042610

the migration of the pomegranate had started its journey from the region of persia and the himalayas. Traced back thorugh its remains from around three thousand years ago, it has now travelled its way through europe, asia, africa, to latin america and the caribbean. throughout the years it has been considered a tonic for the heart and throat, and as an external agent it is also known to be good for your skin and to stop bleeding.

041210

he offered me ancient coins from the roman empire, and some others from the ottoman empire. the souvenir vendor that was, whom within his store was a sign that said “fake genuine watches”, and offered many other made-in-china gifts. knowing these were fake coins, i picked a set and bought them for a relatively high price.. like five dollars? what’s the exchange rate on experience and cultural exchange? afterall, the vendor was pretty nice, funny, and charismatic, but the key point was that he was ‘cool’ about it. he wasn’t trying too hard.

040510

these bracelets were everywhere. bracelets, pendants, rings, all kinds of decorations with these nazars were everywhere in turkey. these droplet shaped concentric circles are usually made of glass with a sequence of different blues making a “blue eye”. made to protect any superstitious person from the evil eyes or looks around.

032510

these filtered selections of work are the ones with flaws. from the detailed eye and standards of the artist, these scraps will not be worth much, which i admire so much in a way. standards, where the value of craft and detail is emphasized is what allows us to appreciate a superior product. however, on the other hand it makes us more superficial and at the same time we loose more energy and waste efforts away. once again, where do we draw the line?

030610

this shot was taken inside the bahrain national museum in manama. this sample of islamic calligraphy (commonly known as arabic) was handwritten from an old script, but i’m not even sure what it means or where it’s from. however, i do enjoy the artistic qualities of its elegant and simplistic strokes. these writings are oftern considered as the most significant example of islamic art as the arabic script was the means to espress the qu’ran.

011110

120109

101009

interesting curtains and pattern i noticed in the .bahrain national museum. it is an amazing place inside and out for both tourists and the own bahraini locals.

100309

happy mid-autumn festival. also known as the moon festival, is a popular harvest festival celebrated by asians. it is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the chinese calendar (or lunar calendar), parallel to the solar equinoxes as the moon is roundest and fullest. it is traditionally celebrated with family and moon cakes.
just to clarify, this photo was taken two years ago on a full moon night in the middle of the dessert, as it rose from the dunes. it is not the same moon you’ll see tonight.

081409

taken from the desk of an artist in a bahraini cultural center. it was like a sanctuary for rich historical and cultural works carried on through legacies through painting, sculture, music, and many other crafty skills like weaving in different mediums. the large variety of techniques used was art in itself, plus being able to observe the most traditional tools in the other side of the world just makes it so much better(?). life is odd as such.
happy birthday nano.