Saturday, February 25, 2006

masking new orleans

In Masking New Orleans, Fatima Shaik makes the connection between the Mardis Gras or Carnival custom of wearing masks and the ways in which some are trying to hide difficult truths about New Orleans in the wake of Katrina.

4 comments:

fromclay said...

I'm glad you caught that article. I read it yesteday. Interesting, indeed. Just wondering if you saw today's NYT's article about Islamic art. It's must read. The title is interesting: "What Does Islam Look Like." Here's the link. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/arts/design/26cott.html

Abdul-Halim V. said...

Yeah, I saw the entry today and was thinking about putting up a link. I had another link about a Muslim art show from a few months back which also dealt with Islam and the West.

bint alshamsa said...

That article really hit home with me. In my last post, I discussed my dark-skinned grandmother and her job as one of those "Dark skinned women" who "folded down white hotel sheets" for a living. It's really heartbreaking to see my city like this.

Abdul-Halim V. said...

I think there are two different questions. On the one hand there is a religious question when it comes to visual representation. discussed here

But then the other hand you can look more inclusively at all of the cultural productions made by people who identify with Islamic civilization or Muslim communities