The festival is an artistic platform commemorating the Bamiyan Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban/IS in 2001. Through conversations among cultural actors, it works against polarisation and oppression.
The festival has been held in Bamiyan since 2013 and in Harstad since 2017. When activist Maryam Sharifi moved to Harstad in 2016, she took the initiative to establish the festival locally.
In connection with the Michael Rakowitz exhibition and his work What Dust Will Rise?, which thematises the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, we have invited the A Night with Buddha festival to Stavanger Art Museum.
For the programme, see: A Night with Buddha – Stavanger Art Museum