just saw qawal najmuddin saifuddin and brothers perform in oswego, ny – what a treat!!! thank u caravanserai (supported by the doris duke foundation for islamic art) for bringing us such vibrant pakistani culture!
Qawal Najmuddin Saifuddin & Brothers – Meri Naiya Laga Do Par from nofil naqvi on Vimeo.
with fergus nicholl of the bbc world service (he hosts “the world today”) and with fellow panelists dr asma barlas and qawal najmuddin saifuddin. the topic of the discussion was “pakistani culture under siege.” argh. was able to inject some culture into our talk. btw here is fergus nicholl’s op-ed piece on why pakistani culture is “under siege.” pls check out my comments at the end of the article.
so tomorrow i’m being interviewed by fergus nicholl, from the bbc world service, as a pakistani american artist. i am happy to talk about my work and my roots but i have huge problems with the topic of the discussion: “pakistani culture under siege.” i have no choice but to be adversarial i guess. let’s see how it goes. more on ARTSwego’s caravanserai program about pakistani culture here.
spoke to two south asian studies classes at st john fisher’s college today about my film “the muslims i know” and their consequent questions. way cool to interact with young people.
am def going to ny to see this: “Asia Society Museum presents an exhibition of Buddhist sculptures, architectural reliefs and works of gold and bronze from the Gandhara region of Pakistan, most never exhibited before in the US. It reveals the complex cultural influences — from Scytho-Parthian to Greco-Roman traditions — that fed the extraordinary artistic production of this region from the 1st c. BCE through 5th c. CE.”
More here.
“The Cost of War, The Price of Peace” with Kathy Kelly and David Smith-Ferri was held at Downtown Presbyterian Church, Rochester, NY – September 13, 2011.
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while the city of rochester flocked to see bill clinton at the u of r, some of us made a beeline to hear kathy kelly. as clinton’s govt imposed murderous sanctions on iraq, kathy kelly traveled to that country with food and medicine in violation of the sanctions. she and other activists were threatened with separate 12-year prison sentences and fines of one million dollars each. but they persevered. kathy now travels to afghanistan and pakistan and brings back first hand knowledge about the wars.
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she is a light. was completely entranced by her emotive description of the wars in afghanistan and pakistan.
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bought david smith-ferri’s book of poetry called “with children like ur own”. he accompanied kathy and read poigant poems from his book. one of them was called “something to say” – it’s written in the voices of drone victims:
“we have something to ask people in the US:
do u think we r animals
to be hunted and killed?
did the murder of our sisters and brothers and children
cause even a ripple
in the smooth pool of ur conscience,
even a small interruption
in ur routine,
in ur pursuits?”
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kathy insisted on meeting my mother. she told her she loves lahore.
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kathy kelly has been nominated three times for the nobel peace prize. but obama got it instead.
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photograph by al brundage.
august 21, 2001: peace vigil organized by rochester peace groups at east and goodman. many who participated have been protesting at this spot every week, for the past 5 years. bravo.
aug 19, 2011: the red wings played lehigh. we won! super fun night!
my son playing football (in the democrat and chronicle). check out 5th picture in gallery.
dark horse coffee (village gate, rochester, ny) has the best soups ever. i’ve tried italian wedding (with hearty meatballs, pasta and spinach), mushroom soup with madeira wine, cream of broccoli and toscana firenze (a chunky tomato bisque with chicken). all r de-li-cious. served with garlicky baguette crisps. yum.
had the privilege to be one of the judges at rochester’s teen film festival today. the best submission was a film about inequities in education – subtle but powerful social commentary. my favorite tho was an animated film about unicycles. more info on the teen film festival here.
screened my film “pakistan one on one” for a group of naga filmmakers. with heather layton (who organized this cultural exchange), linda moroney (executive director of rochester’s film festival) and the naga team. university of rochester, july 18, 2011
got to see a new cut of my friend filmmaker nancy ghertner’s latest documentary “after i pick the fruit.” ten yrs in the making, the film follows the lives of 5 migrant women. as we come to know the women, and their unpredictable, challenging lives, we r struck by their incredible strength and resilience. for all of us who enjoy the “fruits” of their labor, this is an important film to watch.
spoke and screened my film at this meeting with a team of pakistani leaders invited by the state dept. they represented a wide spectrum of views from the federally administered tribal areas, waziristan, karachi and lahore. they loved my work and offered help in filming a broader based survey of pakistani opinions by covering all the provinces and including both urban and rural populations. lovely to connect with them – so important for pakistan to get a hold of its own narrative.
noam chomsky speaking at nottingham high school, invited by syracuse peace council, may 11, 2011. more than 1000 people in the audience. thunderous applause, standing ovations. terrific event. as expected.
noam chomsky’s speech here.
