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Muslim women from new angles
Muslim women from new angles Sarah Young / 15 June 2013 Artists in the UAE are calling people to visit a new online exhibition to expose themselves to the plight and success of Muslim women around the world, and challenge common stereotypes. Artist and University of Sharjah College of Fine Arts and Design lecturer Dr Fatima Zahra Hassan said Emirati women, in particular, should view a new online exhibition (http://muslima.imow.org) showcasing the stories of Muslim women from around the world. “I just feel that women here are not exposed, especially some Emirati women…they’re living in a cocoon…a utopia which is perfect and some don’t know what is happening outside and how women are suffering around the world.” Hassan is one of the three Sharjah-based artists featuring on Muslima: Muslim Women’s Arts and Voices, which is a global online exhibition from the International Museum of Women, incorporating art and the written word to explore identity and break stereotypes. Originally from Pakistan, Hassan trained at the London Royal College in Indo-Islamic, Mughal and Persian Painting techniques, with an emphasis on Art of Book. Hassan, Sharjah-based painter Haafiza Sayed and writer Dalia Merzaban will be holding workshops about their crafts and how their art forms have helped develop their identity, followed by a panel discussion, “How do you know who I am”, at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation today. Hassan added the exhibition had really opened her own eyes up to both positive and negative aspects of being a Muslim woman. “The texts, images and photos were really overwhelming. “But I got to know more about the positive things about Muslim women all over the world.” Hassan has done a lot of voluntary work in Pakistan and the UK, including in flood refugee camps with women and children. “So I had seen so much misery and tragedy… but this exhibition showed a much broader side of Muslim women. I came to know about a (Pakistani) woman who just reached the peak of Mt Everest… and then I did a lot of research about women in developing countries who had achieved a lot, and working in areas that are very uncommon for women to work in.” Despite the perception that art was not a career, meaning many creatives here went into interior design, multimedia or graphic design instead, there were a growing number of female Arab artists coming through, she said. However, not many newer Emirati artists were dealing with women’s issues. “Because most of these women are coming from privileged backgrounds so they can’t think of issues, apart from being more free and independent … they have got everything. “If you look at the (exhibition) website, the best works are from American, Iranian, Afghan and Pakistani American artists. The photos are really outstanding…really thought-provoking concepts and ideas.” Sayed, originally from India and who has lived in Sharjah for five years, said that even if a “a small part of worldwide opinion about Muslim women (is changed as a result of the exhibition), it (is) a step forward.” She got involved because it was a chance to challenge recognised stereotypes associated with Muslim women. “We’re constantly being judged by our appearances and attire… (people think) we’re oppressed, we don’t have a life, maybe we are not educated, that we belong to a society that dominates us. Yes there are some societies like that, but look at the UAE …women are working and having all kinds of jobs.” These stereotypes came from both outside and within their own community, she said. “If you don’t stick to a particular way of dressing, you’re labelled un-Islamic or astray…that’s what my second painting is about…she is judged in and out of her own community no matter what she wears.” Sayed will be talking at the workshop about how she found herself through art. After “getting lost” and losing the will to paint following her formal training, she became an interior designer and only years later picked up the paintbrush again, determined to ‘unlearn’ what she knew, and rediscover her own style. “Since then, I have grown spiritually through my art…10 years ago, if someone asked me what I liked, I wouldn’t know what to say…now I know what gives me pleasure, what inspires and drives me.” — sarah@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Good turnout forces Iranian voting time extension in UAE
Good turnout forces Iranian voting time extension in UAE Amira Agarib / 15 June 2013 A four-hour voting extension was put to good use by some of the hundreds of UAE-based Iranian citizens who voted in Friday’s election, which put an end to the tenure of longtime incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. An official at the Embassy in Abu Dhabi said that everything had proceeded well, with all security measures provided by police officers and voters casting a ballot for one of the eligible six candidates freely. Voting took place at the Iranian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, Consulate General in Dubai and Exhibition Centre in Sharjah from 8am. Voting was extended three times in an effort to allow more people their democratic right, with voting finally closing at 9pm at the heavily policed diplomatic missions, with more than 10 police officers checking citizenship before allowing voters entry at the Consulate General building in Dubai. A Khaleej Times photographer saw dozens of voters turn up in the dying minutes of the election at the Consulate General in Dubai, though a spokesman was unable to give a number. The spokesman told Khaleej Times on Friday evening that a result would be expected by tomorrow, in which a replacement to the controversial Ahmadinejad who has come to the end of the two terms he is constitutionally eligible for, would be announced. “There’s been a good turnout, the people are coming…but we need time…to collect the votes,” he said. “(By Sunday) I hope we’ll be finished with the election.” No violations had been recorded either. Thirty-five-year-old Iranian Hassan Ali said that people were very excited and wanted to participate in the first presidential poll since the 2009 contest. People should respect the results of the election and do their best to bring prosperity to their country, he said. However, Mohamed N. said that many people had not registered and were seemingly indifferent, while others were scared to even express their political opinions. He said for expatriates, it was very difficult to have an opinion as many did not properly know the six presidential candidates, though the large number of Iranians in the UAE meant the votes of UAE-based Iranians were vital in determining who was going to win. news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
WB cuts global growth outlook
WB cuts global growth outlook (Bloomberg) / 13 June 2013 The World Bank cut its global growth forecast for this year after emerging markets from China to Brazil slowed more than projected, while budget cuts and slumping investor confidence deepened Europe’s contraction. The world economy will expand 2.2 per cent, less than a January forecast for 2.4 per cent growth and slower than last year’s 2.3 per cent, the bank said in a report released on Wednesday in Washington. It lowered its prediction for developing economies and sees the euro region’s gross domestic product shrinking 0.6 per cent. In contrast, forecasts were raised for the US and Japan, which was helped by fiscal and monetary stimulus. “Hard data so far this year point to a global economy that is slowly getting back on its feet,” the Washington-based lender said in its twice-yearly report. “However, the recovery remains hesitant and uneven.” Efforts by European policy makers to stem the region’s debt crisis have alleviated the main risk to global growth and financial-market stability, according to the lender. The bank now sees smaller threats, including lower commodity prices and the impact of unwinding unprecedented monetary stimulus in advanced economies including the US, the talk of which has sent currencies from India to Thailand lower and Mexican bond yields higher in recent weeks. Asian equities tumbled on Thursday, with the region’s benchmark index headed towards a correction, and the yen rose to the strongest in two months against the dollar after the World Bank cut its growth forecast amid concern central banks may pare monetary stimulus. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped as much as three per cent, erasing this year’s gains. Bond risk in Asia climbed, and emerging-market stocks slid to a nine-month low, led by Chinese and Thai shares. “In the short run, if the US becomes a little more attractive, there will be some marginal movement of money,” World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu said in an interview on Wednesday. “I don’t think this is the kind of fluctuation that will last past two months or so.” The withdrawal of accommodative policy may have consequences in the longer run as interest rates in developing countries rise more than in their industrial counterparts, slowing investment and growth, according to the report. The Bank of Korea kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday after a surprise cut in May aimed at boosting an economy hit by a yen drop that gives Japanese companies an edge over Korean exporters. New Zealand’s central bank left its Official Cash Rate at 2.5 per cent and cut its growth forecast for the year through March 2014 to three per cent from 3.3 per cent. For next year, the World Bank said it expects three per cent growth worldwide, compared with a 3.1 per cent advance in its January forecast. The World Bank predicts the US will grow two per cent this year compared with a forecast in January for a 1.9 per cent expansion, though fiscal tightening is holding it back. The new forecast for the 17-country euro area compares with a 0.1 per cent contraction seen in January. Developing countries collectively were forecast by the World Bank to expand 5.1 per cent, less than the 5.5 per cent estimated in January. China’s growth outlook was cut to 7.7 per cent from 8.4 per cent, according to the World Bank’s report. The 6.1 per cent forecast for India was reduced to 5.7 per cent and Brazil’s was lowered to 2.9 per cent from 3.4 per cent. — Continue reading
