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America to Zanzibar Opening

I am proud to announce the opening of the exhibit America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. I served as the lead academic advisor the exhibit, and it is stunning. Below is a link to my Flickr album of the space, which I will continue update as the exhibit goes on for the year.

Contemporary Pakistani Music

It’s not all about Junoon anymore, if it ever was. CNN ran this article several months ago about heavy metal in Pakistan, including some type of hip-hop dancing thing. Videos below: Compare this view of music to what the Kominas deal with in their expression of punk (h/t Sepia Mutiny): Of course, both sources have distinct narratives they need to tell. The truth of the popularity and acceptability of such music in Pakistan is somewhere in the middle. Although Junoon did lay the ground work, the increase in Islamist activity and thinking means that performing music remains problematic. I’m not…

Pakistan: Neo-Sufi and the American Jugni, Part 2 | Clocktower Gallery & Radio | ARTonAIR.org

Pakistan: Neo-Sufi and the American Jugni, Part 2 | Clocktower Gallery & Radio | ARTonAIR.org. Part two of Neo-Sufi and the American Jugni focuses on the music of Arooj Aftab and the instrument Arif Lohar always has by his side, the chimta, or “musical fire tongs.”  On April 28th, 2012, Pakistani musical icon M. Arif Lohar and Pakistani American musician Arooj Aftab brought their passionate blend of traditional Punjabi music, Sufi spiritual poetry and contemporary rock and pop music to Asia Society for the organization’s Creative Voices of Muslim Asia project. Before this outstanding event, David Weinstein had the chance…