More Jewels from the Doha Museum of Islamic Art
More guests, and another trip to the Doha Museum of Islamic Art. I never tire of the place. Most of all, when I walk in, I just take a deep breath, breathe in the serenity.
It doesn’t hurt that there is also a wonderful, clean ladies room.
Every time we are there, we see something new and wonderful, something that was there, but we hadn’t noticed before. Here are some things I saw this time:
Karabaa in Transition
This post is for my friends not here, friends who often accompanied me on trips to Karabaa and all the funky magical shops we would find there. I dropped off the towels at the Mumtaz Tailor to be embroidered, English on one end, Arabic on the other, and while the devastation is no longer so gut-wrenchingly stunning as it was – I guess I am becoming desensitized – I can also see changes.
A lot of the rubble has been carted away. So it makes me wonder, is this what The Pearl is being built on? Is rubble from the old Suq al Waqif and these old buildings along Musherib and Karabaa going to the sea to become reclaimed land? If so, isn’t this going to boggle the minds of archaeologists a couple thousand years from now who are going to find all this stuff jumbled together and try to figure it out?
Yes, yes, it’s true, my mind does wander into trivial areas . . .
From the old parking lot, looking towards Karabaa where the honey man used to be:
To help you know what you are looking at – remember the sign that shows people how to park? It’s still standing – so far 🙂
I wanted you to be able to see just how high the pile of rubble is:
All the rubble that was The Garden is now gone, as if it never was:
OK, now, in the midst of all this noise and demolition, the rubble and the trucks and bulldozers, there is this oasis of serenity. I often see old men sitting outside on those old fashioned built-in-plaster seating areas, or on the bench. Inside, it looks like it might even be a home for old indigents, but sort of palatial, very green, and well kept up. Is there anyone who can tell me what this is?
Doha Museum of Islamic Art Wins Coveted Award
What I love the most about this award is that it takes into account the usage of local materials. It’s also something I love about The Pearl development; all those buildings and villas built on the rubble carted away from earlier demolition projects and turned into reclaimed land. 🙂 Re-cycling to the max!
Museum of Islamic Art bags architecture award
Web posted at: 10/6/2009 1:19:1
Source ::: The PENINSULA
Dubai: Museum of Islamic Art in Doha was awarded “Overall Project of the Year” at the 2nd Annual Middle East Architect Awards.
Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) was presented with the award, for the Museum of Islamic Art – Doha, at a ceremony hosted by the Middle East Architect magazine.
The annual ceremony is the most prestigious event dedicated to recognise outstanding architectural projects in the region.
The Museum of Islamic Art was chosen for its traditional design principles that use indigenous materials and processes and integrates them with contemporary technology to create familiar, functional and environmentally sustainable architecture.
Accepting the award on behalf of QMA, Omar Chaikhouni, Manager of Public Relations and Information said: “We are delighted and honoured to be recognised as the top overall project in 2009 among all the nominees from the region. The Middle East Architect awards ceremony is a great initiative and we wish it all the success in years to come.”
Organised by ITP Business Publishing, the lavish awards ceremony took place at the Westin Dubai with the presence of more than 200 leading professionals from the region’s architecture industry, including architects, developers, service providers, contractors and building owners.
The 2nd Annual Middle East Architect Awards set out to raise the profile of the industry and reward and recognise those that have made significant contributions to its development.
Ten awards were presented at the ceremony in categories that covered a number of fields, from infrastructure project of the year to mixed-use development of the year, and from engineering firm of the year to architect of the year.
The winners were judged by a panel of experts, which consisted of industry-leading academics, architects and engineers from around the Middle East.
Doha Gallery 5 October
There are still pockets of serenity; one of the older fishing boats moored in Doha:
This isn’t a great shot, shooting through the windshield while at a stop-light, but this is the Barzan Towers. It used to be one of my very favorite buildings in town; I loved the way it incorporated some of the old Gulf themes into it’s modern day structure. Now, it is dwarfed by taller buildings, some of which also incorporate traditional details, most of which don’t. You really have to look for it to see it now.
Spectacular Diamond Find
On my Christmas wish list, LLOOOLLLL!
From BBC News
One of the largest, high quality diamonds discovered to date has been found at a mine in South Africa, mining group Petra Diamonds has revealed.
The 507 carat stone, which could be worth in excess of $20m (ÂŁ12.5m), was found with three other large diamonds.
They were discovered at the famous Cullinan mine, where the largest diamond in history was found more than 100 years ago.
The new find is being analysed by experts to determine its true value.
A 480 carat diamond found at the end of last year fetched $18m.
“The Cullinan mine has again given the world a spectacularly beautiful and important diamond,” said Petra’s chief executive Johan Dippenaar.
“Initial indications are that it is of exceptional colour and clarity, which suggest extraordinary potential for its polished yield.”
Petra said the stone is one of the 20 biggest, high quality diamonds to have been found.
A 168 carat stone was also discovered, alongside one of 58 carats and another of 53 carats.
The largest diamond to be discovered, named the Cullinan, was 3,106 carats. It was cut into nine separate stones, many of which are in the British Crown Jewels.
Everything Old Comes New Again
I love the Sephora ads, even if they won’t mail anything to me in Qatar. I have to use all my points when I am back in the USA. I still love seeing what I am missing, and if I really really want something, I can usually find someplace to order it or someone to take a run to Sephora to get it for me, especially when I am getting low on just-the-right-shade-of-eyeshadow. And no, no, the Sephoras in Kuwait and Qatar don’t carry all the brands that a full-fledged Sephora in France or Germany or the USA will carry. No Urban Decay for sure.
But this – this has a familiar ring to it. When I was young, even a kid, I think there was some lipstick that made the same claim, you put it on and it turns the right color for you.
So how does it do that?
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa AlSanea
“Have you read Girls of Riyadh?” my friend asked me on the phone, and when I said I had not, she said she would bring it to me.
“It’s an easy read” she said, “it will take you an afternoon.”
Sometimes life intruded. It took me a little longer. I had expected this to be lightweight, along the lines of the shopaholic books, read ’em and forget ’em. Airport reading, stuff you save to read when you know you will have time to kill.
I was surprised. I guess I had gotten the impression it was lightweight because I had seen it discussed on some of the blogs, and there are some light-hearted moments in the book. The four young women are well drawn, and their experiences are handled with sensitivity. She never reveals which character from the book she is, but I have my suspicions. 🙂
Each girl has her own unique experiences as she reaches young womanhood, and mating. Although the experiences are treated deftly, there is a serious undercurrent that belies the light tone. The underlying circumstances surrounding the mating rituals in a country so tradition-bound as Saudi Arabia turn mating into a dark ritual, full of unseen pits and minefields.
The very worst fear during these years is the wagging tongues of others. I have heard this theme over and over in my own dealings with young women in this part of the world.
“You know, khalto, a woman’s reputation is like glass, it is easily shattered,” explained my young-woman Qatteri friend, solemnly.
(for my Western readers, Khalto means ‘aunt’ literally, and is a term used respectfully for family friends, meaning ‘sister of my mother’)
“I don’t want to get married,” she continued, “They come for you as a bride and they are so nice and they make you feel so in love with them, but then, when you are married, they change. Men are . . . men are . . ”
“Dogs?” I asked.
“Yes! Yes!,” she exclaimed, “Dogs!” (pause)
“How did you know, Khalto?”
LLLLOOOOLLLLLLLLLL! It’s one of those moments when you know we are all more alike than we are different.
Girls of Riyadh is a worthy read. It is thought-provoking, and compassion-provoking. You grow to love these girls, and you hope a happy ending for them.
BitJockeys Suggestions: Fishermen and Skyline
OK, I made it more panorama by cropping out the excess sky, and I bumped up the saturation a little, and that is about all I can do, other than sepia, which doesn’t look right at all, and some other general effects that don’t enhance.
BTW, do you notice that the Sheraton – that pyramid shape at about 2/3 way across skyline – has just disappeared? It used to be the most striking building on the skyline and now, it disappears.
Slow Saturday; Yousef’s Take in Fisherman Skyline Photo
I LOVE what Yousef did. It’s a slow Saturday, nothing much going on. If you want a crack at this photo, take it. Play with it. Send it back to me, show us what you’ve done. Keep it clean. 🙂
Yousef:
is that a WOW or what?
So . . . I don’t have all these tools. Go for it. The shot is in the Eid morning photos you will find here so have some fun with it.
Amateur Finds Treasure Trove In English Field
I love stories like this one, which I found on National Public Radio where you can read more on this fabulous story. I remember hearing once of a person who thought everything had already been dug-up. . . . wrong! so wrong! There are so many things out there, just waiting to be discovered!
September 24, 2009
A member of a British metal detecting club is being credited with finding the biggest cache of Anglo-Saxon relics ever discovered, experts in England revealed Thursday.
Terry Herbert, 55, stumbled upon more than 1,345 gold and silver artifacts as he walked across a freshly plowed field with his metal detector in Staffordshire in early July. Experts said the number of items could rise to 1,500 when more relics are extracted from 56 mounds of dirt that were also removed from the site.
Herbert told the British newspaper The Independent that finding the historic artifacts was more fun than winning the lottery.
“My mates at the [metal detecting] club always say if there is a gold coin in a field, I will be the one to find it. I dread to think what they’ll say when they hear about this,” he said.
Referred to as the “Staffordshire Hoard,” the find consists mostly of items used in warfare, including 84 pommel caps and 71 sword hilt collars removed from swords and daggers, according to the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. No sword or dagger blades were found. One expert said the treasures appear to have been a collection of war trophies.
At least two Christian crosses and parts of a helmet were also discovered. The gold items weighed about 11 pounds, and many were engraved with Bible verses or decorated with garnet stones.
Michelle Brown, a professor of medieval manuscript studies, said the style of lettering on many of the relics dates back to the 7th or 8th century, and they are likely to be valued in millions of dollars.
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