Friday, February 25, 2011

Kuwait 50/20 exhibit on AUK Homepage

From left to right, Mr. Hossain Afsar, Ms. and Mr. Samer Khanachet, and Professor William Andersen

Link to AUK Homepage article about my participation in Kuwait 50/20 exhibition: AUK Professor Andersen Participates in 50/20 Exhibition

Monday, February 21, 2011

review of my work in the 50/20 exhibit!

Persian Art Week at AUK!

Dear friends of art in Kuwait,

Prominent Persian artists Mr. Hassan Meshkinfam has been invited to the American University of Kuwait this week to give talks and lead workshops for our students, however a number of events surrounding his visit are open to the general public.  Please feel free to join us if possible.  We have put together a schedule of events that we are calling Persian Art week.  The events open to the public are as follows:

1)        Monday- Wed., Feb. 21-23:  Photography & Painting Exhibition.  Liberal Arts Building, 5th Floor. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

2)        Wednesday, Feb. 23: Contemporary Persian Art and Design, Lecture by guest lecturer, Mr. Hassan Meshkinfam and Professors Maryam Hosseinnia, William Andersen, Gholam Vatandoust in the Auditorium from 12:30-3:00 p.m.

I know that everyone is busy with the celebrations this week in Kuwait, however we had a number of visa problems with Mr. Meshkinfam's visit so this is the only week that we could hold these events.

See above poster for more details.

Hope to see you soon!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Protests in Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, etc...

Troops open live fire around Pearl roundabout in Manama after nightfall, at least 66 wounded.
Last Modified: 18 Feb 2011 20:55 GMT
Thousands gather for celebrations in Egyptian capital's Tahrir Square to mark the toppling of Hosni Mubarak a week ago.
Last Modified: 18 Feb 2011 11:01 GMT
At least 1,000 Arabs demonstrate to demand citizenship in Gulf country, leading to dozens of arrests.
Last Modified: 18 Feb 2011 20:52 GMT
Reports of deaths as thousands turn out to demand better service delivery and jobs from government.
Last Modified: 18 Feb 2011 14:50 GMT
Protesters take to the streets of West Bank city of Ramallah, saying time has come for Fatah and Hamas to come together.
Last Modified: 17 Feb 2011 19:32 GMT
Israeli army says three men working on shore were trying to plant bomb near security fence at northern border.
Last Modified: 17 Feb 2011 15:29 GMT
Government supporters and opposition activists clash at funeral procession for student killed in Tehran.
Last Modified: 16 Feb 2011 13:12 GMT
Israel's foreign minister says Tehran is about to send two warships through the Suez Canal for the first time in years.
Last Modified: 16 Feb 2011 20:05 GMT
Teenage blogger accused of spying for a foreign country sentenced to five years in jail after a closed-door hearing.
Last Modified: 15 Feb 2011 03:04 GMT

President Mahmoud Abbas re-assigns Salam Fayyad, who also resigned, to form new government.
Last Modified: 14 Feb 2011 08:59 GMT

Yemen observes 'Friday of Fury'
At least three killed as tens of thousands of demonstrators, both pro- and anti-government, march in several cities.
Last Modified: 18 Feb 2011 14:12 GMT

Monday, February 14, 2011

I have almost 50 artworks in this show so hope you can make it!

Kuwait 50/20
Sultan Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the 2nd part of the 50/20 on 15th Feb. 7 - 9pm.

50/20 is a two-part exhibition featuring a new generation of artists who are challenging the construction of history through visual practice.

As part of its mission to foment critical thinking through visual arts, Sultan Gallery has invited a number of artists, curators and similarly occupied individuals to superimpose their own visions of history in this exhibition commemorating 50 years of sovereignty within the State of Kuwait.

Exhibition Timings :
Opening : 15th Feb ; 7 - 9pm
16th ; 10am - 4pm & 7 - 9pm
17th - 24th ; 10am - 4pm ( Closed on Fridays & Saturdays & Public Holidays)

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Egyptian protesters thank facebook?

Interesting, I found this posted on facebook from one of my Egyptian friends (read the comments on the link too!):
 On behalf of all EGYPTIANS Thank u Mark

هذه الصفحة رمزية لتقديم الشكر للشاب مارك زوكربيرج منشئ الفيس بوك تعبيراً عن تقديرنا للفيس بوك وإمتناناً بما مثله من عامل حاسم ومساعد فى ثورتنا البيضاء

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Happy Chinese New Year!


Watching Thugs With Razors and Clubs at Tahrir Sq.

From one of my heroes, Nicholas D. Kristof:

Here's my column -- about watching thugs with clubs and razors at Tahrir, but
also being awed by two women defying them. If those two sisters can
stand up to Mubarak's gangsters, then why can't Western governments?
Why can't we all? Read the column, spread the word, and post your
...thoughts. http://nyti.ms/hwzM0Q

 
President Obama owes the democracy protesters being attacked in Egypt – and our own history and values – a much more forceful statement deploring the recent crackdown.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Yemeni Protests

Yemeni president says he won't seek another term
 
 
Yemeni demonstrators chant slogans and wave their national flags 
during a rally  calling for an end to the government of President Ali 
Abdullah Saleh, AP – Yemeni demonstrators chant slogans and wave their national flags during a rally calling for an end to … 
 
SANAA, Yemen – The Yemeni president told parliament on Wednesday he will not seek another term in office or hand power to his son — an apparent reaction to protests in this impoverished nation that have been inspired by Tunisia's revolt and the turmoil in Egypt.

The U.S.-allied Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for nearly 32 years, spoke to lawmakers in both houses of the assembly on the eve of mass rallies that the opposition has called for Thursday in all Yemeni provinces.

"I won't seek to extend my presidency for another term or have my son inherit it," Saleh told the parliament.

Saleh has earlier tried to defuse simmering tensions in Yemen by raising salaries for the army and by denying opponents' claims he plans to install his son as his successor.

But that hasn't stopped critics of his rule from taking to the streets of the capital, Sanaa. In January, tens of thousands gathered in days of demonstrations, boldly calling for Saleh to step down — a red line that few dissenters had previously dared to cross here.

Saleh's current term in office expires in 2013 but proposed amendments to the constitution could let him remain in power for two additional terms of ten years.

After the Tunisian revolt, which forced that country's president to flee into exile, and the mass protests in Egypt calling for the end of President Hosni Mubarak's 30 year-long rule, Saleh ordered income taxes slashed in half and instructed his government to control prices. He deployed anti-riot police and soldiers to several key areas in Sanaa and its surroundings to prevent riots.

But the street protests, led by opposition members and youth activists, continued, adding to the threats to Yemen's stability.

In the parliament Wednesday, Saleh called upon the opposition to meet for a dialogue on political reforms and their demands.

Opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri rejected the call for dialogue and expressed doubts about Saleh's pledge not to seek re-election. Al-Sabri said Saleh made a similar promise in 2006, but then failed to fulfill it, ran again and was re-elected.

"The calls for dialogue are not serious and are merely meant to be tranquilizers," al-Sabri told The Associated Press. He added that the opposition parties would meet later Wednesday to prepare an official response to Saleh's announcement.

Yemen is the Arab world's most impoverished nation and has become a haven for al-Qaida militants. Saleh's government is riddled with corruption, has little control outside the capital, and its main source of income — oil — could run dry in a decade.

Nearly half of Yemen's population lives below the poverty line of $2 a day and doesn't have access to proper sanitation. Less than a tenth of the roads are paved. Tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes by conflict, flooding the cities. The country is enduring a rebellion in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.

Saleh's ruling National Congress Party has 240 seats in the 301-member parliament. The opposition is a broad specter of mainly leftist and Islamic parties — the most prominent being the Socialists, who governed south Yemen before the north and the south merged in 1990, and the influential fundamentalist Islamic Islah Party. U.S. considers one of Islah's leaders, Sheik Abdul-Majid al-Zindani, an al-Qaida-linked terrorist.

As in Egypt, where Mubarak's son Gamal was believed to be preparing to succeed his father, Saleh's son Ahmed — an army brigadier and head of the presidential guard and special forces — was also believed to be groomed for succession.

Yemen has been the site of numerous anti-U.S. attacks dating back to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbor, which killed 17 American sailors. Radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, thought to be hiding in Yemen, is suspected of having inspired some of those attacks, including the deadly 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was also thought to be behind the attempted bombing of an American airliner landing in Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.

original story here:  Yemeni president says he won't seek another term

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

"million man march" in egypt - february 1st 2011

Share this with everyone inside Egypt to overcome the internet blackout

Google's SayNow rolls out service aimed at allowing Egyptians to tweet by voice

Google bought SayNow on Jan. 25 and less than a week later the company has rolled out a new service aimed at helping people in Egypt send messages on Twitter, using a phone.
Logo_reinventing The service, called Speak To Tweet, was announced Monday on Google's official blog and on an @Speak2tweet account on Twitter.
The move comes as protests in Egypt, calling for the ouster of 30-year-President Hosni Mubarak and other political reforms, are headed for an eighth day of action and the Internet and most phone service remains shut down.
Wael Ghonim, Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, was also reported missing in Egypt on Monday.
Ujjwal Singh, the co-founder of SayNow and AbdelKarim Mardini, a Google product manager in the Middle East and North Africa, wrote about the service, saying:
Like many people we've been glued to the news unfolding in Egypt and thinking of what we could do to help people on the ground. Over the weekend we came up with the idea of a speak-to-tweet service—the ability for anyone to tweet using just a voice connection.
We worked with a small team of engineers from Twitter, Google and SayNow, a company we acquired last week, to make this idea a reality. It's already live and anyone can tweet by simply leaving a voicemail on one of these international phone numbers (+16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855) and the service will instantly tweet the message using the hashtag #egypt. No Internet connection is required. People can listen to the messages by dialing the same phone numbers or going to twitter.com/speak2tweet.
We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone there.
An example of someone calling the international numbers and leaving a message is embedded above, and as noted in Singh and Mardini's statement, such messages can be heard at twitter.com/speak2tweet.
Social media platforms, such as SayNow's Speak To Tweet, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have aided protesters in Egypt, just as they did in Tunisia's overthrow of its government.
And it seems social media companies have taken note and shown support for the demonstrators in Egypt.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote a blog post declaring that "freedom of expression is a human right," and a Facebook spokesman sent a statement to the Technology blog saying: "A world without the Internet is unimaginable." Google owns YouTube and SayNow.

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles
twitter.com/nateog

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