A plea from German president, and launch of Islamic art museum. Some nice photographs here.
Latest Updates: art RSS
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arif
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arif
MF Husain surrenders his Indian passport.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Husain-surrenders-passport/588546
I would read this highly intellectual interview (dated). Lots of critical points to ponder.
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main37.asp?filename=Ne020208in_hindu_culture.asp
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arif
Beal says the reaction has largely been positive. But he has also been asked: “When are you going to open a Christian art gallery?” His response: The museum has, in fact, two galleries devoted to Christian art. And Christianity is infused throughout the museum, especially in the European collections. Beal, who is fond of Islamic ceramics, says, “It’s also important for non-Muslims to see this and understand the depth and beauty of Islamic art.” His next challenge: raising $1.5 million to open an Asian art gallery.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1970490,00.html#ixzz0hcMebqCm
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arif
Detroit Institute of Arts showcases the art of Islam in a permanent exhibit
Five years in the making and costing $750,000 US, the 3,350-square-foot gallery on the institute’s first floor includes pieces from the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Central Asia and India that go all the way back to the seventh century AD. Many of the pieces were already in the museum or its archives.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/windsor/story/2010/02/26/detroit-islamic-art.html#ixzz0ggb2Yqq7
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arif
Museum collection and Muslim patronage of the arts
Very interesting talk, starts with historical copies of Qu’ran, moves on to other Islamic artifacts.
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arif
“The arts help to humanize cultures where political discourses based on nationalist ideologies tend to dehumanize. They are wonderful pedagogic bridges that help to connect peoples who perceive those different from themselves as ‘the other,’ ” said Asani, Harvard professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic religion and cultures.
Harvard article here.
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johnpi
The New York Post reports – in its usual tabloidy fashion – that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has removed historical artistic renderings of Mohammed from its “Islamic Galleries,” and will rename the “Islamic Galleries” to indicate the works’ countries of origin.
Conservative Muslims opposed the images’ depictions of the prophet. Islam holds that physical depictions of the religion’s holy figures are idolatrous, the Post reports.
One Muslim art critic complained, saying that associating the art with modern nationalistic boundaries is “cumbersome and problematic.”
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johnpi
Etisalat, a UAE-based telecommunications services provider, has blocked Corbis, an important multinational picture library.
A major site used by millions of creatives around the world, the Corbis picture library is an important resource. Blocking it sets a worrying precedent – does this now mean that other picture libraries are going to be subject to blocking? And what does that mean for the UAE’s creative industries?
Creativity comes with freedom of expression, they’re old (ahem) bedfellows. Where there is creativity you find people pushing the envelope.
Also where there is creativity you will find economic development, success in global competition, national and cultural pride renewed in new accomplishments, etc.
Souks goes on:
I think you need to take a position – make an evaluation of the cultural value of a site vs a couple of things you don’t like. Not just smash in a block the second your software catches sight of a naughty bit.
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fathima
‘American Qur’an’ blends US life, Quranic verses:
In Birk’s version, each chapter of the Quran has been carefully copied in English in a calligraphy modeled on the urban graffiti of America’s inner cities. The stark black text is bordered by scenes from American life both mundane and extraordinary: gangsters flashing signs, Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, migrants working the fields, a crowded airport lounge and a raging California wildfire among them.
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fathima
Palace Prayers is a wonderful site I just discovered — “The aim is to create a new work of art for every day of Ramadhan, 2009.”
I’m particularly fond of this (day 23):
Only to be with You and no-one else
(For David Miliband & Hilary Clinton)As for an iftar
I prefer a quiet one
Without the presence of any bloody bridge builders
Shmoozers or politicians.If you want to build bridges, go to war zones
And bring plenty of cement.
Don’t come to the Mosque smiling in your suit
With a gang of photographers and
Second-rate reporters who will
Write the whole thing up
Just to prove that it happened and
Tick it off a check-list.Islam is unique to each country it goes to
In Senegal, they play music more
In Mali, they make mosques out of mud
In Chechnya, strong, bearded men do soft, Sufi dances
And in the West, iftars are social networking opportunities
Part of government strategies to reach out to the Izlamic worldBut I do not want to be Af-Pak‘d
Or healed
I do not want to join you on the acceptable side
Where every insecure fool thinks they know
Exactly what extremism isNor do I want to laugh and socialise with you at this small and
Tender time.I wish to be alone
And serious
And deeper in love
With the only one who ever matters -
thabet
In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, you have to navigate Solid Snake through a world where private military contractors outnumber government armies.
Life (slowly) imitating art, which in turn is imitating life, and so on.
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johnpi
It turns out that the creator of the most well-known anti-Obama pop-art image (above) is a Palestinian-American Muslim college student from Chicago named Firas Alkhateeb. He created the image while he was playing around, trying to learn Photoshop, a digital image editing program. He posted the image to his Flickr account, where someone found it and added the word “socialism.” The image is now appearing on T-shirts, posters, and in right-wing Internet ads all over the country.
“I abstained from voting in November,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Living in Illinois, my vote means close to nothing as there was no chance Obama would not win the state.” If he had to choose a politician to support, Alkhateeb said, it would be Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
….Although Alkhateeb claims he was making no political statement with the artwork, he’s plugged into the Washington debate. Though born in the United States, his Palestinian family closely follows Middle Eastern politics.
“I think he’s definitely doing better than Bush was,” Alkhateeb said of Obama. Alkhateeb’s views on foreign relations align with the Democrats, he said, while he prefers Republican ideals on domestic issues.
He adds, “who said being a socialist is evil?” Here are some of Alkhateeb’s Islam-themed images from his Flickr page, with his explanation of them:
Alkhateeb:
Graffiti on the outside of a building on the road to Mount Uhud.
I wanted to show an image of Madina that isn’t normally seen. Everyone knows the iconic Green Dome of the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) and the lush carpets of the Mosque, and the gold-adorned grave. No one sees the Madina of the locals. The simple convenience stores on the side of the road, or the graffiti on an abandoned building.
Alkhateeb:
Again, playing around with Photoshop. I figured a Quran Hero game would be much more beneficial to Muslims than Guitar Hero. lol…..
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thabet
Ali Eteraz says the movie on Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi may gloss over the more ‘more interesting’ aspects of his life:
Second, will western thinktanks, in their quest to appropriate all the creative elements of Islam to advance their own pet wars, turn into the film’s cheerleaders and ensure that it becomes a flop?
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fathima
The New York Times » Snapshots of a Muslim Artist
Yes, a practice of “multicultural art” that doesn’t romanticise culture — and that’s also, actually, amazing art (instead of the halfassed shit that passes because it’s So Colourful! And Exotic!).
But I have qualms about the line, “As a Muslim I feel it’s my responsibility to educate people.” No, the onus should not be on minoritised peoples to address or fix broadscale ignorance. It’s definitely something they/we are required to do on a daily basis, because that’s the part of the process of functioning as a minority in the world, but that shouldn’t be projected as our civic/moral/ethical obligation (there’s a difference between pragmatism and responsibility). Instead, it is the civic/moral/ethical obligation of others to learn about and address their own ignorance/investments, whether or not they’re prodded into it by people of colour. The implication, otherwise, is that those who don’t know Muslims, for instance, are off the hook for their ignorance. -
thabet
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plimfix
BBC Midlands Today run a headline about the removal of one of the Gaza Graffiti murals in Birmingham. Local people have defended the mural.
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thabet
Clearly Mohammad Ali isn’t a Real Man (and clearly not A Straight Up Killer), but appears to be some sort of limp-wristed effete male who enjoys drawing and painting and other Feminist Subjects:
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thabet
Video games: are they art?
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thabet
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thabet
The Economist looks at the petro-fuelled rush for art and culture in the Gulf.
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thabet
Gabriele Marranci has a thoughtful piece on the case of Sarah Maple, the Muslim artist who has received death threats for her art.
I have to agree with Marranci; Maple’s art is barely second rate.
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Fatemeh
An art exhibit in Denmark seeks to further acceptance of Islam and Muslims. Via Islam in Europe. Judge for yourself.
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thabet
The Treachery Of Images by René Magritte
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thabet
The Wounded Angel by Hugo Simberg -
muse
Few links about Muslim women in art. I can’t promise bikini shots in my links, but they’re interesting nonetheless.
Pakistani director Mehreen Jabar’s film Ramchand Pakistani is the only Pakistani movie featured in NY’s Tribeca Film Festival. (I’m excited to see Pakistani movies moving past depictions of rotund women gyrating their hips – not that there’s anything wrong with that…)
Clinton’s library in Arkansas is hosting an art show containing artwork by women from the Muslim world. It is called, what else, Breaking the Veil.
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muse
The Objectification of Women in Graphic Novels. I’d like to hear Willow’s take on this – what considerations went into depicting the characters in Cairo, specifically the women?
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thabet
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thabet
