Visual Dhikr™
returning to remembrance



Funky fare for Muslim fashionistas

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Mention the words Islamic and fashion and most people think of big black burqas or shapeless chadors.

But a fashion show of Islamic clothing in Indonesia on Tuesday shattered the stereotype, as dozens of models sashayed down the catwalk in outfits that complied with Muslim tradition but also oozed funk and flounce.

"Muslim fashion should not be identified with long black scary attire, but Muslim women can appear in nice, trendy, up-to-date fashion," said Musa Widyatmojo, supervisor of the Indonesian fashion designers' association.

"Indonesia is a trendsetter for Muslim fashion followed by Malaysia."

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country where most people follow a moderate form of Sunni Islam. Some women wear headscarves, but often with the trendy Western-style clothing favoured by most women.

In Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam which practices an austere version of the faith, women must wear the abaya, a black robe that covers them from head to toe.

Many Muslim women around the world have adopted the abaya as the proper Islamic attire, and in some cases, such as Afghanistan, modified it to cover the face as well.

MODESTY AND STYLE

On the Jakarta catwalk, the outfits were long and loose and the models wore headscarves, but they were anything but dull.

Models paraded a host of Indonesian batik outfits, ranging from beaded silk blouses with long flowing chiffon skirts and long-sleeved flowery tunics embellished with feathers to embroidered silk traditional dresses and silk trousers.

Beads, lace and bright colours abounded.

"I want Muslim women to wear Muslim fashion every day. It does not have to be Lebaran or any special occasions to wear Muslim fashion," said Jeny Tjahyawati, one of the eight designers who participated in the show, referring to the Muslim feast that marks the end of the fasting month.

"There are more and more women wearing Muslim fashion to parties. It can provide comfort since it is loose and it can also protect women from perverted men if they walk alone at night.

Some designers and models said modest Muslim clothing was appropriate to prevent crimes against women such as rape, touting an argument often used by clerics to convince women to cover up.

"To cover our head with a veil is a must. The veil must cover the forbidden parts. Women are priceless things, the more priceless she is, the more protection is given," said Samira Mochammad Bafagih, a 25-year-old fashion journalist.

"Men are not likely to seduce women in veils. Thus I feel more comfortable if I walk alone at night. I agree that women without veils are more likely to be seduced.

source


Thursday, November 30, 2006 |
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Two Handed Calligraphy


This is pretty amazing, calligraphy done simultaneously with both hands, and the ink dries very fast!

Monday, November 27, 2006 |
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Soraya - Art of the Pen


'Fann al-Qalam'

A cool new event:

Islamic calligraphy two-day weekend workshop for adults
if your lucky enough to be in Bradford - sign up now!!

Who is Soraya Syed?

If you don't know yet, then you better know now!

Soraya Syed was born and raised in London. Of mixed Pakistani-French origin, Soraya has been living for the last 3 years in Istanbul completing her apprenticeship in Islamic calligraphy. Having now attained the icazetname (Islamic Calligraphy Diploma), she plans to return to the UK later this year. She attended the Arts Foundation at Central St. Martin’s, London. She read Arabic and History of Art & Archaeology at The School of Oriental and African Studies, and in 2001 graduated from the Masters programme in Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts at The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, London. Her written and visual work has been published and exhibited in the UK and abroad.

visit her

simply mashaAllah!

Monday, November 13, 2006 |
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VDO by Visual Dhikr


Just made this new video with Visual Dhikr work - enjoy (more to come!)

Friday, November 10, 2006 |
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Taha Al-Hiti

Taha Al-Hiti is an architect by profession. From a very early age however he was enchanted with writing, in particular the way Arabic letters, words and lines joined to form calligraphy. Touched by the teachings of master calligrapher Abbas Shakir Joody al-Baghdadi, he soon learned to distinguish between the different styles e.g. Turkish, Baghdadi and Egyptian and even learnt to 'guess the calligrapher' who was behind an exquisite pieces of calligraphy! "It was from calligraphy, I fell in love with Architecture; Calligraphy in its larger scale is linked to Architecture, both being essentially based on proportion and measure."

Artworks by Taha al-Hiti are presently on show as part of ayagallery's current exhibition Words...Fragmented...Unbroken.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006 |
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words...fragmented...unbroken


Featuring 'word' based art drawn from ayagallery's In-House collection as well as newly made artworks by the following artists:

halla ayla . hamza bounoua . taha al-hiti . maysaloun faraj . karim farhan . said farhan . rashad selim and nadya mousawi.

The exhibition is in follow-up to the British Museum’s recent groundbreaking Word into Art exhibition. The exhibition continues until 31 Dec 2006 - ayagallery.co.uk

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