of international art conservators and national and international management experts and their conservation and restoration are part of the ANG’s current undertakings.

  • Activities

    • Organizing 700 national and international exhibitions over the past years
    • Conducting art workshops and art competitions
    • Establishing 15 Gallery in Afghanistan’s provinces
    • Issuing licenses for artistic activities to private Galleries
    • Repairing a number of paintings in the National Gallery
    • Issuing official permissions/licenses for art and calligraphy works going to exhibition outside Afghanistan
    • Painting of 30 pieces of art for the Afghan Embassy in India
    • Decoration of paintings in Paghman Palace, Wolesi Jirga (lower parliament house) hall, Meshrano Jirga (Upper house), Salam Khana Palace - Kuti Baghcheh palace, Jalalabad Royal Palace, and other provinces like: Ghazni - Balkh - Nangarhar - Logar - Wardak Square – Faryab and paintings some pieces for them.

  • International work

    Participation of four ANG artists at the art workshop in China, which included creating 20 paintings and organizing an exhibition in Beijing, China. The 20 paintings, named the Artworks of Afghanistan - will remain in the Chinese Museum and are exhibited at the China's Ministry of Information and Tourism.

  • Services

    • Organizing of Exhibitions
    • Collecting paintings of national artists for enriching the ANG’s collection
    • Facilitating communication with national and International institutions
    • Creating an enabling environment for the capacity building of employees and artists
    • Offering services to ANG visitors including but not limited to students, especially students of College of fine Arts, Art and cultural institutions, national and international enthusiasts/visitors.

  • Sponsors

    Ministry of Information and Culture of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
    This website is made possible with the financial contribution from the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, for which the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture and the Afghan National Gallery are eternally grateful

Future Plans 

  • Providing art and craft exhibitions in capital and Provinces
  • Organizing Art workshops
  • Conducting art competitions in various artistic fields
  • Creating more provincial galleries
  • Establishing an art restoration laboratory with the funding from
  • foreign and national agencies and supports of the Ministry of
  • Information and Culture.
  • Upgrading the capacity of professional staff in the field of art
  • restoration and other art departments