The Sacred Palette

Episode 11: Riyaaz Qawwali

Riyaaz Qawwali performs the gripping music style called qawwali, or Sufi music. The qawwali singers represent the diversity and plurality of South Asia. The ensemble’s musicians, who are settled in the United States, hail from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and represent multiple religious and spiritual backgrounds. Trained in eastern and western classical music, the members have been professionally performing qawwali for the past 15 years. With conservative growth and heightened attention to quality, Riyaaz Qawwali has performed across the continental U.S., in Panama, and debuted in Europe in 2017.  Riyaaz Qawwali’s mission is to expose qawwali to new audiences, while still paying homage to traditional qawwali that has been in existence for 700+ years. The ensemble wants to expand the reach of the genre to new stages and people of other faiths and traditions. The founding members of Riyaaz Qawwali chose the qawwali genre of music because it houses unique musical elements in its repertoire that are not found in any other form of South Asian music. Riyaaz Qawwali combines this with poetry from famous South Asian poets of multiple linguistic and religious backgrounds to create a universal message of oneness (Riyaaz Qawwali incorporates works from poetic giants like Mirza Ghalib, Amir Khusrow, Bulleh Shah, Mir Taqi Mir, Sant Kabir, and Guru Nanak, and in doing so, hopes to expose these poets’ works to new audiences and younger generations). Riyaaz Qawwali also uses numerous languages to represent the linguistic and cultural diversity that exists in South Asia. These languages include Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Gujarati, and Hindi.

Episode 10: Arabic Calligraphy with Syed Fakhri

Syed Fakhri is a Houston based Arabic Calligraphy artist who is originally from India, and was raised in Saudi Arabia. Learning Arabic while growing up, he became fascinated with the Arabic script. In school, he was taught the Naskh and Ruq’a scripts. Syed developed Arabic calligraphy as a hobby and went on to learn and practice the Thuluth and Muhaqqaq scripts on his own. Currently, in addition to these scripts, he also practices his own version of a contemporary, modern-style script. He holds a deep fascination in the profound meaning, richness and rhythm of Quranic verses. Syed incorporates his love for Islam & calligraphy into representing verses and supplications using Arabic calligraphy scripts in a variety of forms to further enhance the message each contains. This is a hobby that he applies towards various art forms/mediums, such as parchment, canvas, murals, and callligraffiti. Instagram: @sf_khatt_islami

Episode 9: Paul Barchilon's Ceramics

Ceramic artist Paul Barchilon creates intricate designs that take us on a voyage of discovery within the circle, delineating patterns that repeat through different symmetries. Mr. Barchilon has traveled the world, researching pattern and line designs in India, Turkey, Spain, Peru, and China. His father was born in Morocco and Barchilon lived both there and in France as a child. From the beginning, he was fascinated by the complex patterns and the magnificent architecture of the Moorish era. In his twenties, the artist began an in-depth exploration of Islamic pattern. He toured artisans' studios in Morocco visiting Safi, Fez, and Marrakech. He studied traditional ceramics, tiles and brass etchings. The florid brass platters of Morocco, with their intricate detail and complicated interlacings, were a direct influence on Barchilon's own platters. Further north, in Spain, he visited the Alcazar in Sevilla and the Alhambra in Granada. He took extensive rubbings of both classical tile patterns and Zalij, the traditional art of geometric mosaics. Returning to Boulder, Barchilon analyzed the patterns he had catalogued. Working only with a compass and a straight edge, he learned the foundations of designing in arabesque. He began by painting his patterns in Gouache and then moved to projecting them on platters as well as carving them on slab built vases. Inspired by these Islamic Geometric patterns almost 30 years ago, he has been designing his own creative geometric designs and incorporating them on his ceramic pieces and. He considers his work to be very traditional, whose patterns and motifs fit perfectly in the 1400 year continuum of Geometric designs in Muslim lands. Paul has taught adults and children K-12 extensively, how to make these Islamic Geometric Patterns. Paul himself is of Jewish heritage and finds that this Islamic artform resonates with him more than anything else. He hopes that by showing this side of Islamic culture, he can help dispel Islamophobic stereotypes and argue artistically for a broader spirit of Semitic unity. To learn more about Paul Barchilon and his art, please visit Website: http://www.barchilonceramics.com/ Instagram: @barchilonceramics Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BarchilonCeramics To see artwork created by Paul's 7th grade students go to: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1024741786540.4570.1465126295&type=1&l=dbf0800881

Episode 8: "The Machine and I"

Basma Amro is an Austin based artist who creates artworks inspired by historic sites around the world. She is captivated by the beauty of Islamic designs and patterns found in architectural places she saw during her childhood visits. Basma tries to capture the essence of these places by creating mesmerizing laser-cut art pieces depicting Islamic designs. These carved and etched wood pieces are layered together to reveal intricate geometric patterns, biomorphic designs and detailed Arabic calligraphy. Through her art, Basma transports the viewer to remarkable places such as the Alhambra in Spain, and mosques in Morocco, Tunisia, and Syria. Basma earned a computer science degree in Jordan, but she was always an artist at heart! After moving to the US, she studied graphic design and started experimenting with different mediums, including canvas and wood. She started using modern tools and techniques to put the inspiration from the past into her art in order to create stunning art pieces highlighting Islamic patterns! https://www.authenticwallart.com/

Episode 7: "Art of the Islamic Worlds"-in conversation with a Curator

Dr.  Aimée Froom is the curator of "Art of the Islamic Worlds" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Lecturer at Rice University. In 2015, she reinstalled and expanded the MFAH permanent galleries and the al-Sabah collection; there are now over 300 works of Islamic art on view. Formerly, the Hagop Kevorkian Associate Curator of Islamic Art, Brooklyn Museum, Dr. Froom also has consulted for museums including the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto; the British Museum, London, and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris.  She’s taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Brown University, Bard Graduate Center for the Decorative Arts, Trinity College, American University of Paris, and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.  Dr. Froom earned her BA from Brown University; her MA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.  She’s the author of several books including her recent publications  Bestowing Beauty: Masterpieces from Persian Lands – Selections from the Hossein Afshar Collection (Yale University Press, 2019),  The Legacy of Persian Art (MFAH, 2017), and Arts of Islamic Lands: Selections from The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait (MFAH, 2016).   Most recently, Dr. Froom was selected into the prestigious annual fellowship at The Center for Curatorial Leadeership, a program that selects curators based on their curatorial achievements and their commitment to expanding audiences.