Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Join two museum directors as they discuss the global challenge of preserving cultural heritage. In this one-on-one interview, Omara Khan Masoudi, the former director of the National Museum of Afghanistan, talks with Chase F. Robinson, the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.
Afghanistan is a country with notable cultural heritage but has also endured decades of political, military, and social turmoil. No individual has witnessed these events as closely or has worked harder to mitigate the destruction of Afghanistan’s cultural patrimony than Omara Khan Masoudi. In this two-part interview, he shares his experiences across decades, from the 1960s to the present.
In this first half of their discussion, Masoudi talks about his background, what led him to the museum world, and the country’s atmosphere in the 1970s. He describes the complicated work of overseeing the move of the museum’s entire collection out of harm’s way during the uncertainty leading up to the April ‘79 coup. He then explains the confusion of moving the collections back to the damaged museum building after the Soviet invasion.
View Part 2: youtu.be/_MUHRyuPgk4
We’ve spent two years recording Mr. Masoudi’s oral history in order to preserve this important story. Access the full history: https://sova.si.edu/record/fsa.a2024.03
Join two museum directors as they discuss the global challenge of preserving cultural heritage. In this one-on-one interview, Omara Khan Masoudi, the former director of the National Museum of Afghanistan, talks with Chase F. Robinson, the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.
Afghanistan is a country with notable cultural heritage but has also endured decades of political, military, and social turmoil. No individual has witnessed these events as closely or has worked harder to mitigate the destruction of Afghanistan’s cultural patrimony than Omara Khan Masoudi. In this two-part interview, he shares his experiences across decades, from the 1960s to the present.
In this first half of their discussion, Masoudi talks about his background, what led him to the museum world, and the country’s atmosphere in the 1970s. He describes the complicated work of overseeing the move of the museum’s entire collection out of harm’s way during the uncertainty leading up to the April ‘79 coup. He then explains the confusion of moving the collections back to the damaged museum building after the Soviet invasion.
View Part 2: youtu.be/_MUHRyuPgk4
We’ve spent two years recording Mr. Masoudi’s oral history in order to preserve this important story. Access the full history: https://sova.si.edu/record/fsa.a2024.03
