[Ponte Alto] Craft heritage of Oman

[Sarah Toich]

http://www.sqcc.org/events/events.htm#craft

Please note: the RSVP number was listed incorrectly in our e-newsletter. The
correct telephone number is 202.261.1690. We thank you for your patience.

Introduction by H.E. Hunaina Sultan Al-Mughairy, Omani Ambassador to the
United States. 

The traditional craft industries of Oman are among the most important
cultural survivals in the Arabian Peninsula. Influenced by Oman¹s history as
a trading nation, these crafts reflect Arab, Middle Eastern, Indian,
African, and Persian heritage. Across the centuries and across the country,
from Musandam to Dhofar, resourceful Omani craftspeople have created objects
of functional utility and exquisite artistry. Neil Richardson and Marcia
Dorr, co-authors of the beautiful two-volume work The Craft Heritage of
Oman, spent ten years researching and documenting these rich craft
traditions. In their slide-illustrated lecture, they will talk about both
their research methodology and the crafts themselves, from traditional dhows
to Bedouin masks, from date palm baskets to the khanjar dagger. This
remarkable compendium, commissioned for the Omani Craft Heritage
Documentation Project, testifies to the importance the Sultanate places on
perpetuating culture and heritage for the benefit of future generations.

The Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center is proud to sponsor "The Indian Ocean from
Muscat to the Spice Islands" in the Freer and Sackler Galleries' upcoming
exhibition "Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and
17th Centuries," which opens June 23, 2007.

RSVP at info at sqcc.org or 202.261.1690 by Feb. 8.


-- 
For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of
all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all
other work is but preparation.
Rainer Maria Rilke