Gobustan And Matisse Celebrate The Dance Of Life

Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape (above); and Henri Matisse, Dance (I)(below).

Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape covers three areas of a plateau of rocky boulders rising out of the semi-desert of central Azerbaijan, with an outstanding collection of some 6,000 rock engravings bearing testimony to 4000 years of rock art. The site also features the remains of settlements and burials, all reflecting an intensive human settlement by dwellers who lived in the area during the wet period that followed the last ice age, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages. The property cover an area of 537 ha., and is part of the larger protected Gobustan Reservation. Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on June 29, 2007.

Text and photo credits: (c) UNESCO World Heritage List and © 1999 The Museum of Modern Art, N.Y. © 1999 Succession H. Matisse/Artists Rights Society (ARS), N.Y.

*












Enhanced satellite image of Azerbaijan, (c) Azerbaijan International Magazine. All rights reserved. With thanks.

*

New Classical Music and Poetry Notes:

"Except for the usual mediocre turnout, everything about the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s first [Fall 2007] classical series program was special. ISO music director Mario Venzago led the orchestra with exceptional verve, polish and inflection in three works: Richard Strauss’ tone poem Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24, Alexander Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54 and the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35 with guest soloist Augustin Hadelich — who happens to be the current International Violin Competition of Indianapolis gold medalist...."

Tom Aldridge "Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Classical Series Program No. 1" Nuvo, Indy's Alternative Voice October 3, 2007

Spirit and Place Festival: Living Generously, A Civic Collaboration of the Arts, Humanities, and Religion. Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, November 2-18, 2007

Rumi at 800: A Sufi Celebration
Saturday, October 27. 11 am-9 pm Freer Gallery, Washington, D.C., United States

Join us for a day of music, poetry, special tours, and Persian and Turkish food celebrating the eight-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the poet and mystic Mevlana Jalal-ad-Din Rumi, born in 1207. Rumi inspired the founding of the Whirling Dervishes and remains one of the world's best-selling authors in any language. The day's events conclude with a reading by Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye.

Poetry in Song: Rumi's Mystical Journey

Experience the mystical mood of a traditional Sufi assembly with Kazem Davoudian, the Iranian-born composer and virtuoso on the Persian santur (hammered dulcimer).

Poetry Readings: Young Voices/New Poems

Hear young writers from the Washington area recite poems they wrote during a summer residency at the museum under the guidance of poet and teacher Lisa Pegram. Through poetry they explore the many relationships they see between the literary and visual arts, and they present their poems next to the artworks that inspired their writing. Poets are Kiimara Baker, Kaylah Miranda, Lynda Nguyen, Bianca Martinez, Lily Reeder, Ramona Santana, Thandiwe Hunter, and Catherine Frost.

Persian National Music Ensemble

This five-member ensemble from Baltimore recites Rumi's poetry in English, tells famous stories about the mystic-poet, and then performs his poems in Persian, accompanied by santur (hammered dulcimer), tar (lute), violin, and percussion. Director and composer Ahman Borhani taught music at Ferdowsi University in Iran and is a specialist on the life and poetry of Rumi.