The dissertation is focused on three interrelated aspects: 1) the development of a decolonial theoretical framework and collaborative research methodology with the Kamëntšá people centred on the... Show moreThe dissertation is focused on three interrelated aspects: 1) the development of a decolonial theoretical framework and collaborative research methodology with the Kamëntšá people centred on the respect for Kamëntšá ethics, principles and social norms, and the consequent reconstruction, revitalization and dignification of Kamëntšá knowledge, arts, spirituality and notions of time and space; 2) the history and colonization processes of the Kamëntšá people and Uaman Tabanok, its ancestral lands, with a specific emphasis on the work of the Capuchin missionaries, particularly their concept of enculturation and how it transformed and resignified Kamëntšá culture and religion using its own arts, narratives and rituals which were in harmony with Christianity; and 3) the concept of “cultural heritage” and the role of academic disciplines, research practices, government institutions and cultural policies in the perpetuation of colonialism through the appropriation, interpretation, control and resignification of the objects, monuments and cultures of Indigenous peoples, and their consequent contribution to maintaining inequality, racism and historical social injustices. Show less
Este libro pretende entender las transiciones y negociaciones culturales entre arte y política -de 1989 a 2020- a través del análisis de una serie de novelas cubanas. La caída del muro de Berlín... Show moreEste libro pretende entender las transiciones y negociaciones culturales entre arte y política -de 1989 a 2020- a través del análisis de una serie de novelas cubanas. La caída del muro de Berlín tuvo un enorme peso simbólico en el mundo, quizás, tanto como la misma Revolución en su día. Las últimas tres décadas –entre la soviética y la postpandémica– podrían pensarse como un entrelugar en la isla, un afuera del tiempo o un presente incómodo de difícil representación, sobre todo si las leemos desde las dos grandes ideologías en juego. A nivel simbólico, estaríamos hablando de una crisis crónica de características particulares, una que se ha hecho evidente en la novelística a partir de la relación entre sujeto y vivencia. Timmer analiza el malestar del sujeto como síntoma de lo social escapando a los binomios de la Guerra Fría y aborda el presente cubano a través de las múltiples subjetividades e imaginarios de su producción cultural, de su literatura. Show less
This article discusses the work of two Egyptian artists who are inspired by the urban environment as well as by Sufism. Their art reflects two aspects of Cairene life: the frenetic activity and... Show moreThis article discusses the work of two Egyptian artists who are inspired by the urban environment as well as by Sufism. Their art reflects two aspects of Cairene life: the frenetic activity and density of communication that characterize cosmopolitan centres, and the more contemplative aspects of Sufism. The author argues that Sufi philosophies and practice mediate between the personal nature of spirituality and the realities of urban life in the present day. Show less
Artist Lida Abdul reflects on the character of home and place in a series of film installations created in Afghanistan, including What we saw upon awakening and War games.
The collection “Anatolian Civilizations” reflects Erol Albayrak’s desire to examine the concept of fashion as transmitted by inhabitants of Anatolia. Albayrak envisions his collection as a passage... Show moreThe collection “Anatolian Civilizations” reflects Erol Albayrak’s desire to examine the concept of fashion as transmitted by inhabitants of Anatolia. Albayrak envisions his collection as a passage through time: rooted in the kingdom of Hittites, influenced by ideas of beauty in Urartu, reflecting the sorrow of Troya, and drenched in the passions and mysteries of the Ottomans. These styles are being re-imagined in a “modern” or novel spirit. Show less
Mecca2Medina is the most popular Muslim hiphop group in the UK. Their work expresses self-confidence and pride, relating of both European and transnational Islam. The three British-African band... Show moreMecca2Medina is the most popular Muslim hiphop group in the UK. Their work expresses self-confidence and pride, relating of both European and transnational Islam. The three British-African band members, who are converts to Islam, offer their vision of a good Muslim to raise awareness and pride among Muslim youths and to promote a positive image of Islam. Show less
The Museum of Modern Art in New York (www.moma.org) exhibits seventeen artists who come from the “Islamic” world but do not live there. Depictions here show two perspectives used in Without... Show moreThe Museum of Modern Art in New York (www.moma.org) exhibits seventeen artists who come from the “Islamic” world but do not live there. Depictions here show two perspectives used in Without Boundary to defy the binary oppositions of current politics by resisting essentialist notions of who they are such as: “Islamic or not.” Show less
Artists in Lahore have creatively reinterpreted Mughal miniature painting and its successors. The artist Chughtai initiated this process when he started to reorient his “Indian” painting towards... Show moreArtists in Lahore have creatively reinterpreted Mughal miniature painting and its successors. The artist Chughtai initiated this process when he started to reorient his “Indian” painting towards consciously Islamic styles. Although he had no immediate followers, since the 1980s a new group of artists inspired by Chughtai’s works has started to produce playfully subversive miniature paintings. By using “obsolete” painting techniques in depicting familiar political themes, important questions are raised about the “reality” of the media imagery that surrounds us. Show less
Khosrow Hassanzadeh is one of Iran’s leading contemporary artists. During his artistic career his work became increasingly concerned with Islam as a factor in the interplay between East and West.... Show moreKhosrow Hassanzadeh is one of Iran’s leading contemporary artists. During his artistic career his work became increasingly concerned with Islam as a factor in the interplay between East and West. This article discusses his recent series of works Terrorist to analyse the artist’s efforts to simultaneously criticize the accusing gaze of the West and reclaim the right of self-representation. Show less
Reza Abedini, Iranian graphic designer and professor of graphic design and visual culture at Tehran University, emphasizes in his work the relationship between visual tradition and modern form. His... Show moreReza Abedini, Iranian graphic designer and professor of graphic design and visual culture at Tehran University, emphasizes in his work the relationship between visual tradition and modern form. His passion for graphic design, particularly Persian type and typo-graphy, has led him into linking literature and aesthetics in search for a unique visual dialectic that reflects Persian poetic sensibilities. Show less
Early Japanese photography - like so many other elements of Japanese modernity - has often been considered a mere by-product of interaction between western technical know-how and traditional... Show moreEarly Japanese photography - like so many other elements of Japanese modernity - has often been considered a mere by-product of interaction between western technical know-how and traditional Japanese aesthetics. Academic approaches to understanding the photography of Meiji Japan (1868-1912) have likewise been hampered by what could be called an isolated aesthetics, where images are divorced from their social context even as they are mined for 'evidence' in what they purportedly tell us about Japanese history or customs. Show less
As modernisation and globalisation extend into eastern Indonesia, traditional culture's decline in rural communities is undermining the vibrancy and dynamism of their arts. A partnership between... Show moreAs modernisation and globalisation extend into eastern Indonesia, traditional culture's decline in rural communities is undermining the vibrancy and dynamism of their arts. A partnership between two organisations in Australia and Indonesia is supporting a rededication of these communities to the traditions and values of the past through a program that facilitates a re-imagining of their place in the future. Show less
In Mapping Sitting, photographic works are presented to raise questions about how portraiture photography functioned in the Arab world as a commodity, a luxury item, an adornment, a description of... Show moreIn Mapping Sitting, photographic works are presented to raise questions about how portraiture photography functioned in the Arab world as a commodity, a luxury item, an adornment, a description of individuals and groups, and as the inscription of social identities. Photographic representations were indicative of new notions of work, leisure, play, citizenship, community, and individuality. Show less
Shadi Ghadirian is representative of the young intellectuals and avant-garde artists of Iran at the beginning of the 21st century. She studied photography and was influenced by the most liberal and... Show moreShadi Ghadirian is representative of the young intellectuals and avant-garde artists of Iran at the beginning of the 21st century. She studied photography and was influenced by the most liberal and creative of minds while even so she also worked in an environment in which she was required to participate actively in the acquisition of religious knowledge. From this situation emerges a body of work imbued with paradoxes. Show less
I lived for ten years on the 14th floor of a high-rise in Cairo. I was amazed to discover the vast variety of life on the rooftops that lay beneath me. I took photos, excited by the different... Show moreI lived for ten years on the 14th floor of a high-rise in Cairo. I was amazed to discover the vast variety of life on the rooftops that lay beneath me. I took photos, excited by the different scenes of daily life that I witnessed. The people who live on the rooftops have a different and separate life from the people who live in the buildings themselves; those residents as well as the pedestrians on the street below have no idea what goes on above them. Show less
