Islamic Calligraphy & Book Arts

Exhibitions

Through December 2017

Skillman Library
College Hill, Easton, PA

Community, Literacy, and Activism in Islamic Africa: The Paintings of Yelimane Fall

The calligraphic art of Yelimane Fall, a Senegalese artist and community activist, whose work reflects a vibrant West African aesthetic featuring large curvilinear Arabic letters, robust forms, and bright colors.

“Breathe for Those Who Cannot”: Remembering Al-Mutanabbi, Street of Booksellers

In March 2007, a car bomb tore through the heart of Baghdad’s historic literary district. Named after a 10th-century Iraqi poet, Abu al-Tayyib Ahmad ibn al-Husayn Mutanabbi, this street on the lip of the Tigris River has been described as Baghdad’s “third lung, where the educated and students breathe.” This exhibit features recent works by book artists wishing to commemorate and celebrate the spirit of the Al-Mutanabbi Street community.

Contemporary Artists’ Books Inspired by Islamic Cultures

Works from Lafayette’s rare book collection selected because of the ways they connect with Islamic cultures. Included are the work of photographers Peter Bogardus, Steve McCurry, and Steven Verona documenting people and events in Senegal, Afghanistan, and Egypt respectively. Egyptian book artist Islam Aly is represented by four small, but highly dramatic works and Senegalese artist Abdoulaye Ndoye by a remarkable, unique volume filled with his invented calligraphy. Other works look at the Muslim immigrant experience in America and the effects of war on Iraqi women.

A Thin Wall

Film and Q&A with the Filmmaker

Monday
November 13, 2017
7 p.m.

Landis Cinema at Buck Hall
219 North 3rd Street (at Snyder Street)
Easton, PA

A Thin Wall is a documentary that focuses on the partition of India in 1947 but derives lessons that are urgently relevant today. Writer and director Mara Ahmed shot the film on both sides of the border, in India and Pakistan, and infused original animation, music, and literary writing to tell a story about the memory, history, and possibility of reconciliation.

Filmmaker Mara Ahmed will join us for a Q&A session immediately after the screening.

Admission is free.

Presented by the Departments of History and Film and Media Studies.

The Life and Times of Calligrapher Sultan Ali Mashhadi: Arts of the Book and Literature in Late 15th-Century Herat

LECTURE

Monday
November 13, 2017
4:30 p.m.

Skillman Library
Gendebien Room
College Hill, Easton, PA

David J. Roxburgh, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor of Islamic Art History, Department of the History of Art & Architecture, Harvard University, speaks about the noted calligrapher of Lafayette College’s Persian Manuscript, which was produced in the city of Herat in 1515.

2017 Schlueter Lecture in the Art and History of the Book

Lecture

Thursday
November 2, 2017
4:00 p.m.

Williams Center for the Arts
Room 108
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

Iranian artist Iman Raad’s highly contemporary aesthetic marries influences as diverse as traditional Persian miniatures and digital glitch art. As part of his residency at Lafayette’s Experimental Printmaking Institute, he will discuss his work and influences in this public lecture.

Image courtesy of Iman Raad, detail of Untitled (Birds), 2016. See more of Raad’s work in the Vice article “Psychedelic Paintings Cast a Colorful Eye on Food Trucks and Persian Miniatures.”

 

Film and Q&A with the artists

Wednesday
November 1, 2017
7 p.m.

Landis Cinema at Buck Hall
219 North 3rd Street (at Snyder Street)
Easton, PA

An award-winning documentary about The Sachal Jazz Ensemble that traces the group’s journey from Pakistan to New York’s Lincoln Center and asks whether there is still room for musicians in a society roiled by conflict. Watch the trailer here.

Members of The Sachal Jazz Ensemble will join us for a Q&A session immediately after the screening.

Tickets are free but should be obtained in advance. They will be available beginning in September through the Williams Center for the Arts.

Stand-Up Comedy

Tuesday
October 24, 2017
8 p.m.

Colton Chapel
College Hill, Easton, PA

The activist, actor, writer, and former Daily Show correspondent has mined Islamophobia for comedy gold for years. Known for his satirical spin, Aasif Mandvi provides humorous perspective on the news, daily life, and diversification in the media.

Admission is free.

Film and Q&A with the Filmmaker

Monday
October 16, 2017
7 p.m.

Landis Cinema at Buck Hall
219 North 3rd Street (at Snyder Street)
Easton, PA

Iffat Fatima captures one of the most prolonged conflicts in the Muslim world—Kashmir, which is currently experiencing a large-scale revolt against Indian rule. Blood Leaves Its Trail (or Khoon Diy Baarav) was filmed over a period of nine years to tell the story of contemporary Kashmir through the lives of family members of the victim of enforced disappearances.

Filmmaker Iffat Fatima will join us for a Q&A session immediately after the screening.

Admission is free.

Presented by the Departments of History and Film and Media Studies.