By Carrie Loewenthal, Washington File Special
Correspondent
Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts "The
Splendor of Islamic Art"
New York -- The New York audience watching the Iranian film,
Children of Heaven, gasped in unison as 9-year-old Ali fell to the
pavement and dropped behind the lead runners' pack. The young boy wanted
with all of his heart to win the third prize in the race, a pair of new
sneakers.
Ali needed those sneakers for his sister: he had lost her shoes
on the way home from the cobbler. The children kept this a secret from their
father, knowing he could not afford to replace the shoes. Cheers erupted in the
theater when Ali regained his footing and surged ahead toward the front of the
group.
The screening of Children of Heaven, or in Persian,
Bacheha-Ye Aseman, took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York City on October 8 as part of the museum's program "The Splendor of Islamic
Art." The film, in Persian with English subtitles, was the first Iranian
film to receive an Academy Award nomination (Best Foreign Language Film, 1998),
and won the hearts of several hundred guests at the screening. Majid Majidi
wrote and directed the 1997 film.
Following the film, the program focus moved from Iran to
Afghanistan -- what speaker Jolyon Leslie called "the children of heaven of
Kabul." Leslie, who is from South Africa but has resided in Afghanistan
since 1989, is chief executive officer of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in
Afghanistan. Managing restorations of war-damaged historic buildings in
both Kabul and Herat, Leslie keeps the interests of Afghanistan's youth at
heart. He calls the young people the "generation of hope," and says he
works so that these children can see the restored relics and develop an
understanding of their own history.
Afghanistan's historical records -- its archives and
architecture -- were ravaged during the Soviet invasion in the 1980s and the
civil war of the 1990s. Older people who lived through the events and can tell
their stories are among the best remaining sources of history. Leslie
recognizes that as this generation dies, it will be up to the young people to
continue to tell these stories.
"We need Afghans themselves speaking to their own people,"
Leslie said. He said the biggest reward for his labor is "seeing children
learn something," including those who have "grown up to be apprentices" to the
master builders conducting the restoration work.
Each project generates numerous jobs for Afghan workers, who do
most of the daily restorative work. One such project resulted from the
donation of property from an Afghan-American woman living in Washington.
The woman owned a public bath, or hamam, in Kabul. Her family
encouraged her to sell it. On visiting Kabul and surveying her land, she
met Leslie and decided to give the hamam to the Aga Khan Trust for
preservation. It is being restored, and, when completed, will be handed
over to the Kabul Women's Council, possibly to become the first "only women's"
hamam, Leslie said.
"The Splendor of Islamic Art" concluded with a crowd-pleasing
concert by Afghan musician Homayun Sakhi, recognized as one of the world's most
accomplished players of a stringed instrument called the rubāb. The
rubāb comes in many shapes and sizes and is known, sometimes by slightly
different names, throughout the Muslim world. Musicians often use the
instrument when reciting histories.
Sakhi, who grew up in Kabul but fled with his family to Pakistan
to escape the Soviet invasion, now lives in Fremont, California, the American
city with the largest population of Afghans. Accompanied by Toryalai
Hashimi on the tabla (hand drums), Sakhi delighted the audience with his
playing of the short-necked lute. The energetic selection of Afghan folk
music, and conversation-like exchange between the rubāb and the
tabla, had the audience clapping and whistling, culminating in a standing
ovation.
The varied program was a celebration of Islamic culture
sponsored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. The Trust for Culture is part
of the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of private, nondenominational
agencies working to improve life for people in the poorest parts of the
developing world. The Aga Khan, who leads the network, is the spiritual
leader of the Ismaili Muslims. (See related article).
The Trust for Culture helps preserve Islamic heritage and
traditional music, promotes urban revitalization and provides architectural
education.
EMPHASIZING CULTURAL CONNECTIONS
In hosting programs such as the one at the Metropolitan Museum,
the Aga Khan Trust for Culture seeks to end what Nasiruddin Jamal, president of
the Aga Khan Council for the Northeastern United States, calls a global "clash
of ignorance" about Islam and other heritages. The programs allow "nations
to become better informed about other cultures and histories," he
said.
Conveying human universalities is one way the Trust in Culture
strives to increase understanding of the Islamic world. For example,
Children of Heaven may have taken place in Tehran, but the family values
and struggles it depicts are known worldwide.
"[The film] shows the humanity in poverty," said Jamal.
Akbar Poonawala, a New York businessman who has volunteered for
the Aga Khan Development Network for 22 years, says the Trust in Culture's idea
is to focus on "the commonalities that bind us rather than the differences that
separate us." These commonalities include valuing education and striving
for peace, and using music as a form of expression, all of which are central to
the practices of Islam, Poonawala said.
"We can blend into each other quite seamlessly," he said, if
people from different cultures recognize their similarities. "Why
shouldn't it be that way?" he asked.
For information on U.S. policy, see Rebuilding
Afghanistan.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
