Year: 2012

What Does Islamic Music Have to do With Blues, Jazz, and Surf Rock? More Than You Think. | FrontRow. What do Bruce Springsteen, Mahalia Jackson, and John Coltrane all have in common? Well according to Dr. Hussein Rashid of Hofstra University  each bear witness to the Islamic Contribution to American Music. This was the title of his lecture at my law school alma mater, Southern Methodist University.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Contemporary Iranian Art from the Permanent Collection. This exhibition features seven works by three generations of Iranian artists—Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (b. 1924), Parviz Tanavoli (b. 1937), Y.Z. Kami (b. 1956), Shirin Neshat (b. 1957), Afruz Amighi (b. 1974), and Ali Banisadr (b. 1976)—four of whom live and work in the United States, while two continue to work in Iran. Despite their diverse modes of expression, these artworks reflect an intrinsic connection with Iran and address issues of identity, political and social concerns, gender, nostalgia, and cultural pride.

Iranian Comic-Book Artists Seek a Unique, Local Identity – NYTimes.com. Many young Iranian artists admit to a passion for comic books from the United States and Europe. They can be purchased in Tehran, though they are expensive and often covered with the censors’ black ink. But local artists say they are trying to stamp their work with an Iranian identity.