The Turquoise Mountain Foundation is a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

legally established in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It takes its name from Turquoise Mountain and initially focused on the enhancement of the

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

industry.Felicia Craddock
In Afghanistan, Creating Jewelry in the Midst of Conflict
''New York Times'' (September 11, 2014). The organization subsequently expanded its work to

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

(Burma).

History and activities

Turquoise Mountain was founded in 2006 by

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

(then the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

) in partnership with President of Afghanistan

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...

, and British writer, academic and former politician

Rory Stewart Roderick James Nugent Stewart (born 3 January 1973) is a British academic, broadcaster, writer, and former diplomat and politician. He has taught at Harvard University and at Yale University. He currently teaches and co-directs the Brady-Jo ...

, a former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

member of Parliament. Stewart was chief executive of the foundation from 2005 to 2008; the current chief executive is his wife Shoshana Stewart. Among the charity's projects was the Turquoise Mountain Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture, a school for the study of traditional Afghan

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...

and jewelry-making. Many of the Institute's graduates are

Afghan women Women's rights in Afghanistan are severely restricted by the Taliban. In 2023, the United Nations termed Afghanistan as the world's most repressive country for women. Since the 2020–2021 U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, US troops with ...

. Turquoise Mountain also largely funded a major restoration project in

Murad Khane Murad Khani or Murad Khane () is a small historical neighborhood in Kabul, Afghanistan. The neighborhood is part of the city's District 2, situated north of the Kabul River between Da Afghanistan Bank, Ministry of Defense, Eidgah Mosque, Pul-e ...

, the old town of

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, encompassing the restoration of over 150 buildings in the neighborhood.Alisa Tang
Kabul's old city gets a new look
''New York Times'' (February 1, 2008). The group describes its mission as "to preserve and regenerate historic areas and communities with a rich cultural heritage and to revive traditional crafts, to create jobs, skills and a renewed sense of pride." Funding has been provided by a number of public and private donors from both the

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, including the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...

(USAID),

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA; in French: ''Agence canadienne de développement international''; ''ACDI'') was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was me ...

(CIDA), the Government of Afghanistan, the Government of India, the Blue Moon Fund, Reach Out To Asia, the Kathy Evans Afghan Education Trust, The Bonita Trust,

The Prince's Charities The Prince's Charities is a non-profit organisation that has associations with King Charles III. The Prince's Charities, supported by King Charles III Charitable Fund, is based in the United Kingdom and comprises 19 organisations of which Charl ...

, The Kingdom of Bahrain, the Amir of Kuwait, the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation (Saudi Arabia) and the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

. The scene in British film-maker

Adam Curtis Adam Curtis (born 26 May 1955) is an English documentary filmmaker. Curtis began his career as a conventional documentary producer for the BBC throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The release of '' Pandora's Box'' (1992) marked the in ...

's 2015 documentary '' Bitter Lake'' of an English art teacher enthusiastically extolling the meaning of

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

’s conceptual artwork,

Fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

, an inverted male urinal, to a group of recently liberated and incredulous Afghan women, is held to have occurred under the auspices of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation. In 2019, the Turquoise Mountain Foundation took over the activities of ''Arzu - Studios of Hope in Afghanistan''. Arzu received a Skoll Award in 2008. In 2023, it was announced that Princess Dana Firas of Jordan was joining as a Trustee.

Alumni

* Samira Kitman

References

External links

Turquoise Mountain Foundation

Turquoise Mountain Arts
* {{Charles, Prince of Wales Development charities based in the United Kingdom Charities based in Scotland The Prince's Charities New Classical architecture in the United Kingdom Foreign charities operating in Afghanistan