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Outlook: Bringing my 10,000 kites from Kabul to England

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Sanjar Qiam

20/07/2022 GMT

Bringing my 10,000 kites from Kabul to England

BBC World Service - Outlook, Bringing my 10,000 kites from Kabul to England

Sanjar Qiam continued to make and fly kites through three decades of war in Afghanistan

Master kite-maker Sanjar Qiam never lost his passion for flying kites. When he came to the UK from Afghanistan he brought 10,000 of his kites with him.

Master kite-maker Sanjar Qiam was born in Afghanistan in 1981 and for the next three decades lived through some of the country's most turbulent times. But through it all, he continued to find a way to make and fly his beloved kites, even when they were banned under the Taliban. When he moved to  Brighton on the south coast of England in 2011, Sanjar brought his wife and baby son...and 10,000 of his kites! Sanjar now hosts kite-making workshops across the UK and helped create Fly With Me - a kite festival taking place across Europe next month to celebrate Afghan culture and mark the first anniversary of the Taliban takeover.  

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: June Christie 

(Photo: Sanjar Qiam with one of his kites. Credit: Good Chance Theatre)

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