Turkish Islamic Art of Marbling

The word marbling is in Turkish EBRU (cloud, cloudy) or abru (Water face) (En Français. It is derived from the word ebre which belongs to one of the older Central Asian languages and it means the "moiré, veined fabric, paper etc..." used for covering some manuscripts and other holy books. Its origin might ultimately hark back to China, where a document from the T'ang dynasty (618-907) mentions a process of coloring paper on water with five hues. Through the Silk Road this art came first to Iran and picked up the name Ebru. Subsequently this art moved towards Anatolia. Specimens of marbled paper in the Turkish museum and private collections date back as far as the 15th century but unfortunately there is no evidence to show at what date the art of marbling paper first appeared in Anatolia. Around the end of 16th century tradesmen, diplomats and travelers coming to Anatolia brought this art to Europe and after the 1550s, booklovers in Europe prized Ebru which came to be known as "Turkish Paper Turkish marbled paper making". After then it was broadly used in Italy, Germany, France and England.

There is agreement amongst scholars that the so-called Turkish Papers has a colourful influence on the book arts of Europe. In the early examples from the 16th century in the Ottoman-Turkish era, Ebru appears in the battal (large) form, namely without any manipulation. Ebru technique consists of sprinkling colors containing a few drops of ox-gall on to the surface of the bath of water mixed with with kitre (gum tragacanth) in a trough. By carefully laying the paper over the bath, the floating picture on top of it is readily transferred to the paper thus, each Ebru is a unique print. To obtain beautiful Ebru results, one needs to have a light hand, refined taste and an open mind to the unexpected patterns forming on the water. Patience and a good knowledge of traditional culture are characteristic of Ebru masters. Since the art of marbling had a significant importance in Islamic art, it is essential to recall the basic principles of Islamic art in order to have a better and closer look at marbling and thereby reach a deeper understanding. Ottomans tried to express the beauty of the divine in all branches of art. We see them seeking to illustrate mystical beauties in architecture, music and ornamental art. During the 14th to 19th centuries many religious schools, especially Sufi sects, became a kind of "Art Workshop" educating students by a master to apprentice method. Due to the modesty encouraged by dervish precepts many works of art even had no signature on them.

500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art

Virgin Annunciate Maria der Verkündigung (1476)
Artist: Antonello da Messina

Mona Lisa(La Gioconda) (1503-05)

Artist: Leonardo da Vinci

Amalie von Schintling (1831)
Artist: Joseph Karl Stieler

Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary (1878)
Artist: Pierre Auguste Renoir

Woman with a Hat (1905)
Artist: Henri Matisse

Portrait of Françoise (1946)
Artist: Pablo Picasso

Head Bombarded with Grains of Wheat (1954)
Artist: Salvador Dali

This amazing video shows 90 art masterpieces from the second half of the 12th century until 1946.

This video features paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael, Sandro Botticelli, Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Giovanni Bellini, Pietro Perugino, Antonello da Messina, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Memling, Hans Holbein the Younger, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Pierre Gobert, Caspar Netscher, Pierre Mignard, Jean-Marc Nattier, Fyodor Rokotov, Peter Paul Rubens, El Greco, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Alexei Vasilievich Tyranov, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov, Antoine-Jean Gros, Joseph Karl Stieler, Orest Adamovich Kiprensky, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Edouard Manet, Henri Fantin-Latour, Alexei Vasilievich Tyranov, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Mary Cassatt, Alphonse Maria Mucha, John Everett Millais, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Gustav Klimt, Rene Magritte, Amedeo Modigliani, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and more.

http://www.maysstuff.com/womenid.htm

Why Art is important

"Looking at art can provide a much needed refuge for reflection, sympathy, quietude, inspiration, and even ecstasy in this increasingly chaotic world. Looking further can deepen knowledge of cultures and artistic practice, develop and hone observational skills, reveal insights into history that other documents can't, and encourage creative, analytical, and autonomous thinking. Art can be funny, and it can make you cry, too."

Anna Hammond
Deputy Director for Education, Programs, and Public Affairs, Yale

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Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen. ~Leonardo da Vinci

My Music Hero!! - by Azlan

Briefly on RATM

In this post, i will tell you a little information about my all-time favourite band, RATM. Formed in Los Angeles in the early '90s out of the wreckage of a number of local groups: vocalist Zack de la Rocha (the son of Chicano political artist Beto) emerged from the bands Headstance, Farside, and Inside Out; guitarist Tom Morello (the nephew of Jomo Kenyatta, the first Kenyan president) originated in Lock Up; and drummer Brad Wilk played with future Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. Rounded out by bassist Tim Bob (aka Tim C., born Tim Commerford), a childhood friend of de la Rocha's, they marked a new era in music industry with their bombastic, fiercely polemical music, which brewed sloganeering leftist rants against corporate America, cultural imperialism, and government oppression into a Molotov cocktail of punk, hip-hop, and thrash. They disbanded in 2000 nevertheless because de la Rocha desired to go solo and the other members went on with their new vocalist, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden in 2002. I particularly like both their music and lyrics and in spite of their wreckage, and went on to separate ways, they still are the best for me.

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The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. ~Aristotle

An essay on my love - by Azhari

Lomographer: Aishah

Camera: Colorsplash

I was brought into the theatre scene when I was at primary five by my class teacher whose unfortunately I forgot what her name was. She casted me to play a small role in a school play entitled Sakaratul maut. I played the role of a doctor back then and honestly the role was so small I think I had only less than five lines given , but every second that I was on the stage were such incredible an experience. When I was in secondary school in Sek Men Dato Penggawa Timur, I was summoned by my Bahasa Malaysia teacher, Cikgu Normala for my lack of discipline in the class. Along with me, were few of my class mates which happened to be my best friends. We were lectured and she proposed that we enroll ourselves to the theatre club because she thought that we were really bunch of noisy and out of control students and we ought to channel it to a batter cause. To my surprise, we agreed to join it mainly for the wise reason that we might be able to skip more classes and the fact that our theatre club was desperately looking for people to participate in the grand Pekan Teater Antara Sekolah-Sekolah Peringkat Johor Bahru that annually held in JOTIC JB (Johor Tourism Centre).

I was so ecstatic when for the first time under the guidance of my first true theatre guru, Cikgu Saini, our team won the competition. Since then we were really became serious and committed to the club and won several other theatre competitions including Pekan Teater Johor, Pekan Teater Berasaskan Teknologi Peringkat Johor and the most memorable win that I was always proud of is we got ourselves in the third place in Pekan Teater Kebangsaan Antara Sekolah Malaysia despite us being labelled the underdog. We even changed the name of our club to ANAK DATO’ and today ANAK DATO is still going strong in theatre scene in Johor.

After SPM I got myself enrolled in IIUM. I wasn’t sure whether I can still participate in theatre but to my delight, I found a great community of theater lovers in BEN and soon after that, I got my first chance to participate in a theatre production produced by my seniors. Despite being more active in technical team during high school, I was surprised when our seniors chose me to act in their play entitled the importance of being earnest as one of the lead actor.

Since then, I just can’t stop and with bunch of my great friends we soon became the young activists of theatre scene in UIA and since our first year up until now, we managed to produce several plays and various theatre based events inside and outside of UIA. We even established a legal production company named The Masquerade and performed in Istana Budaya, hence making my dream a reality. Having to live among a healthy group of theatre lovers and activists in UIA particularly among the BENL community, I am proud to say that I have spending my life in a full worthy kind of living…