Art, Architecture and Arabia

I M Pei's architectural pedigree scales the heavens of all types of art on the world's most populated continents. A mix of cultural form and function wrapped in glass, steel and stone gives iconic meaning to some of the world's most prestigious museums, Louvre's inverted pyramid, Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the National Gallery of Art or the Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM) in Luxembourg, all containing priceless works on display. At the age of ninety one, Ieoh Ming Pei, Pritzker Prize winner and a multicultural phenom put his imprimatur in Doha, Qatar on the newly opened Museum of Islamic Art (MIA). The magnificent spare no expense building sits astride one of the famed man-made islands as a modern wonder paying homage to the past. Showcasing the art pieces on two floors the curator paid attention to a span of a thousand years, across geography from the ancient Persia to a jade pendant from India to a multitude of art materials. Exhibits are exquisite after the impressive eye candy the symmetrical museum makes upon arrival with reflecting pools, a geometric main staircase hall with the Zen of an Islamic garden. It was a cool enough event that Robert De Niro attended the museum opening amongst the Gulf region's pantheon of royalty.

Ten years ago, this started with the Emir H H Sheikj Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thanki and Sheikh Hassan Al Thani family concentrating on the procurement of Islamic artifacts amidst Europe's established auction houses. London's art scene saw an influx of capital dedicated to filling a museum that was but an idea on a draft board as the final crown jewel in the stellar architectural career of I M Pei. Five stories of wonder encapsulating 382,000 square feet with a price tag of $300 million is the entry fee to establish Doha as a cultural destination for Arabian and Western tourism and pride of place in the hoity-toity art world. The collection features a $73 million dollar Mark Rothko abstract painting as well as the best of art from other cultures while featuring the works of little known Islamic masters. (Picture: Maher Attar)

Not long ago, the idea of culture being a reason to visit the Gulf would have made other Arabs laugh. No longer.

The Syrian cultural historian Rana Kabbani sees a political element to the museum, putting Doha on the cultural map.

"I think all the rulers in the Gulf see what they really lack isculture on a grand scale, as a kind of imperial identity. It's a political-cultural lack. They have the means, and they're going for it."

That's why along the coast, two museums are planned for Abu Dhabi - branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim.

Art in the Islamic world is taking a new resonance as the museum of the millennium opens and Saudi Arabia holds more gallery exhibitions albeit in embassies. To inaugurate the museum there is an exhibit and a conference Beyond Boundaries - Islamic Art Across Cultures. There was a Sunday special panel featuring the architect of the decade, I M, Pei on Islamic Architecture from Tradition to Modernity.

Women are painting, sculpting and creating their own art behind the veils and scrolled walls in Saudi society. A public showing is a cultural possibility with embassy exhibits more prevalent in the realm of the possible and where chances increase the art's exposure. The colors and compositions are arresting, more so because of who the people are that are trying new mediums are garnering attention for their sophisticated works. The Kingdom pledged to sponsor the best are culled from a competition in their own embassies as a furtherance of showcasing their people's talents with clay, camera or paintbrush.

One artist took advantage of the venue to hang an abstract painting of a woman, with one breast clearly depicted — a hint of nudity still taboo outside the diplomatic confines of the embassy, where Saudi Arabia's religious police cannot enter.

The Wednesday night showing in a small hall was packed with expatriates and, more significantly Saudis, whose presence was a reflection of the surge of interest in the arts in the kingdom in the past few years. Local artsshows have been on the rise, more Saudi artists are participating in overseas exhibits, and more universities and schools are offering arts degrees.

The first non-governmental arts society was established a year ago, with four women on its 10-member board. Saudis have become more accepting of abstract art, which, only a few years ago, was the subject of ridicule. And in many Arab cities, Saudi collectors are snapping up works by local artists, some of whom get special orders from their rich clients.

So many beautiful works to page through in Islamic Art and Culture: A Visual History. It was important to me to find a book written by an eminent Islamic scholar. Professor Nasser D. Khalili presents the full range of art possibilities and the meaning behind each selected piece. Great coffee table book sure to cause cultural discussion.

Sliced Cables Spawn Conspiracies from Gulf to Asia

One accidental slice on Flag Telecom, leagues under the seas, could be construed as an unfortunate accident taking out the Middle East and crippling communication with Italy. Two, seems unlikely as the cable between Dubai and Oman severed communications. In a week, the third and fourth incidents occurred involving sliced/cut sea cables affecting the same regions, crushing web traffic to frozen molasses or ancient turtle speeds. While cut cable 1 and cut cable 2 are practically on top of each other, no one knows whether it was one giant slice at the same time or two separate incidents to cut off millions of users. The fourth received a hurried explanation as a power supply problem to the United Arab Emirates.

A supposed undersea cable caper brings out the latent conspiracy theorist in the young, old, Hindi, Muslim, seasoned technologists and casual users. Godzilla or Governments as the creepy cause are each popular theories in the Gulf Region and South Asia. The internet cable cut mystery - Who did it - How and Why? One note of caution is cables break, snap, come apart for a multitude of reasons; ships with anchors, friction or marine life with a hankering for copper dental floss. A dedicated group of ships or submarines exists to perform daily repairs just like the cable guy that schedules between 2 -4 pm at your house.

Only the first two cuts had any serious impact on the internet, says Beckert. Those cables near Alexandria, Egypt account for 76 percent of the capacity through the Suez canal -- connecting Europe with the Middle East, North Africa and the India sub-continent.

Once those failures sensitized a conspiracy-happy net, it was natural that other cable failures would be found to feed the frenzy, because they occur all the time.

Repairs to two key cables carrying 3/4 of the traffic between Europe and Asia are in full swing and so is the wired internet chattering class - well, those that can still easily get online. Egyptian repair crews decided to map a new sea route as they repair the cable. Built into the architecture of these cables is the ability to reroute traffic to distribute the load across other networks. Most of the time it is seamless and the end user happily clicks away without knowing. Cue music from Jaws, this time that did not happen. Cyberwarfare is not off the table in the conspiracy realm.

In the past five years, both fiction and nonfiction treat cyber warfare with more respect, as it is a major tool in sophisticated governments arsenal as well as those that use terrorist means. A good primer is useful. This one entitled Black Ice: The Invisible Threat of Cyber Terrorism allows the budding conspiracy theorist to get grounded in facts before spouting off on the recently repaired interweb.

Al Jazeera Forges Ahead Gaining Fans

Al Jazeera's English home/front page is quietly captivating with a variety of coverage missing in other news sites. Its interesting with a real international flavor. News stories are covered in depth and with reporters who might shock some in the western world. Usually younger or hip viewers catch Al Jazeera on YouTube because its a high quality broadcast.

US cable services are skittish in offering the programming, based in large part on propaganda espoused from the administration when Al Jazeera questioned American leadership. But Al Jazeera is front and center in the Pentagon, providing valuable sources of information about the entire globe from many viewpoints, including but not singularly an Arab perspective.

Outstanding in-depth coverage of the plight of Asian laborers working in the Gulf highlight's Al Jazeera's investigative journalism. The program called "Blood, Sweat & Tears" is devastating in its scope and profiling individuals choosing suicide because of financial obligations owed to their recruiters. The amount of exclusive access afforded the journalist is stunning. Check your local listings for the program - the links lists viewing times in August.

Nigel Parsons, Managing Director of Al Jazeera, is making the business case for inclusion in programming offerings. Al Jazeera's chief makes a special point to reassure cable officials in Singapore about their positive journalistic ethics.

A former American Marine is now a reporter for Al Jazeera. Josh has written an excellent riveting insider's book, Mission Al Jazeera: Build A Bridge Seek the Truth, Change the World; detailing his time as soldier and the amazing freedom he now has a reporter for Al Jazeera. People all over the world are noticing:

Josh Rushing was a member of the US marine corps who acted for 14 years as a media liaison officer who crossed over to the other side. His "conversion" began when he was assigned, at the outbreak of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, to the Doha command centre. His first surprise was to discover that Al Jazeera "was a real news organisation and not a front company for anti-American propaganda,."

Josh was the truth teller in Control Room - a rare movie about the media's failures in covering the Iraq War.