Exhibition: August in Kabul
Open weekdays 9am - 5pm, until 6pm on Thursdays
AUGUST IN KABUL
A PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION BY ANDREW QUILTY
6 - 30 SEPTEMBER
“As night fell on 15 August 2021, the Taliban entered Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. After a 20-year conflict with the United States, its Western allies and a proxy Afghan government, the Islamic militant group once aligned with al Qaeda was about to bury yet another foreign foe in the graveyard of empires. And for the US, the superpower, this was yet another foreign disaster. As cities and towns fell to the Taliban in rapid succession, Western troops and embassy staff scrambled to flee a country of which its government had lost control.”
Andrew Quilty was one of a handful of Western journalists present in Kabul as the city fell.
This photographic exhibition captures the chaotic final days of America’s capitulation to the Taliban, and the story of how America’s longest war came to an abrupt and tumultuous end, told through the eyes of Afghans whose lives have been turned upside down: a young woman who harbours dreams of a university education; a presidential staffer who works desperately to hold things together as the government collapses around him; a prisoner in the notorious Bagram Prison who suddenly finds himself free when prison guards abandon their post.
Andrew Quilty has established himself as one of Australia’s great war reporters. Andrew is the recipient of nine Walkley Awards, including the Gold Walkley, for his work on Afghanistan, where he has been based since 2013. He has also received the George Polk Award, the World Press Photo Award and the Overseas Press Club of America Award.
EXHIBITION DETAILS
Content warning:
Please be advised that visitors may find some of these images confronting and distressing.
6 September - 30 September 2022
Open weekdays 9am - 5pm, until 6pm on Thursdays
Closed on Public Holidays
FREE ENTRY
Kerry Packer Civic Gallery
Hawke Building Level 3, UniSA City West Campus
55 North Terrace Adelaide MAP
PRESENTED AND SUPPORTED BY
THE BOB HAWKE PRIME MINISTERIAL CENTRE
Images:
Top and Banner: Photography, Andrew Quilty: A man waits for customers by the side of the road in Kabul - setting up shop in the hope of selling household items to sustain himself amid serious poverty after the Taliban took control of Kabul.
Top: Photography, Andrew Quilty: August in Kabul Book Cover, showing August 31, 2021, at Hamid Karzai International Airport as Taliban fighters from across Afghanistan explored the airfield 18 hours after the last US troops departed.
While the views presented by speakers within The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre public program are their own and are not necessarily those of either the University of South Australia, or The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, they are presented in the interest of open debate and discussion in the community and reflect our themes of: Strengthening our Democracy - Valuing our Diversity - Building our Future.
While the views presented by speakers within The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre public program are their own and are not necessarily those of either the University of South Australia, or The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, they are presented in the interest of open debate and discussion in the community and reflect our themes of: Strengthening our Democracy - Valuing our Diversity - Building our Future. The Hawke Centre reserves the right to change their program at any time without notice.
