Children’s Museum | 2nd Art Exhibition

Last Tuesday I went for the 2nd art exhibition run by Children Museum Jordan....
Again I was dazzled by the honest artistic abilities of children...
This year they had a silent auction for the art pieces in which the funds raised will go to help Gaza's Children...

Another remarkable thing was having some work done by special needs children... one in particular was painted by a blind kid...

Children used different media and techniques like; action coloring, pencils, installation, cut-out animation, sculpting, painting...

The lines... the colors and the freedom of compositions is what I find most fascinating...
it is when a human is given a chance to experience childhood all over again...

Here are some samples of the work...














and click here for more.

The exhibition will be running till the 2nd of February... so make sure to pass by...


:: Previous Exhibition

The Narratives* | 19

19

I entered his realm with a slight bow of the head...
I'm sorry I can't join fully I mumbled....
My world is just not ready yet for us...

Tearless, I walked out... Knowing I must come back...


My free mind...



* The Narratives: stories, events, and scenes that happen[ed] inside and around my head…

Techno me

This is the trailer for my upcoming video art exhibition titled "Techno me".
The exhibition is taking place in Makan Art House, Amman... opening on Monday 09-03-09...
I'm still working on it... so wish me luck...

GAZA....

The Blind USA...

A couple of years ago.... Mr. Bush of USA convinced the whole world that Iraq has Weapons of Mass Destruction and that these weapons are a danger on the whole world... and that justified the war on Iraq...
A year ago... These claims were found untrue... and thus the whole WoMD in Iraq turned out to be just a hoax...

For the last couple of weeks... and still going on... Israel has been raining white phosphorus on the heads of Gazans...

And what does Mr. Bush say now? What does USA say? They abstain...

I take it back... the USA is not blind...

It's even worse... USA is BEING blind...

Above 1000!

In 19 days... the Israeli Army has killed over 1000 Gazans... one third of which are children...

1000... is not just a number... they are people... THEY WERE PEOPLE!!!!

"la hawla wa la qwata illa bi Allah alAli al Atheem...."

Think the unthinkable...

I'm not sure whether I've been deliberately avoiding writing about Gaza… or not…
I thought what can I have to say… everything has been said by someone else… all the emotions… all the facts… all the rationales…

But as I was flipping through my old images… I came across this photo I took two years ago.



This photo is of a demonstration I attended in Edinburgh against the Israeli offensive over south of Lebanon in July 2006… if you look at the slogans… you just realize they can simply and sadly apply to the situation now…

That made me reflect upon the long chains of fights, protests, appeals that have been happening around…

60 years ago the war on Palestine started, and then came Lebanon… Afghanistan, Iraq… and we all have speculations over who is next…

What is the problem? And what is the solution?
I kept on thinking about that… read a couple of blog entries, war analysis … and so on… until this idea came to my mind…

The reason behind this… is not the Grand Conspiracy, nor the Zionist Agenda, nor the Lust for Oil…
The real reason of this… is us… but what exactly in us?

At first us meant to me; Arabs and Muslims… but the more I thought about it… the more I believed us are all the human beings…

I came to realize that it is our inability to think… there has always been a restriction over our abilities to think, limitation over what we can think and discuss and what we can't…
We have been brought up to condemn someone else… to label people and categorize them and deal with them according to that…

Liberals/ Conservatives, Materialists/ Spiritualists, Capitalists/ Socialists, Atheists/ Believers,….

I think that our solution is as simple as starting to think of the unthinkable…

What we have to do now… each and everyone of us… to help Gaza, to help Iraq, to help ourselves is to think….

After mumbling your prayers, after lighting a candle, after done with shouting in a protest, after giving away a little of your money and after all that… I wish if each one of you would go home and think of the unthinkable…
If you are an atheist think what if the spiritualist were right, if you are a spiritualist think what if the atheists were right….
If you are pro-Fateh think of those pro-Hamas… and vice versa…
Whatever you are… what ever ideology you embrace… think of the one thing you never permitted your self to think of… think of the other side… think of the ones you assume you fight… think what do they have that make sense… study them… learn and think from an enthusiast stand not an opponent stand…

Think of what you labeled as wrong… think freely with no restrictions… with no fear…

What made human a human is his ability to think…

Give yourself this back … in the most absolute way you can…

Maybe then we can be equal humans again…

Maybe then people in Gaza will be spared… and allowed to live once again…

I'm Back!

I'm back...
I took a leave trying to find peace... trying to move on... I was a fool to think it was a single step I had to take... it turned out to be a daily process... and I just had to teach myself how...

Words coming from a stranger.... who knew me better than those who claim to be mine... her words... touched me... and gave me a lead as to where I should be looking.... and to where I should be aiming... [Hvala ti moja nova drugarica... hvala ti lepotica]

During my absence I became a true book hound... I devoured a couple of books... one of which "Atlas Shrugged" I made a promise to finish it before New Year's Eve... I'll talk about it later on... it is an excellent read and I enjoyed it...

I walked and walked... I befriended the trees again... I talked to Amman rooftops...

I'm teaching myself... everyday... how to continue hoping without fear...

On another hand... there is the situation at Gaza... I don't know what words can I utter... when all the world is only helping them to survive... instead of helping them to live...
I don't know what words can make sense... I only pray... that justice will come... and we will be humans again...

I'm back... and I hope I'll be able to stay this time....
I'm back... it is not easy... but again... no one promised me otherwise...

'Bismillah AlRahman AlRaheem'

Going off...

Lately I haven't been myself...
And it is hard for me to admit that something is wrong...
But... I think I'll take some time off...
Reflecting upon nothing but myself...

Till we meet again...

Lonesome!

There can't be two...
There must be one...

A loner... circling...

White... only wishes...

They can kiss the face... but they can never win the heart...

The heart is lonesome....

So is one...

Amman Autumn Mood

Time...

It's a lie, you know... what they say about time... being a healer and all that...
Time...
Time is a drug... a narcotic... it numbs you... but it heals you not...
Time don't wash away your feelings of sadness... it stops you feeling...
Time buries down live emotions... emotions that you are too coward to deal with... or to weak... Time takes them... down... to a place far... but still you know it is there...

Time is a cheater...
Time is no healer...

Texture of Amman IV

While walking around Jabal Al-Qala'a ... with students of basic design...













:: Previously : Textures of Amman, Textures of Amman II, Textures of a building site, Texture of Amman III...

Random reflections on prejudice...

:::::
More than 4 years ago... To be deserving of his precious time and supervision you had to be an A student that he once taught... you had to be thinking on the same lines of his own mentality... regardless of the fact they he is only supposed to supervise you and not to dictate you... And if you thought yourself up to a challenge... that you had a chance to rebel against prejudice... The price was a C+...

:::::
People always assume something about me when they see I'm wearing the veil...
I either get people who assume they know me well enough... someone once told me that based on the fact that I'm wearing the veil... he thinks I'll fit perfectly in his institution ... I told him... not to think he knew me just because I wear it... still he was very sure of it... That was one of the reasons I decided not to work with him...

And then I get the other side of it... the looks of what the hell she is doing here? She doesn't fit? Ah... she is wearing the veil... she must be a close minded person...
And they give you the looks and the remarks... just to make you feel more and more uncomfortable...

:::::
When will people realize that the institutionalization of education is bound to fall apart...?
Does it really make me less knowledgeable than you just because you hold a PhD and I don't?
Does it signify which University I graduated from?
How come all the efforts I put on teaching my self... on educating my self... all the hours I put on reading... researching... analyzing and working ... is worth nothing... just because I'm still not a PhD holder?
I'm sorry... I'm not convinced...

:::::
When a man proposes to a woman they both have to pass the list prescribed by the families and society.... the right age... the suitable education and job status... the right level of religion [between liberalism and conservatism]... the financial and societal status... while at it... make sure the girl doesn't have a sick brother... and has a pretty face to be perfect in the precious family photo albums...

:::::
When Obama won the elections a lot of people got excited about the idea of a president from an African origin to rule the USA... I found it annoying that despite this seemingly victory over prejudice... we still labeled him... we still highlighted the fact that he came from a certain race... so... we still considered race as an issue... and we still have prejudices...

:::::

if you only walk long enough!

[[`Cheshire Puss,' she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. `Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on. `Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'

`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.

`I don't much care where--' said Alice.

`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.

`--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation.

`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.' ]]

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

~

After a pause... I'm walking again....

a memory...

It's a weird thing... a memory I mean...
It takes you back... no... it lives to its own time...
within its own logic...

Making you floating... in a land with no land....

وما تبقّى من عظام بائسٍ غريق *

images taken in Portobello Beach | Edinburgh | 2006

* من أنشودة المطر لبدر شاكر السياب

equal... freedom

Speaking of Equal opportunities and freedom of choice...

My newest nook...

It's me in the corner...



And the unmistakable view of Amman... the city... I have to be in...

Nothing any more!

Have you ever wanted so much to reach a level where nothing really matters?
Where nothing would ever shock you?
Where him or her won't have any control over you.... over how you feel??

I wonder if that is ever possible...
But Oh, How much I want that!!!

Bad Cozmo ad!

This is a very poor ad that I came across in a magazine...
In order for Cozmo to advertise its [mouth watering, succulent range of meat,....] they put a piece of raw meat shaped as a heart... and the worst is the tag line [Even vegetarians love us]...
I'm a Semi-vegetarian... and if it wasn't for family pressure I would be even more vegetarian... the only thing I felt when seeing this ad... was disgust to say the least... though I don't eat red meat because I feel for the animals or for religious reasons... I just happen to dislike the taste of red meat and believe that it is more healthy to exclude meat from my diet..
Still the look of the raw meat... is very annoying to me... and I think many more strict vegetarians will agree...
I think the ad had the counter effect of what it was supposed to...
What do you think?

Driving in Jordan

Yesterday my brother was in his way to pick me up after work... He was driving on a main road... as he spotted a taxi coming from a perpendicular minor road to his left... My brother who had the priority to keep moving... started alarming the taxi with horns...
Regardless of the horns and the big [STOP] sign... the Taxi driver decided to cut off the road... my brother couldn't do much at the point...
He said... [suddenly it all went black] and just like that... an accident occurred...
Thanks to God's Grace my brother was wearing the safety belt as he should and nothing happened to him... if the accident took place one second after... the taxi would have squashed my brother... Instead it was the car's front...

Road accidents are a daily routine in Amman's traffic scene... I don't remember the statics but I know they are horrifying enough...

I always think about traffic and how to solve the problem... and here are a list of things I suggest people in charge should take into consideration...
:: All Taxi drivers should give up their driving licenses and enroll in a [driving rehab] center... where they are subjected to proper training on how to drive... anyone who fails... should change his career...
:: Same should happen to bus drivers... though the whole public transportation buses should be re-thought and re-done... we need more than bigger brighter looking buses... we need good drivers... we need established and well distributed bus routes... and we need regular schedule... this is an ABC thing in any modernized urban city...
:: We need to make the laws of driving actually efficient by not making anyone above or beyond the laws...

This last one is a bit different... but since I always think of it... I thought to mention it here... [[though a bit out of the context... ]]
:: There should be a law that regulates the purchase of 4x4 cars... if you look around you'll find so many people driving these big cars... and the drivers are young guys and girls.... who probably bought it to show off...
The problem with these big cars is that they consume more fuel and there are a long list of the harms of consuming more fuel on top is Earth's health... also these cars take up larger space on the roads causing more traffic jams...
4x4s are cool cars... but I think they were invented more for suburban family life style... and not an urbanized cramped city...

My brother Alhamdullilah was saved... but I know many others were/will not....

There are many other things that SHOULD be done to solve the problem of road accidents... we have many campaigns... but awareness is not doing much...

It is time for ACTION... hopefully before it is too late for someone...

The Moon of 14th...

Cactus Kid Ads Banned

So... apparently a lot of people found these two ads offensive... and they managed to force them banned...
more here...

The Narratives* | 18

18

[Why...?]
He sat crying in shock...
[What did I do wrong?]

The twittering bird...
Peaceful, silent and motionless...

The bird was too wild to stay in...
But The bird is too beautiful to be gone...

[Why...?]

* The Narratives: stories, events, and scenes that happen[ed] inside and around my head…

Texture of Amman III

While Walking around Rainbow Street...














:: Previously : Textures of Amman, Textures of Amman II, Textures of a building site...

I like to move it...

For all the goodness you bring to my life... my dearest Moath and Mariam... I love you