Event Details

Date/Time: 

Sep 23 2010 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Price: 

Free to the public, donations welcome, include light refreshments

Where: 

Levantine Cultural Center
5998 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90035-2657
one block east of Crescent Heights, between La Cienega & Fairfax
street parking and underground at the CVS across the street (till 10 pm only)

Al-Ejazeh test sheet: Naskh, Ruqaa, Thuluth, Deewani (Sura 1 & 112), ink on paperIMAN and the Levantine Center present a rare lecture by Dr. Huda Totonji, the master calligrapher, artist, researcher, and educator who explores the use of text and image in a variety of visual methods through the use of Islamic Calligraphy.

She will introduce traditional and non-traditional calligraphy styles, such as Al Naskh, Al Ruqa, Al Deewani, Al Farsi, and Al Thuluth manuscripts.

By Bavand Behpoor

Artist Alireza FaniAlireza Fani is an artist obsessed with arrangement of visual elements in his artworks in order to create an exact delusion: aesthetics of fashion photography combined with the precision of landscape photography in creating photos of pretty women who are indifferent to the camera or the primitive environment surrounding them: they are as much models as the bones and fishes in his works. They are there to speak of those, whose lives, like fishes outside water, have been spent in isolation from the environment yet under its influence, those who have carried and protected in silence a different life under their thin overcoats. The photos remain silent to illustrate mere agony.

SuspensionIt might be said that a major source of misery is men's ability to communicate everything apart from agony. It is considered sadistic and discourteous of course to elaborate on your extensive agony. The wretched who comply with the fortunate's code of conduct perfectly understand misery.

Event Details

Date/Time: 

Oct 29 2010 7:00pm - Nov 30 2010 10:00pm

Price: 

Free to the public

Where: 

inside/Outside Gallery
Levantine Cultural Center
5998 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90035-2657
one block east of Crescent Heights
ample street parking or across in the CVS underground lot (till 10 pm only)

Swimming Down the Nile. Faces from Ethiopia to Cairo

Ramadan's Lanterns: mixed media, by Olfet AgramaA retrospective by Olfet Agrama

October 29-November 30, 2010

The work of Olfet Agrama spans four decades depicting people, landscapes and still life in the Middle East, Europe and the United States. The current show includes 30 works from her paintings on cultures of Africa and North Africa.

Educated at Cairo University with a Bachelor of Arts, Olfet Agrama received a Master's in English Literature from UCLA and studied art at the UCLA Art Department Extension, and later at the Brentwood Art Center 2002-2003. Ms. Agrama has participated in artist workshops in Provence, France from 1999-2003, and in Mojacar, Spain, from 1990-2002.

Event Details

Date/Time: 

Oct 9 2010 12:00pm - Oct 10 2010 5:00pm

Price: 

Free to the public
Reserve a seat: art@houseoflebanon.com

Where: 

2nd City Council Gallery and Performance Space
435 Alamitos Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90802
Info 562.901.0997

Beyond Borders Art ExhibitFeaturing art, music, and film by American Lebanese, Middle Eastern & American Artists, this event takes place on Saturday, Oct 9 from 12 noon until 5 pm. There is a VIP reception from 5 pm to 7 pm and artists' reception 7 pm to 9 pm. Guests are also invited to join in creating the Lebanese Flag Mosaic Art wall piece. On Sunday, Oct 9 the exhibit continues with an art viewing and film screening from 12 noon to 5 pm, and includes a special mosaic workshop from 1 pm to 3 pm for children under age 18.

Participating Artists include:

Visual artists: Doris Bittar, Huguette Caland, Carole Choucair Oueijan, Michelle Constantine, Jeanice Deeb, Dalaa Al-Jundi Faytrouni, Ronald Feghali, Hanna Hajjar, Reem Hammad, Sam Hassan, Kinda Hibrawi, Mohammad Kaakati, Carrie Kaba, Dina Khouri, Koko, Michael Rababy, Linda Dalal Sawaya, Nouha Sinno, Dr. Raja Srour, Wafa Tarafi, Wafa Daya Tarrab and Zareh.

Dia al-AzzawiDia al-Azzawi was born in Baghdad in 1939. He is an outstanding artist, art consultant, and author who has written several articles about Iraqi contemporary art and Arab art. He is a prominent artist of the Iraq school who played a role in the promotion of Iraqi and Arab art to wider audiences, notably through numerous publications and exhibitions of his and his contemporaries' works. In 1969 he formed the art group New Vision along with other artists such as Rafa al-Nasiri, Mohammed Muhriddin, Ismail Fattah, Hachem al Samarchi, and Saleh al-Jumaie. Al-Azzawi joined the One Dimension group that Shakir Hassan al-Said initiated but remained within the fold of New Vision until 1972. Beyond painting, Al-Azzawi's work includes sculptures, prints, and drawings, as well as books through which visual art interacts with prose and poetry. He has exhibited extensively in the Middle East, North Africa, United States, India, Brazil, and Europe, including a retrogressive exhibition, "Dia Azzawi," at the Institute du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris in 2002. In 1976, Al-Azzawi relocated to London to work as an art consultant at the Iraqi Cultural Centre.

Hussein Chayalan fashion imagesAfter the intellectual and physical toil often involved in the production of art, Hussein Chalayan broke the mold by laying his collection of silk dresses to rest-in the most literal sense. While it was considered unusual, the burial and months-later exhumation of his graduate collection instantly put Chalayan on the charts.

Hussein Chalayan (Hüseyin Çaglayan) was born and educated in Nicosia, Cyprus before attending Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London, England. Graduating with honors and a BA in fashion in 1993, Chalayan's talent would continue to progress from the success of his graduate collection, "The Tangent Flows." This collection not only instigated his career as his eponymous label was launched a year later in 1994, but helped him achieve global success as a highly innovative contemporary artist and fashion designer. Chalayan has twice been named British Designer of the Year and has received many awards and honors since.

Reviewed by Mischa Geracoulis

"Arbol de la Vida": by Vahé BerberianRecently I attended the opening reception for contemporary Armenian artist Vahé Berberian's latest collection of paintings, "Involuntary Laughter". The visionary abstract expressionist has once again produced a series of thought-provoking paintings.

The title "Involuntary Laughter" might imply entertainment or triviality—a would-be departure from Berberian's style. Armenians, as Berberian has been noted to say, tend towards seriousness. Indeed, many of his earlier paintings have a solemn, dark overtone. In contrast the works in the "Laughter" exhibit are almost effervescent. Did he draw the title from his own life experience as a celebrated monologuist and comedian in the Armenian language?

Huguette CalandBy Aldis Browne

It's a good bet that when we look back at any country's history, the arts have gone a long way toward defining its national identity. Most politicians and statesmen are soon forgotten, wars blur into memory and inventions long outlive even the most renowned inventors. When we consider Italy aren't Dante Alighieri, Antonio Vivaldi and Leonardo da Vinci longest remembered? Who better typifies Scandinavia than Edvard Munch, Henrik Ibesn and Edvard Grieg? England reveres Shakespeare; the Netherlands-van Gogh; France-The Impressionists. Influences of art and culture are indispensible elements of historical perspective.

"I Save Babylon" Benefit Concert Features World MusicLevantine Cultural Center and Souk77 Productions will host I Save Babylon, a benefit concert featuring the legendary Cheb i Sabbah, along with MC Rai, Sila and guests, performing North African, AfroFunk and world fusion at the historic Warfield Theatre in the heart of San Francisco on July 17, 2010.

Features house/electronica DJ's including Algeria's DJ Pheeko Dubfunk Trio.

I Save Babylon is the first of an ongoing annual concert event whose mission is to raise money to provide instruments to community outreach and youth centers for the children of Iraq. Some Iraqi children have never touched a musical instrument due to devastating effects of poverty and ongoing conflicts. This concert was created in the hope of bringing inspiration to the children of Iraq so they can envision a brighter future for themselves and their community through unity and music.

When asked about the purpose of the concert, MC Rai stated that "...having an opportunity to express myself musically while growing up in Tunisia gave me the ability to adapt to different cultures and understand the real meaning of tolerance. This is why I wanted to create an evening of not only sharing the music of Cheb Khaled and North Africa, but also an opportunity to give back to young people that need the hope that musical expression creates."

Event Details

Date/Time: 

Jul 17 2010 8:00pm - 11:00pm

Price: 

General $25, VIP $100
Can't attend? Donations are welcome. Click here to donate to "I Save Babylon"

Where: 

Warfield Theatre
982 Market Street
San Francisco CA 94102
415.345.0900

"I Save Babylon" Benefit Concert: with Cheb i Sabbah, MC Rai, Sila, Hamsa Lila et alLevantine Cultural Center and Souk77 Productions host I Save Babylon, a benefit concert featuring the legendary Cheb i Sabbah, along with MC Rai, Sila and guests, performing North African, AfroFunk and world fusion at the historic Warfield Theatre in the heart of San Francisco on July 17, 2010.

Features house/electronica DJ's including Algeria's DJ Pheeko Dubfunk Trio.

I Save Babylon is the first of an ongoing annual concert event whose mission is to raise money to provide instruments to community outreach and youth centers for the children of Iraq. Some Iraqi children have never touched a musical instrument due to devastating effects of poverty and ongoing conflicts. This concert was created in the hope of bringing inspiration to the children of Iraq so they can envision a brighter future for themselves and their community through unity and music.

Can't attend the show in San Francisco? You can make a donation to "I Save Babylon" here. You'll receive a receipt for your taxes and an update on where the instruments are going!

When asked about the purpose of the concert, MC Rai stated that "...having an opportunity to express myself musically while growing up in Tunisia gave me the ability to adapt to different cultures and understand the real meaning of tolerance. This is why I wanted to create an evening of not only sharing the music of Cheb Khaled and North Africa, but also an opportunity to give back to young people that need the hope that musical expression creates."