Three tapestries - smuggled out of war-torn Afghanistan disguised as cushions - are taking pride of place at an exhibition at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth.
The tapestries feature in the There Is No Other Home But This exhibition alongside other works of Australian-Afghan artist Khadim Ali.
Untitled 1 2021 by Khadim Ali Photo: Supplied / Courtesy of Khadim Ali, Milani Gallery Brisbane
The Govett-Brewster had been in contact with Ali since 2021 about exhibiting a suite of new tapestries and making new carpets, based on Afghan war-rugs, especially for the gallery.
But those plans were thrown into disarray when the Taliban took over the country.
The artist found himself organising a Pashtun 'people trafficker' to take the tapestries - worth several hundred thousand dollars - into Pakistan passed off as seemingly worthless cushions.
Gallery director Zara Stanhope said Ali's works depicted the turbulent history of Persia, with strong themes of war and displacement, images all too personally familiar to the artist and his artisans.
Dr Stanhope has been working closely with Ali to bring the artworks to New Zealand.
"We've gone from the delight of seeing images of the works being made to the distress of Khadim's anguish for the safety of the artists working in his studio and the works themselves.
"We're beyond excited that these artworks are about to be seen for the first time in Aotearoa," said Dr Stanhope. "This exhibition is going to be exceptional."
Unable to be flown out of the country the tapestries were abandoned at a bus depot disguised as cushions.
Ali then arranged two high-stakes and costly transports to retrieve the three large but incognito textiles.
The first and largest tapestry made it through unscathed. However, the other two were slashed by people using knives and bayonets.
Ali's assistants, whose safety he was also able to secure, have since restored the damaged works to their original state.
Dr Stanhope said the tapestries would be shown alongside other artworks by Ali, whose international reputation was on the rise. His works have featured in the collections of major museums including New York's Guggenheim and London's British Museum.
The There Is No Other Home But This exhibition runs at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre until June.