Editing Afghanistan (section)

===Art and ceramics===
{{Main|Afghan art}}
[[File:Traditional Afghan Embroidery Style.jpg|thumb|A traditional Afghan [[embroidery]] pattern]]

Carpet [[weaving]] is an ancient practice in Afghanistan, and many of these are still [[Handicraft|handmade]] by tribal and nomadic people today.<ref name="aljazeera.com"/> Carpets have been produced in the region for thousands of years and traditionally done by women.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://khorasanrugs.com/post/1033364869875/in-afghanistan-weaving-ancient-industry|title=In Afghanistan, weaving ancient industry back into global market|date=21 August 2019|journal=The Christian Science Monitor}}</ref> Some crafters express their feelings through the designs of rugs; for example after the outbreak of the [[Soviet–Afghan War]], "[[war rugs]]", a variant of [[Afghan rug]]s, were created with designs representing pain and misery caused by the conflict.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://speri.dept.shef.ac.uk/2020/01/15/selling-war-commodifying-the-insecurity-of-afghan-women/|title=Selling war: commodifying the (in)security of Afghan women|date=15 January 2020|website=SPERI}}</ref> Every province has its own specific characteristics in making rugs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gounesco.com/weaving-culture-through-the-afghan-rug/|title=Weaving Culture through the Afghan rug|date=7 December 2017|access-date=13 June 2020|archive-date=30 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830215415/https://www.makeheritagefun.com/weaving-culture-through-the-afghan-rug/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In some of the Turkic-populated areas in the north-west, bride and wedding ceremony prices are driven by the bride's weaving skills.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/context-culture/rug-weavers-and-bride-prices-in-the-northwest-still-expensive-in-spite-of-government-and-taleban-rules/|title=Rug Weavers and Bride Prices in the Northwest: Still expensive in spite of government and Taleban rules|date=12 May 2019|website=Afghanistan Analysts Network – English}}</ref>

[[Pottery]] has been crafted in Afghanistan for millennia. The village of [[Istalif]], north of Kabul, is in particular a major center, known for its unique turquoise and green pottery,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://seretandsons.org/giving-back|title=Giving Back – Seret and Sons}}</ref> and their methods of crafting have remained the same for centuries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.khaama.com/the-potter-crafting-afghanistans-future-9899/|title=The Potter: Crafting Afghanistan's future|date=27 January 2015|website=The Khaama Press News Agency}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/world/asia/afghanistan-istalif-pottery.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/world/asia/afghanistan-istalif-pottery.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |url-access=limited|title=War and Pillaging Couldn't Break an Afghan Village, but a Tumbling Economy May|first=Kareem|last=Fahim|newspaper=The New York Times|date=18 August 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Much of ''[[lapis lazuli]]'' stones were earthed in modern-day Afghanistan which were used in [[Chinese porcelain]] as [[cobalt blue]], later used in ancient [[Mesopotamia]] and Turkey.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/how-the-color-blue-changed-art-forever/index.html|title=How the quest for the 'perfect blue' changed art forever|first=Isambard |last=Wilkinson|publisher=CNN|date=14 June 2018}}</ref>

The lands of Afghanistan have a long history of art, with the world's earliest known usage of [[oil painting]] found in cave murals in the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=First-ever oil paintings found in Afghanistan |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/04/24/afghanistan.painting/ |date=24 April 2008 |access-date=3 December 2012 |publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=World's Oldest Oil Paintings Found in Afghanistan |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352342,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080427021547/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352342,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 April 2008 |date=24 April 2008 |access-date=3 December 2012 |publisher=[[Fox News]]}}</ref> A notable art style that developed in Afghanistan and eastern Pakistan is [[Gandhara Art]], produced by a fusion of [[Greco-Roman]] art and [[Buddhist art]] between the 1st and 7th centuries CE.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Gandhara-art |title=Gandhara art |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=22 August 2018}}</ref> Later eras saw increased use of the [[Persian miniature]] style, with [[Kamaleddin Behzad]] of [[Herat]] being one of the most notable miniature artists of the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] and early [[Safavid]] periods. Since the 1900s, the nation began to use Western techniques in art. [[Abdul Ghafoor Breshna]] was a prominent Afghan painter and sketch artist from Kabul during the 20th century.