Category: art

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by DANIYAL MUEENUDDIN

talking of brilliant young writers from pakistan, a brilliant short story by daniyal mueenuddin – it captures the split in pakistani society with such precision, such charm:

The butler, knowing that Husna served the old Begum Harouni in an indefinite capacity, somewhere between maidservant and companion, did not seat her in the living room. Instead, he put her in the office of the secretary, Shah Sahib, who every afternoon took down in shorthand a few pages of Mr. Harouni’s memoirs, cautiously titled “Perhaps This Happened.”

complete short story here.

Dave Hickey: The Bad Boy of Art Criticism

Hickey’s argument, essentially, is that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. It depends on a direct, one-to-one relationship between the viewer and the image. Once we allow meaning to figure into a work’s value, we become slaves to the establishment that’s in the business of “enlightening” the masses: the museums, universities, foundations and publications Hickey terms, collectively, “the therapeutic institution.” Full article.

Spoke at Hobart and William Smith Colleges

spoke about activism and film and showed selections from my films on wednesday, feb 24th, 6.30 pm, at the south asia speaker series, fischer center, hobart and william smith colleges:

On Wednesday, Feb. 24, the South Asia Speaker Series will welcome Rochester-based artist, activist, and filmmaker, Mara Ahmed, as she talks about and shows selections of her films at 6:30 p.m. in the Fisher Center.

Ahmed’s first film, “The Muslims I Know” (2008), is a dialogue between American Muslims and non-Muslims. In this film, she seeks to debunk stereotypes by introducing her audiences to Pakistani-American families in Rochester, N.Y.

For more information, visit www.TheMuslimsIKnow.com.

Presently Ahmed is editing a film that she shot in Lahore, Pakistan last year, tentatively called, “Pakistan One-on-One.” This documentary film surveys public opinion in Lahore about issues of interest to Americans, e.g. democracy in Pakistan, the Taliban, American foreign policy in the region, etc. (join the group on Facebook: Pakistan One-on-One).

Ahmed has also partly shot her third documentary about the partition of India. Collaborating with an Indian filmmaker on this, project, the idea is to demonstrate how partition affected people on both sides of the Pakistan-India border.

This South Asia Speaker Series event is sponsored by the Office of the Provost. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Food and refreshments will be available. Full post.

mara ahmed at hwsc, feb 24, 2010

West Side via West Bank – Najla Said’s Identity Found

The daughter of Edward W. Said, the Columbia University professor who until his death in 2003 was the most prominent advocate in this country for the cause of Palestinian independence, Ms. Said guides the audience though her teenage years as a self-described politically agnostic Upper West Side princess to a vision of herself today, a 35-year-old woman who is deeply moved by the very word “Palestine.” Full article.

Poets Against the War & Occupation

spoke at this event: “It’s hard to believe that next month will mark 7 years since we invaded Iraq; equaly amazing, last October marked 8 years since we invaded Afghanistan — the longest our country has been at war in its history. We’ve spent over 500 BILLION in these quagmires; by the end of FY2010, the total amount of money wasted will be top 1 TRILLION. This doesn’t even include the cost in death, injuries, and human suffering — not just to Americans but to Iraqi and Afghan citizens. Next Friday, February 12, marks the 7th anniversary of Poets Against the War. The movement was started by poet Sam Hamill who organized several fellow invitees to a White House symposium on poetry and annouced their intention to use the occasion to protest George W. Bush’s imminent invasion of Iraq. Their declaration resulted in a Poets Against the War website: poetsagainstwar.org.

mara ahmed speaking at poets against war and occupation.
Mara Ahmed speaking at Poets against War and Occupation, Basil Hall Auditorium, St. John Fisher College, February 12, 2010.
Photograph by Frank Judge.

rainy days in lahore

in his book “from amritsar to lahore”, stephen alter talks about traveling from delhi to lahore on the train. all of a sudden, a rain storm…

“around three o’clock in the afternoon a breeze suddenly picked up and i could see monsoon clouds blowing in, dark rafts of moisture drifting across the sky. i could smell the rain before it arrived, a sweet musky odor like wet clay. the drops began to fall, each of them as large as rupee coins, spilling onto the cement platform with silvery brightness. at first they evaporated as soon as they landed but after a minute the rain came down in a deluge. within seconds the platform was flooded and the wind blew the rain in at an angle beneath the roof.”

Where Three Dreams Cross: south Asian photography comes to east London

photography from india, pakistan and bangladesh at the whitechapel gallery in london – check it out.

Curators and photographers talk us through an exhibition devoted to work from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh at the Whitechapel gallery, and explain why they want to make people think again about our image of the continent. Watch video.