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The Arabic script in this Hassan Massoudy piece means ‘the love’


Inspired by Quranic verses, Arab, Persian and Israeli artists from across the Middle East and North Africa are showcasing their work at the British Museum.


The British Museum is showcasing one of the largest collections of contemporary Middle Eastern art. Venetia Porter, curator of the Word Into Art exhibition, which began from May 18, 2006 to run until early September 2006, said it showcases the work of 84 artists inspired by the written word.


Rather than traditional Islamic calligraphy, Word Into Art focuses on new ways of using and interpreting the written word. The featured artists experiment with cutting up, re-arranging, abstracting and deconstructing the Arabic, and sometimes Persian and Latin script. “Ninety per cent of our public won’t really know what Arabic looks like ... this material is difficult. It’s unusual for most of our public. Very few people will have seen anything like this before,” said Porter.


As an introduction to the exhibition, the museum produced a visitor’s guide detailing the Arabic alphabet, explaining its sacred associations and translating many of the poems referenced in the works. The range of work is huge: canvases, paper, sculptures, photography and mixed media. Four sections explore different approaches to the central theme: Sacred Script, in which artists are inspired by Quranic verses, literature and art, featuring traditional poetry and writing, deconstructing the word, a look at the use of letters in abstract art, and history, politics and identity, featuring works that pertain to cultural and social issues. Along with a range of Arab, Persian and Israeli artists from across the Middle East and North Africa, Word Into Art also includes two celebrated artists from Asia.


The work of Haji Noor Deen Mi Guanjiang of China and Kouichi Fou’ad Honda of Japan, who both studied with prestigious Middle Eastern calligraphers, features innovative re-interpretations of Quranic texts. They were chosen for the exhibition because “the Arabic calligraphy story has actually a deep resonance and it doesn’t just end in the Middle East”, Porter says.


Following the Forgotten Empire exhibition of ancient Persian work, which ended in January, curators at the museum began focusing on “how you can use the collections, the history represented in these objects, to actually look at the region in a different kind of way”, says Porter.


Politics may yet interfere with art. There is uncertainty about what will happen to the work of two Israeli artists if, as hoped, the exhibition travels to Arab countries in the Middle East. But Porter remains optimistic. “I’d like to think this exhibition isn’t about politics in that way, and that art will rise to the top. I hope.”


(Picture courtesy of the artist/ British Museum)
(Al-Jazeera. Net)

A team of scientist divers from the US, UK, Canada, Austria, France and Saudi Arabia surveyed the Farasan Islands Marine Protected Area to conduct coral reef research.


An onboard study of Red Sea and Farasan Islands flora was launched by the US-based Khaled ibn Sultan Living Oceans Foundation recently, according to the National Commission For Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD).


The Foundation, locally supported by the NCWCD, carried out the three-week marine research project in cooperation with the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, UK-based Sector Skills Council for the Environmental and Land-Based Sector, the Coastal Research Unit of the University of Cambridge, The Trident Trust, the National Reef Institute and the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.


NCWCD Secretary-General, Dr. Abdul Aziz Abu Zinada said that the study represents the first in which the NCWCD has partnered with a US foundation to work in Saudi territory.


The team of scientist divers, led by Capt. Philip Renaud, executive director of the Washington-based Foundation includes US, UK, Canadian, Austrian, French and Saudi scientists. They will map and survey the Farasan Islands Marine Protected Area, off Jizan, on the Kingdom’s southern Red Sea coast.


“The team was on board “Golden Shadow” to conduct coral reef research with state-of-the-art technology,” Renaud said, adding that the research would focus on threats to coral health such as global climate change, eco-tourism, over-fishing, pollution and development.


Capt. Renaud explained that to date this is the most advanced coral reef environment research with the fastest turnaround and major international impact. “Our findings will guide future international policy on coral reef protection and Marine Protected Areas management.”


The Red Sea expedition will concentrate on coral reefs in and around the Farasan Islands Marine Protected Area off the southern coast of Saudi Arabia. The team will assess the impact of eco-tourism - including souvenir collecting and booming diving resorts. The Red Sea hosts more than 3,000 divers a day during peak diving season. The team will study pollution - particularly from oil spills and plastics associated with maritime transport, also from desalination plants, over-fishing, which alter the local ecosystems, climate change - the result of excessive carbon emissions which leads to coral bleaching and possible coral death.

Camel milk is pure nectar. After all, nature designed it to help baby camels grow up in some of the world’s roughest environments.


Herdswomen from Ethiopia and Somalia think nothing of riding a train for 12 hours to sell camel milk in Djibouti, where prices are high. Half way round the globe, people consider it a powerful tonic against many diseases. The Gulf Arabs believe it is an aphrodisiac.


From the Western Sahara to Mongolia, demand is booming for camel milk. But there is just enough to go round. State-of-the art camel rearing is rudimentary, and much of the 5.4 million tonnes of milk produced every year by the world population of some 20 million camels is guzzled by young camels themselves.


The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sees bright prospects for camel dairy products, which could not only provide more food to people in arid and semi-arid areas, but also give nomadic herders a rich source of income.


FAO is hoping financing will come forward from donors and investors to develop the sector not only at local level but help camel milk move into lucrative markets in the Middle East and the West. “The potential is massive,” says FAO’s Dairy and Meat expert Anthony Bennett. “Milk is money”.


To devotees, camel milk is pure nectar. While slightly saltier than cows’ milk, it is very good for you. After all, nature designed it to help baby camels grow up in some of the world’s roughest environments – deserts and steppes. That helps explain why it is three times as rich in Vitamin C as cow’s milk.


In Russia, Kazakhstan and India doctors often prescribe it to convalescing patients while in Africa it may be recommended for people living with AIDS.


Camel Dairy Milk Ltd of Nanyuki, Kenya is planning, in partnership with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), to carry out research into the role claimed for camel milk in reducing diabetes and coronary heart disease. Such features account for the milk’s appeal not only to young camels and their nomad owners but to an estimated 200 million potential customers in the Arab world – and millions more in Africa, Europe and the Americas.


(Source:Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations-FAO)