The central panel resonates with what 19th century called the Great Game -the civil and military jousting for
position between imperial Britain and Russia focussed in the area of Afghanistan. The British felt that Russian expansion southwards was threatening
their India. The ‘game’ was
played with the intention of avoiding direct military conflict between the two powers and involved spying, exploring, surveying, diplomacy and, where
necessary, military intervention
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by the British in a number of unsuccessful attempts to turn Afghanistan into a client or puppet state and, failing that, to reach agreement
transforming it into a buffer
zone. In other words, the middle photograph echoes with ghosts of Kim and the portraits of Afghanistan fighters made by, for example, John
Burke. But not only. It also deals with recent history in the area. The Taliban government effectively sealed off the country’s borders and the flow
of information.
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