Antik A.S. to Present an Important Auction of Turkish Paintings and Ottoman Art

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by in Auctions - Turkey

≈ Leave a comment

Antik AS Auction

The leading auction house of Turkey, Antik A.S. continues to have record breaking results. In the recent sale, Antik A.S. breaks its own record for the highest amount paid for a Contemporary Turkish work of art; Erol Akyavaş’s monumental “Kabe” painting sold for 1.3 Million Euro with premium and taxes. The record-breaking work will be exhibited in Istanbul Modern Museum during the Akyavas’s “Grand Retrospective” starting at the end of May 2013. Right after selling an Osman Hamdi Bey’s “A Girl arranging Vase of Flowers” painting for a record price of 1.4 million Euros, Antik A.S. now, announces the 277th auction of Classical and Ottoman Art sale in Istanbul which will take place on Sunday April 14th 2013. The sale will bring together and offer an important selection of works of art from the Turkish Artists including impressive works of Sami Yetik, Hikmet Onat, İbrahim Çallı, Şevket Dağ and İzzet Ziya. Ottoman Silverware and glass works are also some of the items that will be offered at the sale.

Read More: Important Auction of Turkish Paintings

Exploring Life as a Muslim Woman

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by in Exhibitions

≈ Leave a comment

Muslima 2

As everything gradually moves online – from reading and shopping to watching television and talking to friends and family – the art world is keeping in step. While physical exhibitions, museums and art fairs still play a major role when it comes to visual art, other art forms are arguably more suited to online presentation, which allows access to a far wider audience than would ever have been thought possible two decades ago. Launched last month in honor of International Women’s Day, Muslima is an online exhibition of fine art, photography and writing from women around the globe, exploring what it means to be a Muslim woman in today’s world.

Read More: Exploring Life as a Muslim Woman

See also: Muslima Online Exhibition and Muslim Women’s Art and Voices

Iranian American Artist Shirin Neshat Mid-career Retrospective Opens at Detroit Institute of Arts

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by in Exhibitions - North America - Individual Artists

≈ Leave a comment

Shirin Neshat

The Detroit Institute of Arts presents Shirin Neshat, a mid-career retrospective of Iranian American artist Shirin Neshat, April 7th to July 7th 2013. Neshat is known for her exceptional photography, films and video installations that deal with issues of gender, politics and identity. This exhibition is the first major showing of Neshat’s work in more than 10 years and is free with museum admission. Shirin Neshat is organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts. Generous support has been provided by the MetLife Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, and Marjorie & Maxwell Jospey Foundation.

Read More: Shirin Neshat Retrospective at Detroit Institute of Arts

Monumental Neglect: Craters on Charminar Top

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by in Heritage Sites - India

≈ Leave a comment

The Charminar is bleeding and no one is bothered. Away from the awestruck tourists and prying eyes of heritage activists is an ancient mosque on the top story of the iconic structure which narrates tales of monumental neglect of its own custodian, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The flooring of the 422-year old mosque has developed cracks and has three craters. To make matters worse, some of these eyesores are spread over several feet and are several inches deep on the clear span (the space between two piers that lead to an arch), under many arches on the west side of the structure.

Read More: Charminar

Lodhi Relic in Restoration Row

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by in Heritage Sites - India

≈ Leave a comment

The 16th-century Jahaz Mahal, so named for its ship-like reflection on the adjacent lake, might get a new lease of life. Indian National Trust for Art, Culture and Heritage Delhi Chapter has moved a proposal with Archaeological Survey of India to restore the missing portions of the monument, including a chhatri and the south wall. ASI, however, is yet to approve the proposal as its policy does not support restoration on the principle that relics should, as far as possible, be retained as they are.

Read More: Lodhi Relic in Restoration Row

Encountering the Exotic and Mysterious Orient

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by in Exhibitions - North America

≈ Leave a comment

Dahesh Museum of Art

At the crossroads between realism and fantasy, fanciful decoration and meaningful symbolism, and admiration and condescension lies Orientalism. In painting, the movement is known for depicting aspects of Middle Eastern and East Asian culture. Much has been debated on the issue of whether the movement’s artists did justice to the cultures they chose to depict. What helps in determining this point is to view at least some of the works in person. The chance is provided by the current exhibition, Encountering the Orient: Masterworks From the Dahesh Museum of Art, which is being hosted by Christie’s New York at the Rockefeller Plaza.

Read More: Encountering the Exotic and Mysterious Orient

Jameel Prize Nominees Forge Ahead with Tradition

07 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by in Islamic Arts - Awards

≈ Leave a comment

Jameel Prize

It is not supposed to be a regional affair. In fact, Salma Tuqan, the co-curator of the Jameel Prize, is quick to point out that this is “not an east-west dialogue” but a global contemporary art prize that simply has regional leanings because of its only stipulation: the art must be inspired by Islamic tradition. But days after announcing 10 shortlisted nominees for the £25,000 (Dh139,200) award, Tuqan and her team were on their way to Dubai to host an informal talk and discuss the evolution of the prize.

Read More: Jameel Prize Nominees Forge Ahead with Tradition

London’s V&A Links with the Qatar Museums Authority Taking Art Across Continents

07 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by in Exhibitions

≈ Leave a comment

V&A Director Martin Roth

Martin Roth gazes out of his airy office onto peaceful London gardens bathed in early spring sunshine. The director of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is just back from one of many trips to the Gulf he has undertaken in recent years to foster links with what he calls a “completely fascinating part of the world”. If springtime London feels a long way from Qatar, where the perky, German-born Roth signed off a new exhibition with the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), then he’s not showing it.

Read More: London’s V&A Links with the Qatar Museums Authority

70 Manuscripts of Great Female Poet Ganjavi to be Brought to Azerbaijan

06 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by in Manuscripts - Azerbaijan

≈ Leave a comment

Mahsati Ganjavi

About 70 unique manuscripts by great Azerbaijani female poet Mahsati Ganjavi will be brought to Azerbaijan from world libraries next week, an official of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences’ department in Ganja has said. Samir Pishnamazzade, Deputy Director for Scientific Affairs of the department, told the local press that up to 70 miniatures, illustrations and rubais date back to the 14th and 15th centuries. The masterpieces, kept in Egypt’s Library of Alexandria, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University in the United States, will be delivered by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, which is based in Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second largest city.

Read More: Mahsati Ganjavi

Realism in Rawiya Exhibition Redresses How the World Views the Middle East

06 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by in Exhibitions - United Kingdom

≈ Leave a comment

Rawiya exhibition

An elderly Afghan woman holds a faded portrait of her son, killed in the Iran-Iraq war. A Palestinian woman rally driver prepares for her race, her red car surrounded by men. A child with amputated legs plays on the beach – he survived a cluster bomb. These arresting images are among many by Rawiya, the first all-women photographic collective to emerge from the Middle East. Rawiya is currently showcasing its first major exhibition in the UK at the New Art Exchange gallery in Nottingham.

Read More: Rawiya Exhibition in Nottingham

See also: Realism in Rawiya

160 Handwritten Turkish Manuscripts Found in India

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Manuscripts - India

≈ Leave a comment

Turkish manuscripts in India

Dr. Turgut Kocoglu, a faculty member at the Department of Turkish Language and Literature of Erciyes University, has revealed the discovery of approximately 160 Turkish manuscripts in 13 libraries in India. The manuscripts cover a range of subjects, such as language, literature, dictionaries and diwans (collections of poetry), and medicine.

Read More: Turkish Manuscripts Found in India

YARAT Presents Works of Love Me, Love Me Not Exhibitors in La Biennale di Venezia

04 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by in Exhibitions

≈ Leave a comment

YARAT

Love Me, Love Me Not is an unprecedented exhibition of contemporary art from Azerbaijan and its neighbours, featuring recent work by 17 artists from Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Russia, and Georgia. Produced and supported by YARAT, a not-for-profit contemporary art organisation based in Baku, and curated by Dina Nasser-Khadivi,. The exhibition will be open to the public from June 1st 2013 until November 24th 2013 at Tesa 111, Arsenale Nord, at The 55th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia.

Read More: Love Me, Love Me Not

Istanbul Highlights Contemporary Art

03 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by in Art Fairs - Turkey

≈ Leave a comment

ArtBosphorus Fair

The 6th Artbosphorus Contemporary Art Fair will open tomorrow [April 3rd, 2013] at Istanbul’s Haliç Convention Center. This year the fair’s concept is Parallel Stories, Constructs, Unknown. In addition to the participating galleries, the fair will showcase garden sculpture, video art programs, installation projects, and modern dance performances until April 7th.

Read More: Istanbul Highlights Contemporary Art

​Isa Khan’s Tomb to Reopen after Two Years

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by in Heritage Sites - India

≈ Leave a comment

Restoration of the two 16th-century garden tombs in vicinity of Humayun’s Tomb and part of the world heritage site belonging to Sher Shah Suri’s courtier Isa Khan Niazi and Bu Halima, a lesser-known historical figure close to the Mughal royal family, is almost complete. Isa Khan’s Tomb, where conservation work began in January 2011, will be reopened to the public on April 18th 2013, World Heritage Day.

Read More: Isa Khan’s Tomb to Reopen after Two Years

Metropolitan Museum of Art Signs Agreement with India’s Ministry of Culture

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by in Museums - North America

≈ Leave a comment

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Union Ministry of Culture of the Government of India have signed a memorandum of agreement expressing mutual willingness to establish a long-term relationship of cooperation, it was announced today by Thomas P. Campbell, the Metropolitan Museum’s Director and CEO. The agreement was signed on March 19th 2013 in New Delhi by Venu Vasudevan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, and Mr. Campbell, in the presence of Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Minister of Culture of the Government of India. Through the agreement, the Ministry of Culture and the Metropolitan Museum will cooperate in the areas of conservation, exhibition, academic research, sharing of information and published resources, public education, promotion, publications, museum management, and short- and long-term loans.

Read More: Metropolitan Museum of Art Signs Agreement

A Return to Art Appreciation, Sudan Style

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in Arts - Africa

≈ Leave a comment

Art in Sudan

Sudan’s rich contemporary arts history is seldom referred to amidst all the headlines about war, poverty, and famine that make it to the global media. After World War II, when graduates of Khartoum’s Gordon Memorial College School of Design formed the movement known as the Khartoum School, artists like the father of Sudanese modernism, Ibrahim Elsalahi, calligrapher Osman Wagialla, and Ahmed Shibrain pioneered a unique fine arts movement that reflected a confluence of African, Arab, and Islamic influences. The next generation of artists emerging in the 1970s including painters like Bakri Bilal and Rashid Diab, who focused on painting and color. Sudan was a center for the Afro-Arab art experience.

Read More: A Return to Art Appreciation, Sudan Style

A New Capital for Art

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in Arts - Middle East

≈ Leave a comment

Doha Museum of Islamic Art

If the Museum of Islamic Art and Jean Nouvel’s Burj Doha look like Qatar’s most permanent investments in architecture, the real art business in the country is growing somewhere else. Art collectors in Doha are gearing up for action, and renowned auction houses are sensing this phenomenon. Altogether, 55 percent of Christie’s international buyers come from the Middle East and since 2004 the London-based auction house saw new buyers in the Middle East growing by a startling 400 percent.

Read More: A New Capital for Art

Salafists Destroy Major Sufi Shrine

29 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in Heritage Sites - Libya - Destruction

≈ Leave a comment

Sidi Andalusi

The Al-Andalusi mausoleum in Tajura area, one of the major Sufi shrines in Libya, was destroyed early this morning, Thursday [March 28th], in a bomb attack that is being blamed on Salafists. An eye-witness, who was at work nearby, told the Libya Herald that he heard three “very loud” explosions around 4 am. He said that he did not see any one near the shrine at the time of the bombing.

Read More: Salafists Destroy Major Sufi Shrine

Living the Culture: Continuing the Tradition Through Verse and Emotions

29 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in Music - Central Asia

≈ Leave a comment

Music in Wakhan

When we begin to preserve cultures, some of their essence dissipates, detracting the humanness of the language or tradition and replacing it with a nostalgic reverence of something that was, but is no longer tangible. It is for this reason that Richard Wolf, Professor of Music and South Asian Studies at Harvard University, believes in the continuous stimulation and cross-communication of Wakhi poets and musicians.

Read More: Music and Poetry of the Wakhan

Ruheena Malik Immortalises Her Faith with Islamic Art

29 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in Exhibitions - Asia - Individual Artists

≈ Leave a comment

Ruheena Malik

Calligrapher Ruheena Malik has immortalised her faith through her three-dimension carvings of the treasures of Islamic art. The winner of the Pride of Performance Award, Malik recently hosted an exhibition of calligraphy where she displayed over 50 art pieces. The exhibition was held at the Quaid-e-Azam House Museum on Fatima Jinnah Road.

Read More: Ruheena Malik

ArtDubai Might be Over but There’s Still Plenty to See and Buy at Christie’s this April

28 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by in Auctions - Middle East

≈ Leave a comment

Christie Auction Dubai 2013

With Art Dubai wrapped up for another year, Christie’s auction house is preparing for its next sale of Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish art. The auctions will be held in Dubai April 16th and 17th, 2013. The second-day Part II sale – which offers work from more contemporary, emerging artists – will once again include pieces from $3,000.

Read More: Christie’s Auction in Dubai

Monir Farmanfarmaian Exhibition at The Third Line, Dubai

28 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by in Exhibitions - Middle East - Individual Artists

≈ Leave a comment

Monir Farmanfarmaian 3

The Third Line is proud to present a survey exhibition of Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian that reflects upon the past decade of her remarkable artistic journey. Showcasing works from 2004 until now – including those being displayed for the first time – the exhibition highlights Monir’s stellar career as a pioneer in contemporary Iranian art.

Read More: Monir Farmanfarmaian Exhibition

Sharjah Looks East, and West

28 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by in Arts - Middle East

≈ Leave a comment

Sharjah Biennale 3

Politically, it is an edgy time in the Gulf. The emirs fear subversion from outside, and there are signs on Facebook and in private conversation that even some loyal Emirati citizens would like public debate to be less self-censoring. The relentless onwards-and-upwards tone of public statements is as tedious as Soviet propaganda and as self-defeating. There is, however, one small emirate where, at least in the art world, things are different, and that is Sharjah, home of a biennial that has just opened its 11th edition (until May 13th, 2013).

Read More: Sharjah Looks East, and West

See also: Sharjah Biennial 2013

Tony Award-winning Actor Suheir Hammad to Appear at Arab American Museum for DIWAN5

27 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Festivals - North America

≈ Leave a comment

Tony Award-winning actor/writer Suheir Hammad and Susan Abulhawa, the international best-selling author of Mornings in Jenin, are among the leading Arab American artists scheduled to appear at DIWAN5: A Forum for the Arts, April 5th-6th 2013 at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn. Diwan is an Arabic word for gathering. DIWAN5: A Forum for the Arts is designed to unite Arab American artists, performers, activists and scholars representing myriad creative genres and academic fields.

Read More: DIWAN5: A Forum for the Arts