Arts & Culture

Shahid Qalandar, a singer-songwriter from Northern Pakistan.
Shahid Qalandar, a singer-songwriter from Northern Pakistan.
Peace and Love with Music and Art
Peace and Love with Music and Art
29 April 2020

A self-taught musician and artist from Hunza overcomes cultural barriers to help local artists perform in Lisbon.

Comprehend, Inaara Tharani, Dallas
Comprehend, Inaara Tharani, Dallas
Women Artists Portraying Women: Part 2
Women Artists Portraying Women: Part 2
14 November 2019

During the Diamond Jubilee Art Festivals, we witnessed with delight, galleries filled with paintings, sculptures, installation art, and photographs. Here, we depict women, as seen by some of them, and displayed at the various exhibitions.

Right to Education: Shezana Virani, Chicago
Right to Education: Shezana Virani, Chicago
Women Artists Portraying Women Part 1
Women Artists Portraying Women Part 1
4 October 2019

Women have been artists since prehistoric times but have often been discouraged, marginalized and omitted from the history of art. This changed in the 20th century and today, women are amongst the most prolific artists, musicians, and writers including in the Muslim world. Some prominent contemporary examples are artists such as Shahzia Sikander, Nilima Sheikh, and Salima Arastu.

Music Building, Kenyon College, Ohio. Project Team member, Khalil Pirani.
Music Building, Kenyon College, Ohio. Project Team member, Khalil Pirani.
Building a career in architecture
Building a career in architecture
4 October 2019

While in MIT’s Architecture program, Khalil Pirani would often sit in classes and hear professors ask: “What is Islamic architecture? Could this dome or that motif be in the spirit of Islam?” Khalil recalls, “I also had the same question.”

Filmmaker and videographer/photographer, Parastu Aydarsho.
Filmmaker and videographer/photographer, Parastu Aydarsho.
Artists Continue their Craft
Artists Continue their Craft
22 September 2019

Most of us know the feeling of being moved by a work of art, whether it’s song, film, painting or poem. When we are touched, we become aware of a feeling that may not be familiar to us but which transports us to a different emotional space.

Ya Ali Madad
Ya Ali Madad
Technology adds a new dimension to the ancient art of Calligraphy
Technology adds a new dimension to the ancient art of Calligraphy
8 September 2019

The art of calligraphy is one that embraces tradition, but it has also evolved over the ages. With the advent of computer graphics and other technologies, new perspectives on this timeless art form have afforded artists with opportunities to experiment. 

 
The tour ended at the magnificent green domed Masjid Malcolm Shabazz which was founded in 1956. The mosque hosts interfaith congregants, a school, and continues to be a hub of religious life in a rapidly-changing corner of Harlem.
The tour ended at the magnificent green domed Masjid Malcolm Shabazz which was founded in 1956. The mosque hosts interfaith congregants, a school, and continues to be a hub of religious life in a rapidly-changing corner of Harlem.
Discovering Islam in New York City: a tour of its Muslim History
Discovering Islam in New York City: a tour of its Muslim History
9 June 2019

Muslims have been a part of New York City, even before New York was a city. Records show that Muslims arrived in the area as part of the Dutch settlement, New Amsterdam, since the 1600s. Today, there are now over 300 registered mosques in the City. This is how the Muslim Tour of Harlem, a historic neighborhood in New York, begins. Katie Merriman, a doctoral student of religious studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill escorted a group of New York City Ismailis on a tour of 400 years of Muslim history in New York. On a three-hour walking tour, participants expanded their knowledge of how Muslims have contributed to their city and continue to do so.

Lorna B. Goodman, Chair of the World Monuments Fund, presents the 2018 Hadrian Award to Prince Amyn.
Lorna B. Goodman, Chair of the World Monuments Fund, presents the 2018 Hadrian Award to Prince Amyn.
Prince Amyn honoured at World Monuments Fund’s Hadrian Gala
Prince Amyn honoured at World Monuments Fund’s Hadrian Gala
22 October 2018

The World Monuments Fund honoured Prince Amyn at the 31st annual Hadrian Gala on 23 October at the Rockefeller Center Plaza in New York City, in recognition of his lifelong support for cultural heritage.

Salim Rahimi, Hon. Sec of the Council for the Central US, welcoming the artists, speakers, and guests to the dinner at Plano Jamatkhana.
Salim Rahimi, Hon. Sec of the Council for the Central US, welcoming the artists, speakers, and guests to the dinner at Plano Jamatkhana.
Council for Central US Cosponsors Art Symposium
Council for Central US Cosponsors Art Symposium
12 September 2018

“Diversity is not a burden to be endured, but an opportunity to be welcomed,” said Melia Belli, Associate Professor of South Asian art history at the University of Victoria, in her opening remarks. The occasion was the Islamic Art Symposium entitled “Intersections: Visual Cultures of Islamic Cosmopolitanism,” held at the Dallas Museum of Art between May 4-5. It was cosponsored with the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History, Islamic Art Revival Series, and the Aga Khan Council for the Central United States.

Mashid-e-Shah, Isfahan, Iran, completed in 1629 in the Safavid period.
Mashid-e-Shah, Isfahan, Iran, completed in 1629 in the Safavid period.
The significance of art
The significance of art
1 July 2018

The Jubilee Arts Festivals, held in countries across the world and culminating in the International Arts Festival in Lisbon in the coming days, have engaged the creative talent of the global Jamat for the past year. This is the first undertaking of its kind, bringing together Ismailis from around the world to celebrate art, film, photography, dance, music, and other forms of artistic expression.

Saltanat Ersultan, Tokzhan Karatai
Saltanat Ersultan, Tokzhan Karatai
A musical epic of Central Asia comes to Brooklyn
A musical epic of Central Asia comes to Brooklyn
5 June 2018

Qyrq Qyz (Forty Girls) is an epic poem in the tradition of famous works like the Iliad and The Odyssey.

Rafiq at the National Sawdust Concert, Brooklyn, New York, April 2018.
Rafiq at the National Sawdust Concert, Brooklyn, New York, April 2018.
Rafiq Bhatia: breaking boundaries in experimental music
Rafiq Bhatia: breaking boundaries in experimental music
31 May 2018

A freethinker with hybrid ideas, Rafiq Bhatia’s work has left distinctive footprints in the musical world resulting in a vast following.

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