What is Ramadan to a Christian in America?

AOA NEWS
By Ernest Britton

INDIANA - Many Christians in the USA, and around the world this week are asking, "What is this Ramadan" and "How do I respond to it" with respect? Similar to Easter's relationship to Christianity, Ramadan is the greatest religious observance in the Islamic faith. It is an annual month of fasting (Christians have Lent) and it began on August 1 around the world and will finish on or around August 29, 2011. All Muslims who are physically able are required to fast each day of the entire month, from sunrise to sunset. The evenings are spent enjoying family and community meals, engaging in prayer and spiritual reflection, and reading from the Qu'ran. The official greeting for Ramadan, for non-Muslims and non-Arabic speakers is "Happy Ramadan."

Read More

The Generous Gifts of Islamic Art at California Museum

PALISADIAN-POST
By Elizabeth Marcellino

"Sindukht Comes to Sam Bearing Gifts," a folio from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, Iran, Tabriz (1525-35)

CALIFORNIA - Ramadan begins next week [today]. The ninth month of the Islamic calendar is a time for spiritual reflection and fasting, and the fast will be broken with a celebration that includes gifts for children, those in need and loved ones. It is just one of several occasions for gifts in a culture that promotes giving as an essential practice. The Gifts of the Sultan, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, uses that custom of generosity as a thematic frame for a notable exhibition of Islamic art. Organizing a show around the notion of gifts was an entirely new idea, as gift-giving has been an area of more interest to anthropologists than art historians, until recently. But Komaroff hoped that such a universally understood concept would emphasize our shared humanity. Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts will run through September 5 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. [link]

Read More

RELIGIOUS ART | TALK OF WEEK

AOA NEWS

AOA PICK OF WEEK is “26000 Pages” by Hadie Shafdie (Image above), an entry in this year’s Jameel Prize for Islamic Art. The Jameel Prize exhibition runs through Ramadan with the winner of this international fine arts competition being announced on September 12 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. You can comment online on all the weeks top news below (“Sunday” only). AOA’s three questions of the week are:

1. Ramadan begins tomorrow (August 1), so why should non-Muslims explore Islamic Art? (Comment Here)
2. Why should non-Christians join AOA at the Creation Museum next Sunday? (Comment Here)
3. What lessons have non-Hindu's learned from the roil about an animated Hindu film? (Comment Here)

Below is the rest of week's biggest religious art news. The stories are grouped by the five largest faith traditions, with an additional category for other. The AOA team is commenting and we invite you to comment too.


BUDDHIST ART:

• Buddhist Religious Texts Preserved on Human Bone (MAYANMAR TIMES)

HINDU ART:

• Animated Film Roils Hindus in NYC (THE DAILY BEAST)

ISLAMIC ART:

• The Jameel Prize for Islamic Art at the UK's Victoria & Albert Museum (THE ARTS DESK)

FINE JUDAICA:

• Siona Benjamin in Asian Jewish Life (JEWISH ART SALON)

CHRISTIAN ART:

• Essay: Creativity is the Language of God (SUNDAY HERALD SUN)
• Ohio Art Show Honors Famed Artist Howard Chandler Christy (ZANESVILLE TIMES RECORDER)
• Presbyterian Church Features "Heads of Christ Room" (NEWNAM TIMES-HERALD)
• Tennessee Tattoo Parlor Becomes a District of Hope (KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL)
• Arts & Religion in Indianapolis: It's Been Complicated (AOA NEWS)
• Comedian (Artist) Ricky Gervais’ Evangelical Atheism (BIG HOLLYWOOD)
• The Bone Church of Sedlec (VIDEO)
• Head of Surfing Madonna to be Featured at California Arts Festival (NORTH COUNTY TIMES)

OTHER RELATED ARTS:

• Documentary on Hospice Care Provided by Death Row Inmates (AOA NEWS)

Do you want to get a daily dose of religious art news? Join Alpha Omega Arts on Facebook or Twitter. Google Plus is coming soon too! The "Religious Art Talk of Week” is a weekly project of Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts in connecting artists, faiths and communities through art.

###

Read More

In prayer, Jews face Jerusalem but Muslims face Mecca

CANADA FREE PRESS
By Victor Sharpe

ISREAL - Jerusalem Unification Day has again been celebrated in Israel and throughout the world with the exception of that 7th century alternate universe: the Muslim world. It marks 44 years since the amazing and miraculous event took place when the Jewish people’s 3,000 year old capital city was restored to the Jewish state in the 1967 Six-Day War. It would be a cataclysmic and symbolic act of betrayal of Jewish history and faith if any part of Jerusalem is lost to the Jewish people by this generation of Israelis.

For Jews, Jerusalem is the spiritual and temporal heart. It would also be a reverse for the Christian world. Only under Israeli administration has Jerusalem been open for free and unfettered worship to members of all faiths. The prayer uttered at Passover and Yom Kippur—“Next year in Jerusalem”—must not become an empty phrase made bitter in its very utterance by abandoning much of eternal Jerusalem to placate a fraudulent Arab people called Palestinians and appease a hostile world by succumbing to an equally fraudulent peace. It is instructive to note that in prayer, Jews in synagogues face Jerusalem while Muslims in mosques face Mecca. This Islamic practice, even on the Temple Mount, speaks volumes. [link]

Read More