Sharjah Museums Department celebrates Arabic Language Day

WAM Sharjah, 21st Feb. 2010 (WAM): Sharjah Museums Department (SMD) celebrated the Arabic Language Day, to coincide with the International Mother Language Day marked by UNESCO on Feb. 21 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The initiative is part of SMD's commitment to highlight the importance of the Arabic language in the community, and to maintain national heritage, history and identity.
In celebration of the Arabic Language Day, Sharjah Calligraphy Museum hosted artist Khalifa Al Sheimi who gave a lecture on the types of calligraphy and tools used. The museum also organized an exhibition called "Calligraphy as an art" where tools used in calligraphy were on display. Al Eslah School Museum also displayed some of the writing tools used in the past in the United Arab Emirates.
"Celebrating the Arabic Language Day confirms our commitment to respect and further promote our mother tongue, which is a symbol of national identity and belonging. The Arabic language with its distinguished linguistics holds the strength to promote nation-building and strengthening cultural ties," said Manal Ataya, Director General, SMD. "Arabic is also the language of the Holy Qu'ran, the basis of our unity, and the mirror of our present and future," she added.
"Calligraphy is part of the Arabic language. If language is the link between civilizations, calligraphy documented it and passed it down over the generations. It also paved the way for fair competition among artists to excel in their work as can be witnessed at the Sharjah Calligraphy Museum," said Buthaina Al Rasasi, Curator, Sharjah Calligraphy Museum.
Al Eslah School Museum was established in 1935 as the first formal educational institute to be opened in Sharjah. The mission of the Al Eslah School Museum is to enable the generations of the past and of the present to meet and to maintain Emirati customs and traditions regarding the Arabic language, religion and Islamic education.
The Sharjah Calligraphy Museum, the only museum in the Arab world devoted entirely to calligraphy, aims to instill the art of calligraphy in the people and visitors of Sharjah and to set new standards both locally and internationally.
Created by local artists and well-known international calligraphers, significant works of art from the Arab world demonstrate the complexity of this vibrant art form and its historical and Islamic foundations. Arabic calligraphy seen on canvas, wood, paper and ceramics will inspire visitors with its positive and living energy.
The Sharjah Museums Department, established in 2006 by His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, aims to promote the emirate's rich legacy of arts, heritage and culture

An isle of artists

Andres Pakarati, an artist from the Easter Island, poses for a portrait with his sculpture. Ana Bianca Marin for the National

Easter Island is known for two things: the social and environmental devastation that followed over -exploitation of its resources in the late 19th century and its 887 monumental statues, called moay, the construction and transportation of which were mysteries for centuries.

Today, both legacies remain inextricably linked to the culture of the island. In an exhibition that reaches its finale today at Zayed University Silicon Oasis in Dubai, two artists from the island are showcasing work they say speaks to the heart of the isolated Polynesian Island.

Christian Tuki has painted for 33 years. His work uses themes of nature and aims to give a sense that the people of Rapa Nui, as the island is referred in its official language, possess a far deeper history than that which can be gleaned from the statues alone. Using earth tones and often depicting people and animals as they appear in reality, Tuki reveals an ongoing connection with nature that is part of a great nationalistic pride.

“I want to show that [we are people] who love simple things; music, nature, [we are] respectful of it and its laws. We are one of the wonders of the world.”

Andres Pakarati wears many hats: artist, tattooist, traditional Polynesian carver. Born into a traditional Rapa Nui artist family, he learnt the art of carving from family, a skill that has been passed down for generations.

“When we start learning to make these small sculptures, we do so because we can sell them to the tourists,” he explains. “It’s for work. It takes years to learn how to make bigger ones.”
Pakarati explains that his family has been making the island’s traditional sculptures for more than 1,500 years. Upon mastering the art, he says that he soon realised this alone would not be enough for him, at which point he began to learn about other forms of expression.

“I’d travel for three months a year and had seen the sculptures of other places. It [gave] me a better understanding of what I do,” he says. “In my own culture, art is the most important thing. At home everyone is an artist, and it’s important because the artists are the ones who keep us in touch with our roots. We have a specific style, an aesthetic that’s our own.”

Over the course of the current Easter Island exhibition, Pakarati has worked on two traditional statues called paenga, both of which will reach a height of three metres. He’s working on them at a desert site outside Dubai. When complete, one statue will sit at the university, the other at the Chilean embassy here.

Almost 1,000 of these statues sit on Easter Island today. It is estimated they were carved between the years 1250 and 1500. The tallest reach about 11 metres in height and in some cases the stone they are made out of weighs hundreds of tonnes. This and the fact that the statues’ raw materials would have to have been moved from one area of the island to another has shrouded them in mystery.

Local legends explain that the movement of the statues resulted from their being commanded by higher powers to walk to their ultimate locations. Barring that theory, it is supposed that the statues were moved via a massive human effort, involving ropes and a trolley system made of wood. This hypothesis is made primarily because the halt of the statues’ production coincided with the disappearance of the island’s last tree, which, according to scientists’ pollen tests, occurred around 1650.

The island has undergone waves of immense change and, as Pakarati explains, it continues to.

Much of the deforestation that mars the island’s past is the work of its original inhabitants, making what the artist calls centuries of bad decisions with regards to resource management. But the arrival of Europeans also brought new animal species, among them rats. These non-native rats made their nests in the trees, and in an effort to eliminate them, many of the island’s trees were destroyed.

Though reforestation has taken place, Pakarati explains that the population of 4,000 people is bombarded almost year round with tourists, and this presents its own set of challenges.

“The mix of indigenous culture and modern cultures doesn’t always work. We have so many more TVs, cars, computers, there are fast food places everywhere,” he explains. “It’s changed this famous place quite a lot. It’s affected our lifestyles.”

Tuki shares the same sentiments, that the island people are struggling but determined to maintain their traditions while opening up to the modernities that are necessary for any tourist destination.

“I want to tell everyone that we like being so far away, but we still need to grow and learn.”

Abu Dhabi all set for sculpture event

The six-week event till April 7 will also see a renowned artist from the UAE taking part in the event at the Armed Forces Officers Club.

• Salah Khedr, Director of Operations, Armed Forces Officers Club, Abeer Al Mutawa, Community Services Advisor of Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, Dr Sulaiman Al Jasem, and Salwa Zeidan at the press conference in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi: Renowned international and regional sculptors will participate in the Abu Dhabi International Sculpture Symposium (Adiss) starting here on Thursday.
The six-week event till April 7 will also see a renowned artist from the UAE taking part in the event at the Armed Forces Officers Club.
Seventeen international and regional artists will participate in the event, to be held under the patronage of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Students of Zayed University and members of the public will have the opportunity to interact with the sculptors through a series of workshops and lectures during the symposium.
"Under the guidance of Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and President of Zayed University, the Abu Dhabi International Sculpture Symposium is truly an exceptional event that marks an important historic milestone and is destined to transform the art and cultural sector in the UAE," said Dr Sulaiman Al Jasem, Vice-President of Zayed University.
Adiss, whose theme is "Bridging Societies through the Language of Art", is organised by Zayed University in collaboration with Salwa Zeidan Gallery, while its strategic partners are the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City and the Armed Forces Officers Club.
"The response to the announcement of this symposium from artists around the world was overwhelming, resulting in over 400 applications and each artist was carefully selected to give the symposium a multicultural context. The artistic concept of the submitted works ranged from abstract ideas to semi-realistic designs, mainly aimed at complementing the beautiful city of Abu Dhabi, its history, and its culture," said Salwa Zeidan, Symposium Director of Adiss and the Director of the Salwa Zeidan Gallery.
Land within the grounds of the Armed Forces Officers Club will be made available for the sculptors to create their individual pieces using various materials, including steel, marble and fibreglass.
"This initiative is in line with Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed's vision of establishing Abu Dhabi as the cultural centre of the Middle East region by 2030 ..." said Abeer Al Mutawa, Community Services Advisor of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City.