Citation: “In my family there are only two things we know, the Koran and the kora.”- Toumani Diabaté
My favourite [ Ali Farke Toure & Toumani Diabete - Kaira]
Kutta Toumani Diabaté: A Malian Kora player
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Tag Archives: Arts
Jamil Arts
Salaams and peace to one and all!!!
Yeah – that’s one way to kick off this blog.
As for my artist for the week, I thought I would break off from last week’s theme of traditional calligraphers and pick a more modern artist.
So the artist I have chosen for this week is Jamil Ahmed
On seeing his artwork for the first time, many people who cannot read Arabic and who know little or nothing about Islam or Islamic art, are profoundly touched by it and amazed when the text of an artwork is explained to them. Some people find his work spiritually very uplifting, while others have commented on its immense beauty at first glance. His work has a touch of classic Islamic calligraphy fused with contemporary styles and goes far beyond the “decorative inscriptions” of the past.
Much of his work is derived from the Sacred Qur’anic text. It is his conviction that Islamic art can help towards bridging misunderstanding about Islam and he is delighted to be a part of that bridging process.
He founded the website called jamilarts.com, which he uses as a brand name to promote his work. Jamil in Arabic means ‘Beautiful’, firstly it’s his name, and it’s more befitting for describing the work of art he produces and rightly so the theme of jamilarts – to produce beautiful looking artwork.
Islam Expo News
As I mentioned the week before last, I planned to represent Ijtema.net at the Emerald Lounge, which took place last Sunday evening at the Islam Expo in London. I was greatly looking forward to promoting our little site, and maybe meeting some of the readers; I even printed off signs, and everything. Look:
Unfortunately, when the time came for me to do my ‘thang’, I did not actually end up spending much time at the Ijtema table, due to urgent and unforeseen circumstances. So anyone who was actually interested in taking up my offer of “free publicity” may have been let down. If you are reading (which would be a miracle), I am sorry!
However, the night was not a complete waste of time. I finally met our Arts Editor, Teakster – though how he chose to introduce himself is a story best left untold (let’s just say that this is his punishment for embarrassing me in public!). He was this >< close to being sacked by yours truly – but after he was named Best Artist at the Emerald Arts Competition, I was reminded how fortunate we are to have him on the Ijtema team, and all was forgiven. Alhamdulillah! Congratulations once again, bro!
Anyway, to make up for my poor networking skills, I’d appreciate it if the existing readers would take the time to inform their friends and family of Ijtema.net – especially to ask them to subscribe to our content, either via RSS, or via e-mail (for those who are still grappling with the whole “feed” thing).
Speaking of which, we will soon be publishing a super guide to RSS feeds – just as soon as we fix a bug in our template, insha’Allah.
That’s all the news I have for now… if you have any photos or stories from the Expo, please get in touch – we’d love to share them!
Wa’salam
iMuslim