Ancient Bactria which compromised modern Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is a land of beauty, history and brutality. The artistic activity can be traced back to 18,000 BC in this land of snowcapped mountains, deserts and lust valleys filled with relics from empires thousands of years old. The Indo Greek Empire here was created by a diverse group of Romans, Greeks, Macedonians, central Asians, Chinese and Indian cultures. Poetry, architecture and art were at its zenith due to its location along the ancient, silk route. In today’s times, its instability has been exploited by a group of fighters and the disasters and sadness created plays a complicated dance of beauty and death.
In this sculpture the beauty of the region is depicted by a large piece of smoky topaz quartz and brutality by an ancient Luristan axe, Roman bronze Gryphon foot and Pre-Columbian figurine.