Persepolis 2.0

Metropolitan Museum’s Moroccan Courtyard Takes Shape – NYTimes.com. Almost 30 years later the museum was embarking on the most ambitious rethinking and rebuilding of its Islamic art galleries in its history, a $50 million endeavor. At the heart of those galleries, which will open in the fall after being closed six years, it dreamed of showcasing the defining feature of Moroccan and southern Spanish Islamic architecture: a medieval Maghrebi-Andalusian-style courtyard, which would function in much the same way such courtyards still do in the traditional houses and mosques of Marrakesh or Casablanca, as their physical and spiritual center.

Muslim playwright returns to high school stage – chicagotribune.com. As a teenager, Rohina Malik went to great lengths to hide her Muslim heritage.  While some girls her age chose to wear the traditional headscarf, she opted against it. And when teachers read “Rohina” at roll call on the first day of school, she asked them to call her Mariam, her less Muslim-sounding middle name.  Unable to hide her caramel skin or overcome her shyness, the aspiring actress and playwright didn’t audition for a role until her senior year at Niles North High School. She was astounded when she landed the…