Pakistan, Peace, and the Arts

Blurring of Cultures at Louvre's Islamic Art Wing – NYTimes.com. Other Arab bronzes with inscriptions in Arabic and Latin conjure memories of places where East and West met.  A ewer from Arab Spain in the shape of a peacock carries an Arabic signature identifying it as “the work of the Christian King’s slave.” Underneath, an inscription in Roman capitals proclaims “Opus Salomonis Erat” naming the artist, probably called Sulayman, the Arabic form of the biblical name.

In the fall of 2009, Intersections International led a delegation of 8 American artists from many different disciplines on a 3-week immersion trip though Jordan, Lebanon and Syria at part of the Iraqi Voices Amplification Project (IVAP). Our goal is to use the power of the arts to call attention to one of the most pressing and under-reported social justice issues of our time: the displacement of more than 4 million Iraqis as a result of the military intervention in Iraq. While on the trip, the delegation entered into conversations with hundreds of refugees at community centers and in their…

Muslim actors (and others) take note of the quote below. We don’t need to be terrorists on television, or anywhere else. Peter Dinklage Was Smart to Say No – NYTimes.com. He sipped his coffee and pointed out that media portrayal is, in part, the fault of actors who are dwarves. “You can say no. You can not be the object of ridicule.”