Through Arts and Ideas

By Michael J. Fressola, "A view of the Muslim world, through the arts" - Staten Island Advance - Staten Island, NY, USA
Sunday, May 31, 2009

Series of performances, concerts, films and talks aims to teach New Yorkers about Muslim culture

One of the bitterest post-Sept. l1 recriminations was ignorance.
At the time, Americans knew so little about Islam -- conservative or otherwise -- that security details in some airports began detaining Sikhs, a waste of time and manpower.

Sikhs are bearded and wear turbans. They carry daggers as a matter of religious custom and look Middle Eastern, but they aren't Muslims.

Even today, how many Americans can describe the differences that divide Sunni and Shia? How many can name the world's largest Islamic nation?

The upcoming citywide 10-day series of performances, concerts, films and talks, "Muslim Voices: Arts and Ideas," won't fix the knowledge gap, but it may help.

A cooperative project undertaken by Asia Society, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and New York University's Center for Dialogues, the festival (June 5-14) will present some performers -- like Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour -- who enjoy international renown.
Others will be unfamiliar, even to New York audiences.

Some Highlights
N'Dour will launch the festival Friday on the Opera House stage at BAM with his band The Super Etoile.

The following night, BAM will premiere "I Bring What I Love," a film about N'Dour and the making of his hit album "Egypt."

BAM's Harvey Theater will showcase Sufi music, with whirling dervishes, on Saturday. The Sufi tradition, drawn from the mystical branches of Islam, seeks transcendence and contact with the divine through music.

From Kuwait, "Richard III: An Arab Tragedy" transfers the Shakespearean masterpiece to an oil rich Middle Eastern kingdom. It's June 9-12 at BAM.

At Asia Society: Actor Naseeruddin Shah will lead "Dastangoi: The Adventures of Amir Hamza," a traditional dramatized story in Urdu with English subtitles, on June 7 and 8. Also, Indonesia's Sardono Dance Theater in Diponegoro on June 13 and 14.

At the Brooklyn Marriott Hotel, Friday to Sunday, NYU will present the series' most pointed investigation, "Bridging the Divide between the United States and the Muslim World Through Arts and Ideas."

Among the participants: Saudi Arabian architect Sami Angawi; Dubai Pyramedia CEO Nashwa Alruwaini; Moroccan novelist Tahar ben Jelloun; celebrated writer Kenzie Mourad ("Regards From the Dead Princess"); Canadian film and TV director Zarqa Nawaz ("Little Mosque on the Prairie"), and Oxford scholar Farhan Nizami.

Ten films will be shown (from Indonesia, Tunisia, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Palestine, etc.), mostly at BAM, where a temporary souk -- or open-air marketplace -- will go up Saturday, from noon to 10 p.m., and Sunday, from noon to 8.

For a complete list of events, including concerts at Asia Society, 25 Park Ave., Manhattan, and cafe performances at BAM, 70 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, visit http://www.muslimvoicesfestival.org/.

Picture: Shakespeare's story transfers to the Middle East in "Richard III: An Arab Tragedy," directed by Kuwait's Sulayman Al-Bassam. Photo courtesy of Ellie Kurtz.