An Occupation-fighting Cyber Museum, the U2-charist and an Iranian Woody
January 30th, 2007 by Menachem Wecker
Jerusalem-born, Ramallah-based Khalil Rabah fights occupation by turning to the internet and using it “as a springboard into a virtual space without confinement or limitation.” His work, 10 years in the making, called 50,320 Names, gathers the names of 50,320 historic structures in Palestine. He says:
Occupation doesn’t allow for restoration … There is no infrastructure for reconstruction and people don’t have the resources, anyway. I thought there must be a strategy and a new way to narrate things. Can we imagine? Can we play? [The Daily Star]
Swastikas can breathe a sigh of relief; they are safe. The legislation, widely challenged by Hindus who cited the swastika’s role as a Hindu peace symbol, initially called for banning the symbol, but now “will not seek to prohibit specific symbols such as swastikas.” [India eNews]
Now the hymns of the Mass have mass appeal to the masses? In a move being called the U2-charist, Mysterious Ways and Beautiful Day are now part of at least one Mass service. [CBC]
The “Iranian Woody Allen,” Bahman Farmanara, banned from Iran for his films, is the subject of “Storm Warnings” at the Film Society of Lincoln Center (New York). [The Daily Star]
NYU is not quite saving the world, but its archaeologists are joining others from Yale and UPenn and teaming up with engineers from the Institute of Fine Arts to save a 5,000-year-old Egyptian monument. The Abydos Project has a catch: the workers have to employ “the ancient techniques.” [Washington Square News]