DVD: The Hidden Art of Islam

The Hidden Art of Islam 

by Faris Kermani, Director/Producer

Crescent Films Ltd. for BBC, Arlington,Virginia        © 2012          60 min.

The Hidden Art of Islam is a video of art, beauty, and Islamic history located in our Center library as #DVD 1034.  It was made for BBC, first shown in 2012, and later seen on PBS public television.

Rogeh Omaar hosts this BBC video along with many fine art and religious experts. Do set aside your notions of what this video might be like and be prepared for a stunning show of fine photography and art work, past and present . . . all intertwined with Islamic history, past and present. Past and current Islamic art work is well-represented.

Here is an introductory quote from the video cover: “Muslim belief and tradition specifies that there should be no depictions of God or the Prophet Muhammad.  In religious contexts, this constraint on what artists can depict extends to human figures and other living creatures as well.  These prohibitions have inspired a rich visual culture based on calligraphy, Arabesque floral designs, and geometry, all of which feature strongly in the art and design found throughout the Muslim world, including mosques.”

In this film I remember how moving it was to see aerial photos of the backs of hundreds of thousands of people bowing in prayer, of witnessing the beauty of a letter in a written word, the curve of a doorway, the work of contemporary Muslim sculptors and painters.

It is an inspired piece of work that affects how I experience beauty and the Islamic world.

-- reviewed by Barbara Goldberg 


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