How would you compare science and art?

The Little Owl, 1508 by Albrecht Dürer

The debate on the importance of science and art is an old one. When we don’t have clear answers to certain questions, it often means what we are trying to understand is not as simple as we thought. And yet, thinking about difficult problems may improve our understanding in various ways. This is the timeless task of philosophy.

So, we can begin here with our own conundrum – an opinion poll. Vote in this poll and see what others think. You may

i) mark one option only

ii) mark two options

iii) mark one option and write a brief thought in the space provided

and then click Vote.

Website Access Problems

Solitary Angler on the Wintry River - Ma Yuan

Some visitors have complained about not being able to access the website at times. For now, these are some possible solutions:

1. Reload or refresh the webpage; or clear browser history and then enter the website address again.

2. If you have subscribed to Khaldunia News via Email, make sure you receive and view the feedburner email after entering your email address and click the confirmation link in that email to confirm your subscription. Email delivery for website news will start after this confirmation only, and you will receive updates between 9:00 pm and 11:00 pm on any given day.

3. You can also view updates at twitter.com/khaldunia or facebook.com/khaldunia.

4. If you are still using Internet Explorer, trust the übergeeks and move on to a safer and more reliable browser: download Mozilla Firefox and make it your default browser. It updates automatically, does everything more simply and better than the explorer – and features an exciting array of add-ons and theme options, if you are up to them.

Parent Teacher Meetings

Parent Teacher Meetings for this term will be held as detailed below. For your time slot, please check the students’ individual circulars.

Monday 2nd November 2009: Reception – 3rd Grade

Friday 6th November 2009: 4th – 8th Grade

Saturday 7th November 2009: 9th – 11th Grade

Announcement

This is to confirm that the school will reopen tomorrow, Monday 26th October and will follow the regular school timings for all classes.

Khaldunia Bookmarks

Nilgai by Mansur

You will find several useful links if you click Khaldunia Bookmarks here or in the sidebar on the right. They have been arranged under tags like “education”, “art”, “museum”, etc. The collection will grow as we keep finding things of interest and relevance.

How do we use them? Click anything that strikes your fancy. Try some of your delicious bookmarks right here: find syllabus materials at CIE; listen to world music on BBC Radio 3; view a botany or astronomy picture of the day; experience the dizzying height of Tianzhu Feng on World Heritage Tour; estimate why Ghalib is considered to be such a phenomenal poet; and so on…

__________

About the painting: Mansur, the “wonder of the age,” began his career in Akbar’s atelier but perfected his extraordinary natural-history painting during Jahangir’s reign. He became the emperor’s constant traveling companion in order to record visually the natural phenomena that fascinated his master. As Jahangir wrote in his diary, his great-grandfather Babur had only described what he saw, while he himself also ordered drawings to be made of the things he wrote about, so that “the amazement that arose from hearing of them might be increased.”

This subtly colored study of a bull antelope, or nilgai, is a taxonomically correct portrait of a particular animal (note the broken horn). It also conveys the texture of the creature’s fur, bone, horn, and flesh, as well as its gentle spirit, which radiates from the glassy eye and contented expression. Although the background is barely indicated, the contour of the nilgai is so beautifully modulated that the animal’s form interacts seamlessly with the space surrounding it.

Cultures in Harmony

Left to right: William Harvey (violin), Emily Holden (violin), Christopher Jenkins (viola), Ethan Philbrick (cello)

National Anthem of Pakistan:

9 August 2009: This is the National Anthem performed by Cultures in Harmony musicians in Islamabad. It has appealed to… actually, everyone who has heard it. Some say it is the most memorable rendition of Pakistan’s National Anthem. Credit goes to William Harvey for thinking of arranging it for a quartet, and to all the musicians for playing it with such zest! Since this is a composition purely in the western style, it finds the perfect medium here.

This is Hafeez Jullundhri’s poetry set to music composed by Ahmed G. Chagla. Speaking of fusion – keeping the anthem’s European harmonies and Urdu lyrics in mind – this is fusion. Come to think of it, Urdu language itself is fusion.

Paradise Found: Islamic Architecture and Arts

This film is dedicated to the great artists of Islam whose names are unrecorded.
The art critic and art lover, Waldemar Januszczak, sets out on an epic journey of discovery across the Muslim world from Central Asia, to the heart of the Middle East and beyond to reveal a world of awe-inspiring architecture, spectacular Islamic treasures and a host of artists and craftsmen – to bring the largely unknown and fascinating story of Islamic art and architecture to the attention of the British public.

Much of Waldemar’s discovery includes objects and buildings that have previously received little if any televisual attention. Like the 10th century Egyptian jug carved out of a single piece of rock crystal – one of only three known in the entire world; like the stunning architecture of the Uzbekistan’s Samarquand; the incredible and surreal mud mosques of West African Mali; the inspired urban planning of the ancient city of Isfahan in Iran and the world’s first great and possibly greatest mosque in the Syrian capital Damascus.

Along the way he meets an array of characters, such as carpet-weavers, calligraphers, potters, jewellers and a supporting cast of local historians and experts. The result is a new and refreshing insight into the world of Islamic art, providing a stimulating introduction to an important culture of great tradition and wondrous beauty. Channel 4

Khaldunia, a partial flashback

Slideshow

Further Announcement

Owing to security concerns the school will remain closed for classes till Sunday 25th October. Classes are expected to resume Monday 26th.

The Eqbal Ahmad Page

We have just added The Eqbal Ahmad Page to our website.