Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design | Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art |- Here is a short video made while I was Scholar-in Residence at Shangri La in Honolulu in December of 2016. The grounds are the former mansion and guest house of the billionaire art collector Doris Duke, who filled […]
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art and photography
Trump’s Twitter threat to destroy Iran’s cultural sites was a historic mistake
By David J. Wasserstein | – Be careful of the company you keep. In a threat delivered over Twitter on Jan. 4, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he is prepared to “HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD” culturally important targets in Iran should the country retaliate for the American killing of its top general. […]
From State Censorship to Western Stereotypes. Interview with Iranian Artist Maryam Palizgir
This is part of a series done by Omid Memarian for Global Voices called How globalization, identity and culture intersect in art. ( GlobalVoices.org) – Maryam Palizgir is an Iranian-born artist and designer who currently lives and works in the U.S. Her work is interdisciplinary in nature, combining two and three dimensional drawing, sculptural painting […]
Haider Ali, Pakistan’s Truck Art, and Islam’s Message of Peace
A sort of Muslim pacifist, the artist maintains that Islam is all about peace
Saudi Prince who Bought da Vinci Painting could have given Sight to 9 Million Instead
By Peter Singer | (Project Syndicate) | – – A Saudi prince has been revealed to be the buyer of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” for which he spent $450.3 million. Had he given the money to the poor, as the subject of the painting instructed another rich man, he could have restored eyesight to […]
Saudi Crown Prince splashed $450 mn on Jesus painting
Middle East Monitor | – – Mystery over the secret buyer of a record $450.3 million painting was solved after it was discovered that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had used a proxy to get hold of one of the prized assets in the arts world. The power hungry de-facto ruler of the Kingdom […]
Painting of the Day: “The Lovers” (Iran, 1630)
Safavid Miniature by Riza-yi Abbasi of Isfahan
Painting of the Day: Girl w/ Wine Cup, Isfahan, Iran, 1650
British Museum | Persian Watercolor in style of Muhammad Qasim | – – “Girl with a wine cup Style of Muhammad Qasim Safavid Iran, Isfahan, 1640-50 Ink and opaque watercolour on paper By 1650 drawings of young men or women holding wine cups in the countryside had become standard rather than hackneyed fare in Persian […]
Picture of the Day: Iranian Woman Tambourine Player, 1848
British Museum | Persian Costumes | – – “Portrait of a young woman; single-page painting mounted on album folio. A young woman kneels on a yellow and white carpet while holding a large tambourine to the right with both hands. She wears an orange blouse, a blue jacket fastened at the waist, and a bright […]