ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Monika Bulaj - Photographer
Monika Bulaj’s stunning, painting-like photographs blur religious and cultural divisions, exploding stereotypes. She is a TED Fellow.

Why you should listen

Monika Bulaj is a photographer and writer who explores -- in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe -- the dim areas of monotheism, where the sacred can transcend borders: Bonfires, dances, cults of the dead, possession rites. She describes outskirts and deserts, frontiers and megalopolis. And the world of the last ones: nomads, farmers, immigrants, outcasts, untouchables and impure.

Her photos and reportaging have been published by GEO, National Geographic (Italy), La Repubblica, periodicals by Gruppo Espresso and Rcs, Courrier International, Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland), Internazionale, Freundin, Teatr (Poland) and other international magazines.
She has displayed more than 50 personal exibitions in Italy, Germany, Ungheria, Bulgaria, Egypt.

Her books include Libya felix, a travel into Sufism and the world of the Tuaregh; Figli di Noè, on minorities and faiths in Azerbaijian; Rebecca e la pioggia, on the nomadic tribe of the Dinka of South Sudan; Gerusalemme perduta with Paolo Rumiz, the special correspondent of La Repubblica, on the pellegrinage in the research of the Eastern Christians; Genti di Dio, viaggio nell'Altra Europa, a synthesis of 20 years of research in East Europe and Israel, and her latest book, Bozy ludzie. 

She has screenwritten documentaries, among which is the movie Romani Rat (2002) by M. Orlandi, on the Holocaust of the Roms, with the contribution of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. She's the director, photography director, and screenwriter of the documentary Figli di Noè, about the villages of Caucasus on the border between Dagestan and Azerbaigian.

Bulaj is a TED Fellow. Read TED's Q&A with Monika Bulaj >>

More profile about the speaker
Monika Bulaj | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2011

Monika Bulaj: The hidden light of Afghanistan

Monika Bulaj: Drita e fshehur e Afganistanit

Filmed:
669,507 views

Fotografistja Monika Bulaj ndan imazhe të fuqishme dhe intime nga Afganistani - të jetës familjare, të ritualeve, të burrave dhe grave. Mbrapa titujve të gazetave vallë çfarë di bota për këtë vend?
- Photographer
Monika Bulaj’s stunning, painting-like photographs blur religious and cultural divisions, exploding stereotypes. She is a TED Fellow. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
My travels to Afghanistan
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Udhëtimet e mija në Afganistan
00:18
began many, many years ago
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filluan shumë vite më parë
00:21
on the eastern border of my country,
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në kufirin lindor të shtetit tim,
00:24
my homeland, Poland.
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vendi im, Polonia.
00:27
I was walking through the forests
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Isha duke ecur nëpër pyejet
00:29
of my grandmother's tales.
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e përrallave të gjyshes time
00:33
A land where every field hides a grave,
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Një toke ku çdo fushë fsheh një varr,
00:38
where millions of people
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ku miliona njerëz
00:40
have been deported or killed
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kan qënë të dëbuar ose vrarë
00:43
in the 20th century.
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në shekullin e 20-të
00:46
Behind the destruction,
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Mbrapa shkatërrimit,
00:48
I found a soul of places.
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Gjeta tokën e paqes
00:51
I met humble people.
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Takova njerëz të thjeshtë.
00:53
I heard their prayer
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I dëgjova lutjet e tyre
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and ate their bread.
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dhe hëngra bukën e tyre.
00:57
Then I have been walking East for 20 years --
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Më pas kam ecur drejt lindjes për 20 vjet --
01:02
from Eastern Europe to Central Asia --
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Nga Europa lindore në Azine qëndrore-
01:05
through the Caucasus Mountains,
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nëpeër malet Kaukaz,
01:07
Middle East,
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Lindja e mesme,
01:09
North Africa,
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Afrika Veriore,
01:11
Russia.
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Rusia.
01:13
And I ever met more humble people.
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Dhe vazhdimisht takova njerëz gjithnjë e më human.
01:17
And I shared their bread and their prayer.
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Dhe ndava bukën e tyre dhe lutjet e tyre.
01:20
This is why I went to Afghanistan.
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Kjo është përse unë shkova në Afganistan.
01:23
One day, I crossed the bridge
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Një ditë, kalova urën
01:27
over the Oxus River.
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mbi Lumin Oksus
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I was alone on foot.
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Isha vetëm duke ecur në këmbë
01:31
And the Afghan soldier was so surprised to see me
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dhe një ushtar Afgan ishte shumë i befasur të më shoh mua
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that he forgot to stamp my passport.
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saqë harroi te ma vulos pasaportën.
01:36
But he gave me a cup of tea.
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por ai më dha një filxhan çaj.
01:38
And I understood
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dhe e kuptova
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that his surprise was my protection.
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që çudija e tij ishte mbrojtja ime.
01:43
So I have been walking and traveling,
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pra unë kam ecur dhe udhëtuar,
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by horses, by yak, by truck, by hitchhiking,
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me kuaj, me buall, me skodë, me makina të rastit.
01:49
from Iran's border
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nga kufiri Iranian
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to the bottom, to the edge of the Wakhan Corridor.
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deri në fund, deri tek caku i korridorit Uakhan
01:56
And in this way
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Dhe në këtë rrugë
01:58
I could find noor, the hidden light of Afghanistan.
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Gjeta nurin, dritën e fshehur të Afganistanit.
02:05
My only weapon
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Arma ime e vetme
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was my notebook and my Leica.
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ishte laptopi im dhe aparati fotografik
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I heard prayers of the Sufi --
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Dëgjova lutjet e Sufive --
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humble Muslims,
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musliman te përulur
02:16
hated by the Taliban.
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te urryer nga Talebanët
02:18
Hidden river,
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Lum i fshehur
02:20
interconnected with the mysticism
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i ndërlidhur me mistiken
02:22
from Gibraltar to India.
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prej Gjibraltarit deri ne Indi.
02:25
The mosque where the respectful foreigner
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Xhamija ku i huaji i nderuar
02:30
is showered with blessings
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mbulohet me bekime
02:32
and with tears,
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dhe me lotë,
02:35
and welcomed as a gift.
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dhe mirëpritet si një dhurat.
02:39
What do we know
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Çfarë dimë ne
02:41
about the country and the people
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rreth shtetit dhe njerëzve
02:43
that we pretend to protect,
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që ne pretendojmë se i mbrojmë,
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about the villages
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rreth fshatrave
02:49
where the only one medicine
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ku ilaçi i vetëm
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to kill the pain and to stop the hunger
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për të ndalur dhimbjen dhe urinë
02:53
is opium?
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është opiumi?
02:55
These are opium-addicted people
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Këta janë njerez të varur nga opiumi
02:58
on the roofs of Kabul
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nepër çatitë e Kabulit
03:01
10 years after the beginning of our war.
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10 vjet pas fillimit të luftës sonë
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These are the nomad girls
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Këto janë vajzat endacake
03:08
who became prostitutes for Afghan businessmen.
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të cilat janë bërë prostituta për biznismenët Afgan.
03:12
What do we know about the women
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Çfarë dimë ne për gratë
03:14
10 years after the war?
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10 vjet pas luftës?
03:16
Clothed in this nylon bag,
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Të mbuluara në një trastë najloni
03:18
made in China,
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të prodhuar në Kinë
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with the name of burqa.
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me emrin burqa
03:24
I saw one day,
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I pash një ditë
03:26
the largest school in Afghanistan,
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shkollën më të madhe në Afganistan,
03:29
a girls' school.
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një shkollë vajzash
03:31
13,000 girls
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13,00 vajza
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studying here
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duke studjuar këtu
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in the rooms underground,
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nëpër bodrume
03:41
full of scorpions.
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mbushur me akrepa.
03:44
And their love [for studying]
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Dhe dashuria e tyre për të studjuar
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was so big that I cried.
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ishte aq e madhe saqë kam qarë.
03:52
What do we know
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Çfarë dimë ne
03:54
about the death threats by the Taliban
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rreth kërcënimeve me vdekje nga Talebanët
03:57
nailed on the doors
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të gozdhuara në dyert
03:59
of the people who dare to send their daughters to school as in Balkh?
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e njerëzve të cilëve guxojnë ti dërgojnë vajzat e tyre nëpër shkollra si në Balkah?
04:05
The region is not secure, but full of the Taliban,
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Rajoni nuk është i sigurt, por plot me Taleban,
04:08
and they did it.
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dhe ata e bënë ate.
04:10
My aim is to give a voice
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Synimi im është t'ju jap një zë
04:12
to the silent people,
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njerëzve të heshtur
04:15
to show the hidden lights
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të tregoj dritat e fshehura
04:19
behind the curtain of the great game,
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mbrapa pëlhurës së lojës së madhe,
04:22
the small worlds ignored by the media
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vendet e vogla të harruara nga mediat
04:25
and the prophets of a global conflict.
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dhe profetët e një konflikti global.
04:27
Thanks.
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Faleminderit,
04:29
(Applause)
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(Duartrokitje)
Translated by Liridon Shala
Reviewed by Bledi Bejo

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Monika Bulaj - Photographer
Monika Bulaj’s stunning, painting-like photographs blur religious and cultural divisions, exploding stereotypes. She is a TED Fellow.

Why you should listen

Monika Bulaj is a photographer and writer who explores -- in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe -- the dim areas of monotheism, where the sacred can transcend borders: Bonfires, dances, cults of the dead, possession rites. She describes outskirts and deserts, frontiers and megalopolis. And the world of the last ones: nomads, farmers, immigrants, outcasts, untouchables and impure.

Her photos and reportaging have been published by GEO, National Geographic (Italy), La Repubblica, periodicals by Gruppo Espresso and Rcs, Courrier International, Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland), Internazionale, Freundin, Teatr (Poland) and other international magazines.
She has displayed more than 50 personal exibitions in Italy, Germany, Ungheria, Bulgaria, Egypt.

Her books include Libya felix, a travel into Sufism and the world of the Tuaregh; Figli di Noè, on minorities and faiths in Azerbaijian; Rebecca e la pioggia, on the nomadic tribe of the Dinka of South Sudan; Gerusalemme perduta with Paolo Rumiz, the special correspondent of La Repubblica, on the pellegrinage in the research of the Eastern Christians; Genti di Dio, viaggio nell'Altra Europa, a synthesis of 20 years of research in East Europe and Israel, and her latest book, Bozy ludzie. 

She has screenwritten documentaries, among which is the movie Romani Rat (2002) by M. Orlandi, on the Holocaust of the Roms, with the contribution of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. She's the director, photography director, and screenwriter of the documentary Figli di Noè, about the villages of Caucasus on the border between Dagestan and Azerbaigian.

Bulaj is a TED Fellow. Read TED's Q&A with Monika Bulaj >>

More profile about the speaker
Monika Bulaj | Speaker | TED.com