Lifestyle
Calendar promotes Islamic art
Islamic artefacts dating back to the ninth century are being highlighted in a new Beit Al Quran calendar. Proceeds from the sale of the calendar, priced BD2, will be allocated to a fund to further upgrade the centre's facilities and activities. The calendar, published annually since 1984, now features 24 artefacts that provide a glimpse of historical Islamic art.
Filed Under: Art
In cosmopolitan Karachi, women prefer hijab to burqa
Young girls in jeans and T-shirts roam freely in the upmarket Zamzama road of Pakistan's largest city that houses many fashion boutiques and cafes. So do many women clad in the traditional salwaar-kameez, though they cover their head with a hijab. Women in burqas, however, are not a regular sight in this cosmopolitan port city.
Islamic fashion goes stylish in Indonesia
Long known as feminine and demure, Indonesia's traditional kebaya is headed for a makeover at the hands of innovative designers. Growing demand for stylish yet still modest fashions in the world's most populous Islamic nation is helping power efforts to bring Islamic fashion into the modern age, a movement symbolised by changes to the iconic kebaya, a blouse-dress combination.
Filed Under: Fashion
A celebrative show of antiquity in Kuala Lumpur
From 28 February to 11 March 2011, Metro Fine Art will be presenting a celebrative show of antiquity named, Malaysian Art Part I: The Revival, featuring the works of Yong Mun Sen, Kuo Ju Ping and Tan Choon Ghee. Kuo Ju Ping was born in China in 1908, and migrated to Penang, Malaysia, whilst a teenager. Kuo sketched in charcoal, pencil or marker pen, but primarily painted in oil and watercolour with realistic and impressionistic influences. Tan Choon Ghee grew up on Penang Island, Malaysia, and started painting at 13. His resume included being an art teacher at many schools and chief designer at TV Malaysia based in Singapore. Focusing on the older part of Penang, Tan ships us into the very thread of Penang life. Yong Mun Sen was born in, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, in 1896. His legacy lies in his predomination over his watercolours, with a mix of Western impressionism and the Chinese calligraphy aesthetic.
Filed Under: Lifestyle >> Art Exhibitions >> Malaysian Art Part 1: The Revival
After France, Israel considers 'banning the burqa'
All clothing that covers the face in a public place would be banned, but the proposed law would affect mainly Muslim women. A member of the current Knesset is proposing a law that would prohibit the wearing of any garment that obscures the face and prevents identification, in any government office, at any entertainment venue, and on any means of public transportation. According to the legislator proposing the law, Kadima MK Marina Solodkin, its primary purpose is to liberate women from irrational religious restrictions. The bill mainly targets devout Muslims.
Halal slaughter
I have a view that most newspaper stories about food are not about food at all. Eating is one of the few biological imperatives, and the way we go about it is fundamental to how we perceive ourselves. Talking about how we eat and how other people eat is a great way to express views about our position in society that might be less palatable tackled head on.
Art Institute names new curator of Asian and textile arts
On the heels of the opening of the Alsdorf Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian and Islamic art, and in tandem with the autumn reopening of renovated galleries for textiles and Japanese art, the Art Institute of Chicago has a new curator to head related departments.
Organic 2012 Blend for general health
There have been many published reports about bacteria playing a significant role in the arrest of many variable illnesses, and in most cases, it is the lack of certain strains of bacteria that leads to imbalance in one’s body. Commercial signs of a bacterial imbalance are digestive problems with constipation and diarrhoea, food allergies and sensitivities, sugar and carbohydrate cravings, acne, eczema, fungal infections, inflammatory and even autism. Many things in our daily lives may cause this imbalance such as chlorine, fluoride, pesticides and herbicides (used in most foods we consume), drugs and birth control pills, stress, alcohol and of course antibiotics. Organic 2012 Blend, a product of NuFerm Australia, is a blend of 20 non-gluten wholefoods broken down by 12 strains of probiotics that helps promote good general health by keeping healthy gut bacteria at a balance.
Book: Islam and the Destiny of Man
A new, revised edition, in paperback of a highly successful book, Islam & the Destiny of Man is a wide-ranging study of the religion of Islam from a unique point of view. The author, Gai Eaton, was brought up as an agnostic and embraced Islam at an early age after writing a book (commissioned by T. S. Eliot) on Eastern religions and their influence on Western thinkers. The aim of Islam and the Destiny of Man is to explain what it means to be a Muslim, a member of a community which embraces a quarter of the world’s population and to describe the forces which have shaped their hearts and minds. Throughout the book the author is concerned not simply with Islam in isolation, but with the very nature of religious faith, its spiritual and intellectual foundations and the light it casts upon the mysteries and paradoxes of the human condition.
Faith leaders speak out against Quran burning
Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders spoke out on Sept. 8 in Palo Alto against rising bigotry toward Muslims and a plan (which was aborted) by a small, nondenominational Christian group in Florida to burn the Quran, Islam's most holy book, on Sept. 11. About 15 leaders gathered at First Baptist Church in Palo Alto to express their support for the Muslim community and to ask people of all faith groups to practice tolerance.