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Interview on NPR on Riyaaz Qawwali

I was recently interviewed on NPR about Riyaaz Qawwali, a group out of Austin, TX. Hussein Rashid, a professor of religion at Hofstra University, says that many qawwaliartists working in South Asia today have limited themselves. He believes this American group is bringing the music back to its roots.  “You know, I think there’s been so much concern about what is Islam, and what isn’t, politically speaking and artistically speaking,” Rashid says, “that there’s been a push in modern qawwali to actually sanitize it and make it very sterile — and almost rule-bound — rather than ecstatic and devotional. For me, I think…

Vienna Exhibit: Penelope’s Labor

This installation will feature work by a wonderful artist I had the privilege of meeting last year, Azra Aksamija (http://www.azraaksamija.net/) — Penelope’s Labour — Weaving Words and Images Weavings from the collection of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini Collection shown alongside new woven works by: Azra Akšamija, Lara Baladi, Manuel Franquelo, Carlos Garaicoa, Grayson Perry and Marc Quinn. Exhibition by Fondazione Giorgio Cini and Factum Arte. Curated by Adam Lowe Tapestry is the great example of image and word transformed by the materiality of its medium. For centuries, it was valued above paintings, its precious gold, silver and silk thread combining…

Teaching Kids the Holy Quran…with Legos!

I’ve blogged on occasion about Legos. You might remember me mentioning The Brick Testament,which retells a number of famous (and in some cases shocking) stories from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Well, I appear to be the last person in the Islamophere to notice the wonderful blog Teaching Kids the Holy Quran, which aims to do the same for the Quran, but with some innovative twists. via akramsrazor.typepad.com