Afghanistan, Kabul, March 2005. Buzkashi is a national sport for the Afghans, a sort of rugby on horseback where the ball is the decapitated carcass of a goat or a calf. This sport, of Mongolian origin, dates back to Genghis Khan and is considered an ancestor of polo. Originally, Mongolians used their enemy’s head as a ball. For the riders the game consists of catching the goat or calf carcass, taking it to a point between 200 metres and 2 kilometres away, coming back and dropping the carcass in a circle called the circle of justice. Anything is permitted in order to seize the carcass: the riders jostle each other and crack whips. It is necessary to have a very strong grip and to be very supple to pick up the carcass from the ground whilst on horseback and subject to attack from opposing players. Buzkashi is a violent sport. The riders escape with swollen faces, broken arms or legs, and sometimes the violence of the attacks ends in death.

**The artist: Alain Buu**

Alain Buu was born in Paris in 1960 and spent his childhood in Vietnam and France. In 1986 he became a photojournalist and joined Gamma photo agency in 1989. Five years later he chose to become a freelance photographer and pursued more personal work. He discovered Afghanistan following the events on September 11th 2001 and chose to return there ‘to show the wild and authentic beauty of this unique country.’ He used Joseph Kessel’s novel ‘Les cavaliers,’ published in 1967, as a log book. The photographer modelled his journey upon that of the writer captivated by Afghanistan. Alain Buu provides real insight to this land by dedicating this series to buzkashi.His photograph :Afghanistan, Bamiyan Valley, April 2004.Situated 230 km North West of Kabul and at about 2500m altitude on the Silk Route linking China to India, the Bamiyan Valley is populated by the Hazaras, Afghanistan’s only Shiite people. It is known for the famous Buddhas of Bamiyan, carved from the cliff around the fifth century, and recently destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. There is an abandoned village alongside the road, and the Afghans are hurrying home as it is not good to remain outside at nightfall.