desiTALLKK In New York February 13, 2009 THE ARTS Page xx I 'Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas' I Indo-Persian epic New York to host 10-day, multi-venue, many-genre arts fest Akbar's favorite stories Pakistani get a fresh lease of life By Jyotirmoy Datta singer Faiz Ali Faiz and his By Jyotirmoy Datta sia Society, Brooklyn Academy of Music Ensemble will (BAM), and New York University Center A be featured in even years after the historic 'Hamzanama' exhi- for Dialogues unveiled an unprecedented 10- Qawwali day, multi-venue, many-genre arts festival, Sbition at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gospel Gallery comes 'Dastangoi: The Adventures of 'Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas'. Creation Set for this summer, June 5-14, the festival cel- Amir Hamza' at the Asia Society -- proof of revival Saturday, June of interest in the fantastic Indo-Persian epic. ebrates the extraordinary range of artistic expres- 13 at 8:00 sion throughout the Muslim world, including On display at the p.m. at BAM Sackler was the India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Harvey One of the highlights of the festival will be a ‘Hamzanama’ com- Theater. missioned by revival of the lost art of Urdu storytelling, (Photo, as it 'Dastangoi: The Adventures of Amir Hamza, Emperor Akbar appears on (1542-1605), who with star of India's new wave Bollywood cinema bam.org) Naseeruddin Shah performing as a traditional himself did not know how to read, but was folk storyteller June 7-8 at the Asia Society's Lila Asia Society was brought in as a partner for its at 7:30 p.m., Asia Society Rose Conference Hall fascinated by the sto- Acheson Wallace Auditorium. long history of using arts and culture to promote - Through the ages, the Islamic word's tea hous- ries as told to him as a Shah is to join Daanish Hussain and understanding and deeper engagement between es, royal courts and drawing rooms have served as child, and one of the Mahmood Farooqi, -- the two persons credited Asia-home to two thirds of the world's Muslim popular salons for storytelling in the form of Cover of ‘The Adventures first projects he com- with restoring piece by piece the lost art of das- population-and the United States. recited or sung poetry. of Amir Hamza’ by Ghalib tangoi in India -- in retelling the adventures of Following are some of the highlights Lakhnavi and Abdullah missioned on coming the Prophet Muhammed's uncle Amir Hamza in CONFERENCE Bilgrami. to the throne was an of the festival: opulently illustrated an artfully dramatized oral narrative. Bridging the Divide between the U.S. and MUSIC . manuscripts by the Hindu and Muslim artists of Exploring a fascinating world full of magic, the Muslim World Through Arts and Ideas: the imperial atelier. sorcery, and tricksters, The Adventures of Amir Youssou N'Dour (Senegal), Friday, June 5 at Possibilities and Limitations, Friday, June 5- . Akbar's favorite stories have gained a new sig- Hamza will be performed in the rich Indian sto- 8 p.m., BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Sunday, June 7, presented by NYU Center for nificance in these troubled times and their rytelling tradition of dastangoi which dates back Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY - World Dialogues at The Brooklyn Marriott retelling is most appropriate when the image of to medieval Iran (Persia). renowned singer N'Dour will perform songs that OUTDOOR MARKET/SOUK Islam has been distorted in current debates. Announcing at the Asia Society in New York draw on his Islamic beliefs, African heritage, and "To the delight of art historians, " William on Feb. 3 the full line-up of the coming festival global experiences. Souk, Saturday, June 6 from 12 noon-10 . Dalrymple, author of 'The Last Mughal,' wrote this summer, the Society's President Visakha N. Muslim Voices at BAMcafé Live, Friday p.m. and Sunday, June 7 from 12noon-8 p.m., . in the New York Times, "the Sackler brought Desai said, "No more pressing issue faces the June 12 at 9:30 p.m. & Saturday, June 13 at 9:30 BAM (Ashland Pl between Hanson St and together the long-dispersed pages of what is prob- world today than the profound lack of under- p.m., BAMcafé, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY) - A vibrant souk, ably the most ambitious single artistic undertak- standing between Western and Islamic societies. - BAMcafé Live will present a weekend of con- or open-air market featuring more than 150 ven- ing ever produced by the atelier of an Islamic Most non-Muslim Americans have very limited temporary Muslim musicians. On Friday, June dors offering food, arts, and crafts from diverse court: no fewer than 1,400 huge illustrations were exposure to -- and even misconceptions about -- 12 at 9:30 p.m., rocker Brahim Fribgane & Muslim cultures. commissioned. More than anything else, it was Islam, the world's second-largest religion." Friends and indie/alternative rock band zero- the project that created the Mughal painting style, More than 100 artists and speakers from as far bridge will perform. PARTNER EVENTS and in the illustrations one can see two artistic away as South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa Qawwali Gospel Creation, Saturday, June 13 . worlds - that of Hindu India and of Persianate and as near as Brooklyn, will gather for perform- at 8:00 p.m., BAM Harvey Theater - Qawwali Exhibition: The Art of (Un)Veiling, May . Islamic Central Asia - fusing to create something ances, films, exhibitions, talks, and other events, Gospel Creation is an evening of musical 21-Aug 29, Austrian Cultural Forum, 11 East new and distinctively Mughal." ranging from the traditional (calligraphy, story- exchange between Christian/African-American 52nd Street, New York, NY - The veiling of The Urdu work by Ghalib Lakhnavi and telling, and Sufi devotional voices) to the con- gospel and Qawwali, the 700-year old tradition women has become the most visible icon of con- Abdullah Bilgrami has been translated by the temporary (video installations and Arabic hip- of Sufi praise music popular in India and temporary Islam. The veil is heatedly discussed in Pakistani Canadian writer Musharraf Ali Farooqi. hop). Pakistan. The program will feature New Orleans the West, while in Islamic cultures, the veil has Set in the Middle East, the Urdu version shows In addition to the mainstage offerings and gospel singer Craig Adams and the Voices of become a means to assert autonomy and stress the how far the story was "reimagined into an Indian complementary education and humanities New Orleans, and Pakistani singer Faiz Ali Faiz significance of protection and privacy. In this exhi- context in the course of many years of subconti- events from Asia Society, BAM, and NYU and his Ensemble. bition, artists from the Middle East, Europe and nental retelling. Though the original Center for Dialogues, programs associated with New York explore contemporary controversies. Mesopotamian place names survive, the world the 'Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas' festival will Installation: ‘Masterpieces of Islamic THEATER . depicted is not that of early Islamic Iraq, but of take place at locations including: Austrian Calligraphy’ from The Metropolitan Museum of 18th-century late Mughal India, with its love of Cultural Forum New York, Brooklyn Museum, Dastangoi: The Adventures of Amir Art, June 2-Sept 1 - Showcases the calligraphic art . gardens, its obsession with poetic wordplay and MoCADA (Museum of Contemporary African Hamza, Sunday and Monday, June 7 & 8 at of the Islamic world, from Spain to south Asia its extreme refinement in food, dress and man- Diasporan Arts), The Metropolitan Museum of 7:30 p.m., Asia Society Lila Acheson Wallace and beyond. ners," wrote Dalrymple. "Many of the characters Arts, and The New York Public Library. Auditorium Exhibition: ‘Light of the Sufis: The Mystical . have Hindi names; they make oaths like "as Ram Mustapha Tlili, NYU Center for Dialogues Arts of Islam’, June 5-Sept. 6, Brooklyn is my witness"; and they ride on elephants with Founder and Director, added that it was not for Museum- This installation will feature objects VISUAL ART jeweled howdahs." art to settle the issues dividing the Islamic from from the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, "It took particular hold in India, where it Western societies. "The divide between the New York Masjid: The Mosques of New The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and private . absorbed endless myths and legends and was reg- United States and the Muslim world is rooted in York City, Friday, June 5-Sunday, June 28, BAM collections. ularly performed in public spaces in the great hard political issues such as the question of Natman Room, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn Exhibition: ‘Perspectives: Women, Art and . Mughal cities. At fairs and at festivals, on the steps Palestine, the war in Iraq, relations with Iran, and - This recent documentary project by Edward Islam’, June 6-Aug. 15, Museum of of the Jama Masjid in Delhi or in the Qissa other points of contention. Muslim Voices: Arts Grazda explores Islamic presence in New York by Contemporary African Diasporan Art & Khawani Bazaar, the "street of the storytellers" in & Ideas aims to help change perceptions, foster looking at the various places Muslims assemble to Museum for African Art, 80 Hanson Place, Peshawar, the professional storyteller, or dastango, mutual understanding and respect between the worship throughout the boroughs. Brooklyn - This exhibition, held in collaboration would perform nightlong recitations from memo- two sides, and pave the way for the solution of with the Museum for African Art, consists of five ry; some of these could go on for seven or eight the hard issues." SPOKEN WORD female artists of varied experiences, whose major hours with only a short break.