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quinta-feira, 11 de junho de 2015

Brazilian professor researches Islamic art at the Louvre

Jamil Iskandar, a professor of Medieval Arab Philosophy, was invited to spend three months studying the French museum’s collection, whose highlights include manuscripts and calligraphy techniques.

São Paulo – Paris’ Louvre Museum boasts one of the world’s most comprehensive and relevant Islamic art collections. An entire dedicated wing was inaugurated in 2012. The institution welcomes professors and researchers from around the world looking to access the collection and learn more about it. In late 2014, professor Jamil Ibrahim Iskandar, a 66-year-old Lebanese man who’s lived in Brazil since he was 10, had the chance to gain in-depth knowledge of the collection.


Lionel Bonaventure/AFP

Professor was invited by the Louvre by the institution

Iskandar is a professor of Medieval Arab Philosophy at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) since 2009, and last year he was invited by the director of the Louvre’s Department of Islamic Art to further his studies at the institution in France.

During the three months in which he had full access to the Louvre’s collection, Iskandar researched and perused rare manuscripts, ceramic items, rugs, art pieces in wood and metal, and calligraphy. “I had the chance to see the influence of religion in art production and philosophy through calligraphy, which is the art of making godly words beautiful,” says Iskandar. Islamism does not worship images of saints or prophets. As a consequence, calligraphy, which conveys the teachings of the Koran and the values espoused by Islam, became a form of Arab artistic expression.

“They would write the words of Islam in very different ways and things developed form there. Other artistic expressions include flower drawings, arabesques and the use of color, for instance. They wanted the instruments of religion to be portrayed in a flamboyant way, because of the flamboyancy of the creator himself,” says the professor.


Personal archive

Iskandar: Arab philosophy is the subject of his research

Iskandar mentions, for example, a 10th century edition of the Koran whose pages’ edges were adorned with floral designs before the text was added. This desire to render words – and thus the representation of God – beautiful spawned schools and art techniques.

This evolution and representation of Islamic art, says the professor, is the feature that sets the Louvre’s collection apart from the rest. “It (the collection) stands out for the quantity and variety of artworks and time periods, and also for how it is organized. It comprises tiles, wood items, carpets, metal items. In the exhibition area, they showcase the expansion of the Islamic empire from the 6th century through to the latest conquests, which helps visitors grasp the historical context and situate the objects on display,” he says. According to the researcher, there are 3,000 objects on show and another 2,000 stored at the museum.

A gap in history

The Arab philosophy is the focus of Iskandar’s studies since he was 15 years old. When he reached high school, he started to miss the presence of Arab history and thought in the history classes. “I noticed that there was a gap, that history would ‘skip’ the Arabs. I started to study on my own. I never strayed from the Arab philosophy in my master’s degree, doctorate, or even in post-graduate studies”, he says.

Since 2009, Iskandar teaches at Unifest. Among his students, there are doctorate, master’s and approximately 70 undergraduate students that chose Arab philosophy among their optional classes. 

With the classes at Unifesp, Iskandar plans to deepen his studies and, if possible, resume his research at the Louvre. He has a special interest in translation and found manuscripts that are related to this area of research: Arab philosophy.

Among all the objects he research and observed between October 2014 and January 2015, the period he lived in Paris, Iskandar singles out two of them: a manuscript from the historian and theologian Ibn khaldun (who lived between 1332 and 1406) and pages from the first editions of the Koran, with their origin dating back to the eighth century. Before putting his plan in motion, he plans to finish the translation, from the Arabic to Portuguese, of a work by Avicenna: “The Physics of the Healing”, a project that should take him two years to translate its 600 pages.


fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www2.anba.com.br/noticia/21868017/education/brazilian-professor-researches-islamic-art-at-the-louvre/
Marcos Carrieri*
marcos.carrieri@anba.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum and Sérgio Kakitani

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Turkish: Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi) is located on the south side of Ankara Castle in the Atpazarı area in Ankara, Turkey.

It consists of the old Ottoman Mahmut Paşa bazaar storage building, and the Kurşunlu Han. Because of Atatürk's desire to establish a Hittite museum, the buildings were bought upon the suggestion of Hamit Zübeyir Koşay, who was then Culture Minister, to the National Education Minister, Saffet Arıkan. After the remodelling and repairs were completed (1938–1968), the building was opened to the public as the Ankara Archaeological Museum.

Open square in front of the museum entrance

Today, Kurşunlu Han, used as an administrative building, houses the work rooms, library, conference hall, laboratory and workshop. The old bazaar building houses the exhibits. Within this Ottoman building, the museum has a number of exhibits of Anatolian archeology. They start with the Paleolithic era, and continue chronologically through the Neolithic, Early Bronze, Assyrian trading colonies, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartian, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuq and Ottoman periods. There is also an extensive collection of artifacts from the excavations at Karain, Çatalhöyük, Hacılar, Canhasan, Beyce Sultan, Alacahöyük, Kültepe, Acemhöyük, Boğazköy (Gordion), Pazarlı, Altıntepe, Adilcevaz and Patnos as well as examples of several periods.

The exhibits of gold, silver, glass, marble and bronze works date back as far as the second half of the first millennium BC. The coin collections, with examples ranging from the first minted money to modern times, represent the museum's rare cultural treasures.

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations reaching the present time with its historical buildings and its deeply rooted history was elected as the first "European Museum of the Year" in Switzerland on April 19, 1997.

The first museum in Ankara was established by Mübarek Galip Bey, Directorate of Culture, in 1921, in the section of the Castle of Ankara called Akkale. In addition to this museum, artifacts from the Augustus Temple and the Byzantine Baths were also collected. Upon recommendation of Atatürk and from the view of establishing an "Eti Museum" in the center, the Hittite artifacts from the region were sent to Ankara and therefore a larger museum was needed.

The Director of Culture at that time, Hamit Zübeyir Koşay and Saffet Arıkan, Minister of Education recommended that the Mahmut Paşa Bazaar and the Inn be repaired and converted into a museum. This recommendation was accepted and restoration continued from 1938 to 1968. Upon the completion of repairs of the bazaar, where the domed structure is, in 1940, a committee chaired by German Archaeologist H. G. Guterbock arranged the museum.

In 1943, while the repairs of the building were still in progress, the middle section was opened for visitors. Repair projects of this part were carried out by Architect Macit Kural and repair work upon tender was performed by Architect Zühtü Bey. In 1948 the museum administration left Akkale as a storage house, and the museum was in four rooms of Kurşunlu Han the repairs of which were completed. Restoration and exhibition projects of the part around the domed structure were prepared and applied by Architect İhsan Kıygı. Five shops were left in their original form, and the walls between the shops were destroyed and thus a large location was provided for exhibition. The museum building reached its present structure in 1968. Kurşunlu Han, which has been used as an administration building, has research rooms, a library, a conference hall, a laboratory and workshops, and the Mahmut Pasha Vaulted Bazaar has been used as the exhibition hall.

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A historical view of Kurşunlu Han, now the main museum building.

The Anatolian Civilizations Museum is in two Ottoman buildings located near Ankara Castle, in the historical Atpazarı district of Ankara. One of the buildings is Mahmut Paşa Bedesteni and the other is Kurşunlu Han (inn, caravanserai).

The Mahmut Paşa Bedesteni was built by Mahmut Pasha, one of the ministers (viziers) of Mehmed II the Conqueror during 1464-1471. The building does not have any inscriptions. In some sources, it is recorded that pure Angora garments were distributed here. The design of the building is of the classical type. There are 10 domes covering a rectangle designed to enclose the location, and there are 102 shops facing each other.

According to historical records and registry books, the Kurşunlu Han was built as a foundation (vakıf) to finance Mehmet Pasha's (Mehmet the Conqueror's vizier) alms giving in Üsküdar, Istanbul. It does not have any inscriptions either. During the repairs of 1946, coins of the Murat II period were discovered. The findings indicate that the Han existed in the fifteenth century. The Han has the typical design of Ottoman Period hans. There is a courtyard and an arcade in the middle and they are surrounded by two-storey rooms. There are 28 rooms on the ground floor, 30 rooms on the first floor. The rooms have furnaces. There is a barn with an "L" type on the ground floor on west and south directions of the rooms. On the north side of the han there are 11 shops and 9 shops on east side and 4 shops facing each other within the garden. The inn (han) was built by Mehmet Pasha and in 1467 Mehmet Pasha was promoted to Prime Minister (Grand Vizier). Upon orders by Mahmut Pasha the vaulted bazaar was built. He kept his position until 1470. He had his mosque, soup kitchen and madrasa in Üsküdar, and his body is buried there.

These two buildings constituting the museum today were abandoned after the fire in 1881.

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Palaeolithic Age (....8000 BC): The Palaeolithic Age is represented in the museum by the finds uncovered in the Antalya Karain Cave. People of the Palaeolithic Age were hunter-gatherers who used stone and bone tools. The stone tools are displayed under three time categories: Lower Paleolithic Age, Middle Paleolithic Age and Upper and Late Upper Paleolithic Age.

Neolithic Age (8000-5500 BC) : During this age, the first villages appeared and agriculture began. The artifacts from Çatalhöyük and Hacılar, which are two of the most important sites of the Neolithic Age, are exhibited in this section. The collection includes Mother Goddess sculptures, wall paintings, clay figurines, stamps, earthenware containers, and agricultural tools made from bones. The most impressive parts of this exhibit are a hunting scene on plaster from the 7th millennium BC, a reproduction of a Çatalhöyük room with wall-mounted bull heads, a Mother Goddess Kybele (later Cybele) sculpture, obsidian tools, wall paintings of Mount Hasan erupting, and wall paintings of a leopard.

Chalcolithic Age (Copper-Stone) (5500-3000 BC): In addition to stone tools, copper was processed and used in everyday life during this age. The artifacts recovered in Hacılar, Canhasan, Tilkitepe, Alacahöyük and Alişar Hüyük are exhibited in the museum. The collection includes a large collection of stone and metal tools, goddess figurines, seals, and decorative jewelry.

Bronze figurine of a naked woman breast-feeding a baby, from a grave in Horoztepe.

Early Bronze Age (3000-1950 BC): The people of Anatolia amalgamated copper and tin and invented bronze at the beginning of the 3000 BC. They also processed the known metals with casting and hammering techniques. In addition to valuable metal artifacts buried as grave goods in royal tombs in Alacahöyük, artifacts from Hasanoğlan, Mahmatlar, Eskiyapar, Horoztepe, Karaoğlan, Merzifon, Etiyokuşu, Ahlatlıbel, Karayavşan, Bolu, Beycesultan Semahöyük, Karaz-Tilkitepe are represented in the Old Bronze Age section of the museum. The Hatti tribes dominate the Bronze Age display. The collection includes solar discs, deer-shaped statuettes, thinner version of female figurines and gold jewelry. There is also a reconstruction of a burial ceremony which emphasizes the religious practices of this ancient people.

Assyrian Trade Colonies (1950-1750 BC): In this period, writing emerged in Anatolia for the first time. Since Akkadian times, Mesopotamians were aware of Anatolian resources and riches. As a result, they engaged in broad trade relations, spearheaded by Assyrians and with them they brought in their languages and cylinder and stamp seals which later was developed into a writing system. Over 20,000 clay tablets, inscribed in Assyrian cuneiform, shed light to this period. Most of the written documents are concerned with trade, economy, and law. Tin, textiles, and clothes were brought by the Assyrian donkey caravans for the local people and these goods were exchanged for silver and gold. Kültepe was the center of the trade network. As a result we witness an explosion in the diversity of the finds. Cuneiform tablets, drinking vessels in the shape of sacred animals like bull, lion, eagle, boar, rabbit, which were used in religious ceremonies, cult objects, cylinder and stamp seals and their impressions, all kinds of weapons and metal cups of artistic value made of clay, stone, gold, silver, lead, copper, bronze, precious stones and tiles from the Assyrian trade colonies were discovered at Kültepe, Acemhöyük, Alişar and Boğazköy. Another interesting class of finds related to this 200-year period is rhytons of Kultepe, a special group of ceramic art which constitutes the basis of the Hittite culture.

Bronze tablet from Çorum-Boğazköy dating from 1235 BC

Hittite Period (1750-1200 BC): The ancient Hittites' first political union was established near the crescent of the Kızılırmak River in Anatolia around 2000 BC. The important sites are Boğazköy (Hattusa), İnandık, Eskiyapar, Alacahöyük, Alişar, Ferzant. The highlight of the Great Hittite Empire section is the relief of the God of War taken from the King's Gate at Boğazköy (Hattusa). Embossed bull figure containers, various fruit bowls and vases with animal shapes, infamous İnandık vase that depicts a wedding ceremony, tablets of government archives as well as the seals of the kings, bronze statues of fertility gods, bulls, and deer are other interesting displays. The exhibit also includes pictures from Boğazköy, reconstruction of a religious ceremony, reconstruction of King's Gate at Boğazköy and pictures from the excavation at Boğazköy. One of the most important artifacts is the tablet in Akkadian scripts (1275-1220 BC) - a correspondence from Egyptian Queen Nefertari (wife of Ramses II) to Hittite Queen Puduhepa (wife of Hattusili III) written after Kadesh Peace Treaty - the first peace treaty in the world history, dated 1275-1220 BC found at Boğazköy.

Phrygian Period (1200-700 BC) : The Phrygians, the so-called Sea People, came to Anatolia from the Balkans in 1200 BC. They acquired control over Central Anatolia and made Gordion their capital city. The finds from the royal tumulus at Gordion form the majority of this section. The tumulus measured 300 m (984 ft.) in diameter and 50 m (164 ft.) in height. The reproduction of the tomb of King Midas, found in the ancient tumulus, is also displayed here. Carved and inlaid wooden furniture, hinged dress pins, ritual vessels, depictions of animals such as lions, rams and eagles, the reconstruction of a burial ceremony and the statue of the Mother Goddess Kybele (to whom the Phrygians worshipped as their main deity) are represented in this section.

Late Hittite Period (1200-700 BC) : After the fall of the Hittite Empire as a result of the invasion of the Phrygians, some of the Hittites moved to south and south-east Anatolia and established new states. The most important sites of this period are Malatya–Arslantepe, Karkamış (Carchemish) and Sakçagözü. The 10-domed old bazaar forming the center hall of the museum houses reliefs and statues from Neo-Hittite period. The theme of war is emphasized in the reliefs with soldiers and chariots. Also, rock-cut reliefs portraying the Hittite rulers, the gods of the Hittite pantheon, and statues of powerful animals such as lions and bulls are represented.

Urartian Period (1200-600 BC) : The Urartuans lived in East Anatolia during the same period as the Phrygians. The most important Urartian sites are Altıntepe, Adilcevaz, Kayalıdere, Patnos, Van, Haykaberd. Urartians made new advances in architecture and mining.

Lydian Period (1200-546 BC) : The origin of Lydian art comes from the Bronze Age in which there were relations, friendly or hostile, between their ancestors and the Hittites. Lydians made spectacular progress in the Iron Age, especially from Gyges period to Croesus (685 to 547 BC). The exhibited artifacts mostly date from the 6th century BC.

Classical Period and Ankara through the ages: The collection includes Greek, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Period artifacts such as statues, jewelry and decorative vessels made of gold, silver, glass, marble, and bronze as well as coins with examples ranging from the first minted money to modern times. In addition, there is a section displaying the finds uncovered recently from Ankara's surroundings.

fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti
http://www.anadolumedeniyetlerimuzesi.gov.tr/

Manaus and Belém, Brazil, to enter programming world of the great spectacles of Russia -- Viacheslav Gordeev -- Russian State Ballet apresenta o grandioso espetáculo O Lago dos Cisnes


em Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil
Quinta, 11 de junho às 21:00 em UTC-04

-0-

em Belém, Pará, Brasil
Dia 13/06/14 - 22h Local: HANGAR


Manaus e Belém entram para a programação 

mundial dos grandes espetáculos da Rússia


Pela primeira vez a América Latina irá receber o espetáculo O Lago dos Cisnes no seu formato completo. Sob direção do coreógrafo e diretor Viacheslav Gordeev, a grande estrela do Bolshoi de Moscou, estarão 40 talentos russos, que percorrerão dezenas de cidades brasileiras e países vizinhos, como Uruguai, Paraguai, Argentina e Suriname. O Russian State Ballet incluirá Belém do Pará na sua programação anual com garantia de grandes montagens e clássicos da cultura russa. Dando abertura a esta programação, no próximo dia 13 de junho, às 22 horas, esta grande montagem que é o Lago dos Cisnes em formato completo, com palco em dimensões nunca antes vistas fora da Rússia, iluminação especial e cenografia em 3D.




O espetáculo Lago dos Cisnes virá com a estrela do Kirov-Mariinsky, a mais nova revelação da Rússia, Anton Korsakov, e do teatro Kremlin, Valeria Vasilieva, além, é claro, de grande elenco dos grandes teatros da Rússia. Trata-se da história de Odette, uma princesa transformada em cisne pela maldição de um malvado feiticeiro. “Duas horas de muita emoção, magia e encanto pelo figurino e cenografia, vindos exclusivamente de Moscou para esta grande turnê”, conta o diretor cultural da Rússia na América Latina, Augusto Stevanovich. 

“Lago dos Cisnes, o mais clássico de todos os balés, evidencia a própria essência do trabalho do bailarino: obstinação e busca obsessiva pela perfeição”, destaca Stevanovich. Solistas do Bolshoi, Kirov, Stanilslavisk, Kirov-Mariinsky e do teatro de Moscou compõem o elenco desta apresentação que exige técnica e esforço dos bailarinos. “Traremos um elenco novo, liderados pelo coreógrafo Viacheslav Gordeev, conhecido como o menino de ouro do Bolshoi de Moscou”, completa Stevanovich.





A iniciativa ousada tem por objetivo popularizar o balé, uma dança ainda muito elitista, em todo o Brasil. “Trata-se de um espetáculo tão grandioso, que nenhum teatro comportaria receber um grande público, com ingressos acessíveis a todas as classes sociais, oriundas de ações promocionais corporativas”. São cerca de três toneladas entre vestuário, equipamento, cenografia e iluminação, explica Stevanovich.

Estão no programa deste ano, além do Lago dos Cisnes, obras como Sherezade – inédito no País - e Don Quixote. Objetivo é percorrer todas as capitais brasileiras para depois seguir programação nos demais países latinos, encerrando a turnê no México.

FICHA TÉCNICA
Diretor artístico e diretor geral: Viatcheslav Gordeev
Direção Técnica: Victor Davidov
Produção: AS Entertainment e Creative Force Brasil
Produtor América Latina: Augusto Stevanovich
APOIO:
Ministério da Cultura da Rússia
Embaixada do Brasil em Moscou
Embaixada da Rússia no Brasil
Ministério do Exterior da Rússia
SERVIÇO:
Russian State Ballet apresenta O Lago dos Cisnes
Dia 13/06/14 - 22h
Local: HANGAR
Venda de localidades para o espetáculo nas Centrais de Ingresssos na Braz de Águiar e nos shoppings Pátio Belém, Castanheira, Boulevard ou pelo sitewww.bilheteriadigital.com/bis
Informações: 91 3239 7766

Cadeira Vip 600,00 inteira / 300,00 meia
Cadeira Central 400,00 inteira / 200,00 meia
Cadeira Lateral Par 300,00 inteira / 150,00 meia
Cadeira Lateral Impar 300,00 inteira / 150,00 meia
Cadeira Por Ordem de Chegada 200,00 inteira / 100,00 meia



fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.bisentretenimento.com.br/show/Ballet-Nacional-da-Russia-em-O-Lago-Dos-Cisnes 

colaboração: 

Luciana Nobre