AKTC Work in the world

Any Institutional activities in the world
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kmaherali
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Endangered heritage

http://dawn.com/2013/01/07/endangered-heritage-2/

Excerpt:

As they shrink and get damaged by human intervention, Pakistan is losing its immensely rich heritage. That we do not love and cherish our past is surely reflected in our regrettable condition today. Without a past and a woeful present, one shudders to think what the future will be like.

One can dwell at length on the plight of cities like Multan, Hyderabad, Lahore, Peshawar and even smaller towns like Bhera. Lahore’s walled city today is 70 per cent commercialised, with all its ancient walls knocked down to make way for commercialisation. When the Aga Khan Trust for Culture intervened, the trader-politicians of Lahore literally chased them out.

On the rebound, a former prime minister requested the Aga Khan to help conserve old Multan, and it goes to the credit of the Ismaili leader that he obliged.
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http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetai ... ombs-.html


Wed, 09 Jan 2013 IANS


Aga Khan Trust to conserve Qutub Shahi Tombs

Andhra Pradesh,Art/Culture/Books,

Hyderabad, Jan 9 (IANS) The Aga Khan Trust for Culture has come forward to take up the task of conserving and beautifying Qutub Shahi Tombs here.

The trust will spend Rs.90 crore over the next five years for the purpose.

A memorandum of understanding on this was signed Wednesday among Department of Archaeology and Museums, Quli Qutb Shah Urban Development Authority and Aga Khan Trust in the presence of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Reddy said conservation and renovation of the tombs would help protect cultural tradition of the historic city of Hyderabad.

The Quli Qutb Shah Archaeological Park, comprising of the Qutb Shahi Tombs Complex and Deccan Park, is one of the most significant medieval necropolises with 70 structures.

They include 40 mausoleums, 23 mosques, five step-wells/water structures, a 'hamam', pavilions, garden structures and enclosure walls built during the reign of Qutb Shahi dynasty that ruled the Hyderabad region for 170 years during 16th and 17th centuries.

The structures reflect the Deccani style of architecture. The complex consisting of royal mausoleums with massive domes, mosques and pools built in Indo-Islamic style are replete with crenulations, freezes, tile work, floral designs in plaster and stucco work.

Aga Khan Trust for Culture has already entered into an agreement with Archaeological Survey of India to carry out a multi-faceted urban renewal initiative combining heritage site of Humayun's tomb, the adjoining Sunder Nursery and Nizamuddin Basti in New Delhi -- jointly referred to as Delhi Project Area.
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AKTC's presence at the UNESCO International Colloquium on the Conservation of World Heritage Earthen Architecture

UNESCO holds the first International Colloquium on the Conservation of World Heritage Earthen Architecture

Monday, January 7, 2013

Within framework of the World Heritage Earthen Architecture Programme (WHEAP), an international colloquium on the conservation of earthen architecture was organized at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, in partnership with CRAterre-ENSAG, on 17 and 18 December 2012.

This conference, which brought together 240 participants, including experts, professionals and students, was the first international event on earthen architecture in the context of World Heritage. Held at the midpoint of the WHEAP programme (2007-2017), it offered a critical look at the progress and achievements of the WHEAP programme and presented the diversity of earthen architecture on the World Heritage List.

“Apart from the fruitful exchanges among experts, the increased knowledge and reinforcement of our network, it is my hope that this meeting will provide guidance for World Heritage earthen architecture and the sustainable development of its communities around the world,” said Mr. Francesco Bandarin, UNESCO Assistant Director for Culture during his opening speech.

Mr. Lazare Eloundou, Head of the Africa Unit of the World Heritage Centre, UNESCO, emphasized that: “It is important to find a common position on how to go about the future of earthen architecture on the World Heritage List because it is part of the intangible heritage, part of cultures' beliefs systems and part of the way people built their environment. This is a very fragile material so it is important to discuss an integrated approach on how to deal with the conservation because this material continues to be used even today in modern construction.”

Highlights of the conference

The meeting was marked by the presence of 40 experts from all regions of the world, from institutions like the Aga Khan Trust For Culture, the World Monuments Fund and the Getty Conservation Institute, who were able to share their research in the areas of prevention and conservation of World Heritage earthen architecture.

More...

http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/974

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Al Darb Al Ahmar Arts School

Culture Resource in cooperation with Agha Khan Trust for Culture launched the Darb Al Ahmar Arts School for educating children and youth in Cairo’s Darb Al Ahmar district in artistic disciplines(circus arts, brass and percussion) in January 2010.

http://www.mawred.org/en/al-darb-al-ahmar
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http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/ ... 125980.htm

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Aga Khan Trust to conserve Qutub Shahi Tombs
Last Updated: Thursday, January 10, 2013, 09:33

Tags: Aga Khan Trust, Qutub Shahi Tombs, Qutub Shahi Tombs Hyderabad


Aga Khan Trust to conserve Qutub Shahi Tombs Hyderabad: The Aga Khan Trust for Culture has come forward to take up the task of conserving and beautifying Qutub Shahi Tombs here.

The trust will spend Rs.90 crore over the next five years for the purpose.

A memorandum of understanding on this was signed Wednesday among Department of Archaeology and Museums, Quli Qutb Shah Urban Development Authority and Aga Khan Trust in the presence of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Reddy said conservation and renovation of the tombs would help protect cultural tradition of the historic city of Hyderabad.

The Quli Qutb Shah Archaeological Park, comprising of the Qutb Shahi Tombs Complex and Deccan Park, is one of the most significant medieval necropolises with 70 structures.

They include 40 mausoleums, 23 mosques, five step-wells/water structures, a `hamam`, pavilions, garden structures and enclosure walls built during the reign of Qutb Shahi dynasty that ruled the Hyderabad region for 170 years during 16th and 17th centuries.

The structures reflect the Deccani style of architecture. The complex consisting of royal mausoleums with massive domes, mosques and pools built in Indo-Islamic style are replete with crenulations, freezes, tile work, floral designs in plaster and stucco work.

Aga Khan Trust for Culture has already entered into an agreement with Archaeological Survey of India to carry out a multi-faceted urban renewal initiative combining heritage site of Humayun`s tomb, the adjoining Sunder Nursery and Nizamuddin Basti in New Delhi -- jointly referred to as Delhi Project Area.

IANS

First Published: Thursday, January 10, 2013, 09:33
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Revitalisation to Begin on Quli Qutb Shah Archaeological Park in Hyderabad, India

http://www.akdn.org/Content/1167/Revita ... abad-India

Please also see: Photos

Hyderabad, India, 10 January 2013 - A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a ten-year, integrated conservation and landscape restoration project at the Quli Qutb Shah Tomb complex in Hyderabad was signed today by the Andhra Pradesh State Department of Archaeology and Museums, the Quli Qutb Shah Urban Development Authority and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and Aga Khan Foundation.

*******

Rs 100-cr project to restore Qutb Shahi tombs

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/304 ... store.html
Last edited by kmaherali on Tue Jan 15, 2013 3:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Amidst War, An Afghan Renaissance

We often see the arts as only fit for museums, galleries, and film festivals, cloistered in halls only for the intellectual elite. But the arts can help build a nation, or in the case of Afghanistan, are rebuilding a nation, employing its people, and recalling a history forgotten in recent decades of continuous conflict. And a small group of social scientists, architects, and entrepreneurs are using culture as a vehicle to restore Afghanistan, challenging the convention that the arts are only for aesthetics.

“Cultural conservation is directly linked to development and livelihoods here. The historic sites that we’re rebuilding are functioning places, generating revue, providing jobs, and are self-sustaining,” says Ajmal Maiwandi, an Afghan-American architect who returned to the country nearly a decade ago to take up a post with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) to help rebuild Afghanistan’s most historic sites. In that time, Maiwandi explains that AKTC has preserved nearly a 100 sites, even during tense periods of conflict.

http://dowser.org/amidst-war-an-afghan-renaissance/

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Babur's Gardens


Lonely Planet review for Babur's Gardens
Laid out by the Mughal ruler Babur in the early 16th century, and the site of his tomb, these gardens are the loveliest spot in Kabul. At 11 hectares, they are also the largest public green space in the city. Left to ruins during the war, they have been spectacularly restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC). The garden was laid out in the classical charbagh (four garden) pattern, with a series of quartered rising terraces split by a central watercourse. The garden was used as a pleasure spot by repeated Mughal rulers, but fell into disrepair after the dynasty lost control of Kabul. Abdur Rahman Khan restored much of the grounds at the turn of the 20th century. Public access was allowed in the 1930s, but the gardens were despoiled and many trees cut for firewood in the anarchy that swept through Kabul during the civil war. The garden is surrounded by high walls, rebuilt by the local community. Visitors are greeted by a large traditional caravanserai which is planned to open as a visitors centre, showing many of the finds excavated in the archaeological dig that preceded the restoration. Although modern, it stands on the footprint of an older building of the same plan built as a refuge for the poor in the 1640s. From the caravanserai the eye is immediately swept up the terraces, following the line of the white marble watercourse. On either side the grounds are deeply planted with herbaceous beds and saplings. Many species chosen for replanting are specifically mentioned in the Baburnama, including walnut, cherry, quince, mulberry and apricot trees. In the centre of the garden is a pavilion built by Abdur Rahman Khan, with a series of information boards on the restoration programme. Above this there’s a delicate white marble mosque built in 1647 by Shah Jahan, who commissioned the Taj Mahal. While on a much smaller scale, the similarities in style are evident in the clean carving of the stone. Overlooking the whole of the garden from the top terrace is Babur’s tomb, inside a simple enclosure. Babur wished to be buried under the open sky so his grave is uncovered, surrounded by a simple marble screen. The headstone says it was erected for ‘the light-garden of the God-forgiven angel king whose rest is in the garden of Heaven’. Given the near-miraculous resurrection of the grounds, it’s an easy poetic sentiment to agree with.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/afghanistan ... -s-gardens
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Aga Khan Trust for Culture India Presents: Concerts, Exhibitions, Films, Seminars, and Heritage Walks celebrating the life and works of Amir Khusrau Dehlavi

http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2013/0 ... ilimail%29
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Aga Khan Music Initiative Presents “New Sounds from Arab Lands” in Europe and United States


Tour Debuts Contemporary Arab Music Icons and Newly Commissioned Collaborative Pieces Supported by AKMI

Video: New Sounds from Arab Lands

About the concerts: Programme Notes

More Information: www.akdn.org/music

Geneva, 4 February 2013 – Five eminent performer-composer-improvisers from Syria, Tunisia and Lebanon will tour Europe and the United States from 8 to 28 February 2013 (a full list of dates are found below) in a tour supported by the Aga Khan Music Initiative.

More....

http://www.akdn.org/Content/1168
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Exhibition: "Historic Cities"

The Support Agency for Architecture Barcelona (AAAB), in collaboration with Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Casa Asia and the European Institute of the Mediterranean, organises this display of images and drawings of architectonic projects, as well as audiovisuals that allow to get to know the everyday work realities in cities such as El Cairo, Kabul, Djenné or Zanzibar, among others.


Within the framework of the opening of this exhibition, an opening lecture that will be delivered by:
Luis Monreal, General Director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

Later, a roundtable will be held that counts on the following speakers:
Josep Giralt, Director of Cultural Action of the European Institute of the Mediterranean.
Menene Gras, Director of Culture and Exhibitions of Casa Asia.

The Programme Aga Khan for historic cities (AKHCP for its initials in English) promotes the preservation and reuse of public spaces and buildings in historic cities of the Muslim world in order to stimulate social, economic and cultural development. The programmes of every project go beyond the technical restoration of buildings, including parameters such as social and environmental fields, the adaptation to new uses, institutional sustainability and development of abilities.


Date2013/02/06 > 2013/02/28.TimetableFrom the 6th to the 28th of February, from 9.30am to 2pm and from 4.30pm to 8pm
Opening: Wednesday 6th of February at 7.30pm.VenueSupport Agency for Architecture Barcelona (AAAB)
Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 694
Barcelona
.TicketFree admission..OrganiserThe Support Agency for Architecture Barcelona (AAAB), in collaboration with Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Casa Asia and the European Institute of the Mediterranean..

http://www.casaasia.eu/actividad/detalle?id=209409

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Aga Khan Trust for Culture Hosts Jashne Khusrau Festival in Delhi

http://www.akdn.org/Content/1172/Aga-Kh ... l-in-Delhi


Concert Schedule

Full Schedule of Events (pdf)

Delhi, 11 February 2012 - As part of a major Urban Renewal project in the Humayun’s Tomb-Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti area of Delhi, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is hosting the Jashne Khusrau festival with the support of the Ford Foundation from 15 February onwards.


The urban renewal initiative links conservation of the built heritage with programmes to improve the Quality of Life for local communities.

Hazrat Amir Khusrau Dehlavi, the renowned 13th century sufi-poet, was the favourite disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. His remarkable legacy is entwined with the rich cultural heritage of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti. Since 2008, AKTC has focused on documenting, researching, and disseminating this legacy and making it meaningful in the present context.

The performances will be held at the India Habitat Centre and at specially built venues of the 16th century Chausath Khambha in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti and at the CPWD Sundar Nursery (near Humayun’s Tomb). During the festival, National Museum & National Archives will hold special exhibits focused on Hazrat Amir Khusrau. Doordarshan’s Bharati channel will telecast many of the performances live and also telecast archival recordings related to the legacy of Hazrat Amir Khusrau Dehlavi.

The February 2013 festival includes 10 performances (see below), as well as film screenings, exhibitions, discussions, lectures and heritage walks devoted to illustrating the impact of Hazrat Amir Khusrau Dehlavi’s legacy in folk and classical music.

The current festival follows the 2010 festival, which focused on Khusrau’s contribution to Quwwali music.

The schedule will also be available on the project Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/NizamuddinRenewal

Concert Schedule

Friday, 15 February: 6:30 PM- Amphitheatre, IHC
Performer: Classical Music by Ustad Nasiruddin Saami (Khayal)

Saturday, 16 February: 6:30 PM Stein Auditorium, IHC
Performer: Folk & Classical Music by Rehana-Parween, Saira Begum & Gulshan Ara

Sunday, 17 February: 06:30PM Stein Auditorium, IHC
Performer: Classical Music by Vidushi Kankana Bannerjee (Khayal)

Monday, 18 February: 6:30 PM- Amphitheatre, IHC
Performer: Classical Music by Ustad Ghulam Muhammad Saaznawaz & Group (Kashmiri Sufiana)

Tuesday, 19 February: 6:30 PM Amphitheatre, IHC
Performer: Classical Music by Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan (Khayal)

Wednesday, 20 February: 6:30 PM Amphitheatre, Sunder Nursery
Performer: Contemporary Music by Mekaal Hasan Band (Pakistan)

Thursday, 21 February: 6:30 PM Amphitheatre, Sunder Nursery
Performer: Ghazal by Tahira Syed

Friday, 22 February: 6:30 PM Chaunsath Khamba
Performer: Classical Music by Ustad Shahid Pervez Khan (Sitar)

Saturday, 23 February: 6:30 PM Chaunsath Khamba
Performer: Classical Music by Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan (Khayal)

Sunday, 24 February: 6:30 PM Chaunsath Khamba
Performer: Classical Music by Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan (Sitar)

The events are open to everyone.
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Post by kmaherali »

Bamako, Mali
NATIONAL PARK OF MALI, BAMAKO


introduction
This is one of the two recent projects commissioned by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) to mark the 50th anniversary of Mali's independence from France: the National Park of Mali in Bamako, with new buildings such as a restaurant, a sport centre and several entrance buildings, marking one of the most important civic projects ever to take shape in West Africa. Another project is the visitor's center adjacent to the Great Mosque of Mopti which is a remarkable example of the earthen construction and is recently restored (2006).

http://www.architectureindevelopment.or ... php?id=245
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AKTC Restoration:

​Isa Khan’s Tomb to reopen after two years
Richi Verma, TNN Mar 31, 2013, 02.21AM IST
Tags:Sher Shah|PathwaysNEW DELHI: Restoration of the two 16th-century garden tombs in vicinity of Humayun's Tomb and part of the world heritage site belonging to Sher Shah Suri's courtier Isa Khan Niazi and Bu Halima, a lesser-known historical figure close to the Mughal royal family, is almost complete. Isa Khan's Tomb, where conservation work began in January 2011, will be reopened to the public on April 18, World Heritage Day.

"The complex will be thrown open on World Heritage Day in presence of minister for culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch," an ASI official said. As part of the Nizamuddin urban renewal initiative undertaken by Archaeological Survey of India and Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the conservation-cum-landscape project was implemented to restore the two structures and co-funded by World Monuments Fund.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... ritage-day
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WORLD OF KHUSRAU, an exhibition at UP State Archives, Lucknow

Updated on ThursdayAga Khan Trust for Culture in collaboration with the UP State Archives is organising an exhibition on the World of Khusrau at UP State Archives premises from 10 June till 30 June 2013. The inagural event includes release of exhibition catalogue and Qawwali by Nurul Hassan . On all the following sundays till 30 June there will be performances, lecture,poetry reading, film screenings realted to various aspects of the legacy of Amir Khusrau. All the events are open to public.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 107&type=1
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AKTC - Nairobi’s City Park project

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http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?article ... rk-project


Lands team probes Sh2.2b Nairobi’s City Park project
Updated Wednesday, August 21st 2013 at 21:42 GMT +3

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU

NAIROBI; KENYA: Parliament’s Lands Committee Wednesday began investigating the procedure used to pick a private investor to rehabilitate Nairobi’s City Park in a Sh2.2 billion project.

The MPs told the Lands Principal Secretary, Ms Mariamu El Maawy, that they were unclear as to why the investor was given a 25-year lease to work on City Park, yet the standard commercial lease was up to a maximum of six years.

They also sought to know if the investor – Aga Khan Trust for Culture – wanted to build a car park in the portion of City Park that has indigenous trees. The MPs also wanted the Principal Secretary to pinpoint whether the title deed of City Park was held by the Treasury or if it was held by the County Government of Nairobi.

“The committee has no objection to this development, but there are many issues around it which are very grey. We need these to be in black and white,” said Ms Esther Murugi (Nyeri Town MP), who chaired yesterday’s meeting.

But the Principal Secretary said there was a “model and a plan” to ensure the indigenous forests were preserved.

The MPs heard that the Aga Khan Trust for Culture had done similar projects in Cario, Kabul and Delhi.
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devondispatch.ca/2014/03/27/13-million-fund-to-help-botanical-garden-prepare-for-increase-of-visitors


$13 million fund to help botanical garden prepare for increase of visitors

Thursday, March 27, 2014 3:45:45 MDT PM


Mersiha Gadzo
devondispatch.news@sunmedia.ca


The Devonian Botanical Garden has been approved to receive $13 million in funds by the Alberta government as part of the province’s capital plan for 2014.


The university-owned garden will use the funds to update their infrastructure to prepare for the addition of a world-class Islamic garden.


“The garden is growing and with the addition of the Islamic garden, which is in its design stage, we need some basic infrastructure upgrades. This is in order to meet the increased capacity,” said Kerry Mulholland, communications coordinator at the garden.


The funding request was made by the University of Alberta in 2011 to help maintain infrastructure such as utilities, waste water treatment, electrical and gas service upgrades, parking and entrance requirements.


Upgrading the infrastructure will help the garden meet the anticipated increase of visitors once the Islamic garden opens.


In 2009, the Aga Khan, British business magnate and spiritual leader of the Ismailis, (a mystical sect of Shia Islam), presented a gift of an Islamic garden to the University of Alberta, after receiving an honorary degree.


The Islamic garden will be situated on approximately nine acres of land at the botanical garden, drawing influences from Islamic sites such as Agra’s Taj Mahal, Cairo’s Al-Azhar and Granada’s Al-Hambra.


The Aga Khan is the founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), who work to empower communities and improve living conditions around the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, central and south Asia and the Middle East.


The network focuses on social, cultural and economic development.


AKDN’s annual budget for non-profit development activities in 2010 was around $625 million. The Islamic garden at the Devonian Botanical Garden will be one of two in Canada. The other, located in Toronto is scheduled to open next fall and will house the Aga Khan Museum and the Ismaili Centre.

The garden in Devon is expected to be completed in a few years.


“It will be a great, new exciting phase of development for the Botanical Garden,” Mulholland said. “It will be beautiful.”
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Mali - AKTC Parc

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http://www.malijet.com/la_societe_malie ... au-de.html

Accueil | Société | Le 22 septembre 2014 au parc national du Mali rénove : Le joyau des rencontres festives et sportives a soufflé sur ses 4 bougies

Le 22 septembre 2014, le Parc National du Mali rénové par le Trust Aga Khan pour la Culture, l’agence culturelle du Réseau Aga Khan de Développement, a soufflé sur ses 4 bougies. A cette occasion, les directions d’AKDN à Bamako et du PNM ont invité les reporters des grands médias nationaux. C’était en présence de M. Yéhia Roshdy, de M. Ousmane R. Seye, DG de la Fondation Aga Khan pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest et de leurs principaux collaborateurs.

Dans son mot de bienvenue, Mme Zahida Virani, Coordinatrice des programmes du Réseau Aga Khan de Développement (AKDN) pour le Mali et la République de Côte d’Ivoire a salué cet exemple concret de réussite du Partenariat-Public-Privé (appelé » PPP « ) et qui est la parfaite illustration de cette coopération exemplaire entre le Réseau Aga Khan de Développement et l’Etat malien. Le parc national est devenu incontestablement un haut lieu de rencontres des populations de Bamako, de toutes les tranches d’âge. »Dans son cadre verdoyant, les jeunes y organisent leurs pique-niques et leurs événements musicaux et sportifs. Jeunes et moins jeunes y pratiquent du sport, et les familles s’y retrouvent pour les fêtes de mariages, d’anniversaires, etc. « , a-t-elle signifié.


Mme VIRANI a aussi rappelé quelques extraits du discours prononcé par Son Altesse l’Aga Khan lors de l’inauguration de ce Parc le 22 septembre 2010 et je cite : » A l’image du Mali, ce Parc a pour vocation de perpétuer sa tradition de rencontres et d’échanges, tout en préservant le patrimoine naturel et les écosystèmes dont l’homme est le dépositaire, comme nous l’enjoint le Saint Coran » .


Et il a dit plus loin : « L’introduction d’espaces verts dans les villes représente une amélioration importante de la qualité de l’environnement et des conditions de vie de leurs habitants. Ce sont des espaces de loisirs et de rencontres pour tous les âges et toutes les catégories sociales, qui favorisent la mixité et l’intégration des différentes couches de la population. Et il s’est avéré qu’il s’agit de catalyseurs de l’activité économique et d’une source d’emplois directe et indirecte, notamment par les services mis à la disposition des visiteurs. »


La coordinatrice a aussi rappelé qu’avec l’inauguration en 2012 du zoo réhabilité, les amoureux des animaux et des oiseaux s’y retrouvent aussi, en très grand nombre pour admirer des centaines d’espèces d’animaux, d’oiseaux, de reptiles. Elle a terminé ses propos en rappelant les efforts incommensurables qu’AKTC déploie pour soutenir le Musée national du Mali, notamment à travers la reprise des activités des » Jeudis Musicaux » et les travaux d’éclairage. La visite des reporters s’est achevée au centre sportif du Parc National du Mali (PNM) qui vient d’être doté d’équipements sportifs de dernière génération, adaptés aux besoins des sportifs maliens. Ici, les sportifs, sortis en grand nombre, ont accueilli avec ferveur ces équipements de classe

Ibrahim Diallo

Chargé de communication, Afrique de l’Ouest

Réseau Aga Khan pour le développement (AKDN)

Source: Zénith Balé
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thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/a-new-lease-of-life-for-qutb-shahi-tombs/article7054545.ece


Cities » Hyderabad
Hyderabad, April 1, 2015

Updated: April 1, 2015 10:57 IST

A new lease of life for Qutb Shahi tombs

J. S. Ifthekhar

The contrast is striking. On one side are blackened domes with vegetal growth sprouting and on the other, lime-mortar finished graceful structures rising in the sky. Visitors to the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park can’t help draw in their breath at the transformation taking place. The 16 century mausoleums are getting a second lease of life.

Correcting the criminal neglect suffered by the tombs during the last two centuries is no easy task.<b> But the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), world’s leading conservation body, has almost succeeded in doing the impossible. The conservation works going on at the south western side of the royal necropolis bear this out. Most of the 30 monuments in this dense zone are nearly restored – along with their elaborate and intricate architecture.</b>

Presspersons, who were taken around what is popularly called ‘seven tombs’ on Tuesday, saw the restoration works being carried out by a multi-disciplinary team of conservation architects, engineers and historians. “The first phase of the project will be completed by 2016 end and the entire mission in the next ten years,” Ratish Nanda, project director, AKTC, exudes confidence.

B.P. Acharya, Principal Secretary, Planning, is happy at the significant progress made during the last 16 months. “By 2018, we want to pose it for UNESCO’s world heritage site tag,” he said.

The AKTC team has rebuilt the entire western wall of the Badi Baoli which collapsed in October 2013. This risky job involved the reconstruction of 600 cubic metres of stone masonry. An alternative drain is created to take out water so as to safeguard against future damage. The decorative stucco plaster work is restored on the Jamshed Quli Qutb Shah’s tomb and so are the missing plinth stones.

During the course of work, engineers stumbled upon the enclosure wall of the Sultan Quli Qutb ul Mulk’s tomb and managed to unearth the nine-feet wall on all four sides. “This clearly indicates the presence of a garden enclosure around the tomb,” Mr. Nanda said.

In most monuments, the AKTC team is finding ‘inappropriate use’ of modern material like cement. Now all this is being chipped off to restore the original features with traditional materials like lime, stone and wood. In many places, peeling out of cement revealed shining Persian tiles. As the work progresses, <b>the budget keeps changing. It may exceed the Rs. 100 crore initially earmarked.</b>

After Humayun’s Tomb, this is the second not-for-profit project taken up by AKTC. But the scale of challenges posed by the 72 monuments in the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park, spread over 108 acres, are immense.

However, one thing is for certain. When the conservation work is over, the hoary monuments are sure to survive for another 500 years.

Keywords: AKTC, the world’s leading conservation body, Has managed to restore most of the 30 monuments
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restoration in Darb Al-Ahmar - near Al Azhar Park, Cairo

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english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/133233/Egypt/Politics-/Governor-announces-renovation-initiative-in-Old-Ca.aspx

A new campaign launched Saturday aims to spur restoration in Darb Al-Ahmar, Al-Hilmeya, Al-Sayeda Nafisa and Al-Sayeda Zeinab in the holy month of Ramadan

Ahram Online , Saturday 20 Jun 2015

Governor of Cairo Galal Saeed announced Saturday the launch of a new campaign for the development of heritage sites in Old Cairo, governorate spokesperson Khaled Mostafa said.


The initiative will include the Old Cairo districts of Al-Darb Al-Ahmar, Al-Gamaliya, Al-Helmiya, Al-Sayeda Zeinab and Al-Sayed Nafisa, Mostafa told Ahram Online.

He added that they main work will be renovating streets, not whole districts. For instance, in Darb Al-Ahmar the initiative will work on Haram Rabea and part of Khan El-Khalili.

Amongside the renovation process, Mostafa said the governorate will try to find alternate activities for shop owners in the area, to suit its historical significance.

"If a shop owner works on tires we will convince him to change his current job in order to work on something that suits the heritage of the street, such as working on aluminum, glass, copper or even pottery," Mostafa said.

Along with the governorate, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) will also contribute to the development of the area.

AKDN is a private, international, non-denominational development organisation. It offers job training and employment opportunities in Darb Al-Ahmar, according to the AKDN website.

Cairo governorate has recently been making renovations in Khedeval Cairo, the Downtown district built by Egyptian rulers in the 19th century.

"The renovation of Khedivial Cairo will not clash with the renovation of the historical sites, but will add to it, as the more we wait, the more the historical sites deteriorate," said Mostafa.

The campaign will kick off Saturday, but according to Mostafa it is impossible to state when the development of heritage sites in Old Cairo will be completed.

"It is a long process, as we have to study the area very carefully. However, within a month we plan to finish a part in Darb Al-Ahmar, in order to have a general overview of what we can fix or work on more," stated Mostafa.

Many have accused the government of neglecting for decade heritage sites in Old Cairo neighbourhoods.

The districts include parts of Islamic Cairo — listed as a UNESCO world heritage site — and are home to some of Egypt's most prominent Islamic monuments.

The initiative aims to renovate heritage buildings and develop the area's infrastructure by paving streets and sidewalks as well as maintaining the area's street lighting and removing street vendors.

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For related news and photos: Opening of the Al-Azhar Park in Cairo:

http://www.ismaili.net/timeline/2005/az ... inaug.html

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New Campaign To Renovate Old Cairo Starts

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June 22nd, 2015 1:58PM

Cairo Governor Galal Saeed announced the launch of a new campaign for the development and renovation of heritage sites in Old Cairo on Saturday, according to governorate spokesperson Khaled Mostafa.

The campaign will include the Old Cairo districts of Al-Darb Al-Ahmar, Al-Gamaliya, Al-Helmiya, Al-Sayeda Zeinab and Al-Sayed Nafisa, Mostafa told Ahram Online.

International development organization the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), known for its support in the creation of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Park, will also contribute to the renovation project alongside the governorate.

The campaign’s main goal will be to renovate streets and not entire districts, according to Mostafa. An example of that is working on Haram Rabea and part of Khan El-Khalili in the district of Al-Darb Al-Ahmar.

The campaign aims to renovate heritage buildings, develop the area’s infrastructure by paving streets and sidewalks and maintain the area’s street lighting.

Mostafa added that in addition to the renovation process, the governorate will also try to find alternate activities for shop owners in the area that suit its historical significance.

“If a shop owner works on tires, we will convince him to change his current job in order to work on something that suits the heritage of the street, such as working on aluminum, glass, copper or even pottery,” Mostafa said.

“It is a long process, as we have to study the area very carefully. However, within a month we plan to finish a part in Darb Al-Ahmar, in order to have a general overview of what we can fix or work on more,” said Mostafa

The Cairo governorate has been recently working on other renovation projects, including the renovation of parts of Downtown Cairo which were built in the 19th century. However, Mostafa said that the project would not clash with the new campaign.

Old Cairo, which contains the remnants of the old capitals that predate Fatimid Cairo, is home to some of the most historically significant sites in Egypt. It includes parts of Islamic Cairo, which contain prominent historical mosques such as Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, and parts of Coptic Cairo, which contain prominent historical churches and ruins of Roman fortifications.
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Post by kmaherali »

Al - Azhar Park

Pictures of
many fountain in the Park
Taken by Dr. Hesham El barmelgy

http://www.egyptarch.net/azharpark/azharfountain.htm
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Ismaili Centre suhour showcases role of culture in development

TheIsmaili.org

18 July 2015

Dubai, 7 July 2015 — Dignitaries and ambassadors from across the United Arab Emirates gathered at the Ismaili Centre for a suhour and a look at how culture can be a springboard for development. The event was jointly hosted by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and the Canadian Embassy.

In a presentation that he delivered to the guests, Shiraz Allibhai, Deputy Director of the AKTC, shared examples of the Trust’s approach to demonstrate how cultural heritage can serve as a catalyst for social and economic development.

One of these was Al-Azhar Park — a centuries-old dumping ground in Cairo that was transformed by the AKTC into a state-of-the-art green space. The development of this unique cultural asset subsequently led to a rehabilitation of the impoverished neighbourhood of Darb al-Ahmar that adjoins it, and the extension of education, health and microcredit services to the community. Altogether the project transformed the nature of the neighbourhood, the society and the environment.

The Trust’s efforts to promote the value of culture in advancing development, mutual understanding and pluralism is bolstered by the four-decade long relationship between Canada and the Ismaili Muslim community, explained His Excellency Arif Lalani, Canada’s Ambassador to the UAE.

Last year, in cooperation with Art Dubai and the Canadian Embassy, the Ismaili Centre hosted the first international preview of the Aga Khan Museum. As a result of the relationships forged by this initiative, the UAE’s Barjeel Art Foundation will be exhibiting at the Museum, the first Arab contemporary art exhibition ever to be shown in North America.

“Canada and the Ismaili community have a long and valued history,” said the ambassador. “The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada, is another example of our shared commitment to the understanding of and celebration of diverse communities and civilisations.”

Following the suhour meal, guests toured the Ismaili Centre. An exhibition of winning projects from the most recent cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture was on display, and many lingered at each panel, absorbing the details of projects recognised for their contribution to transforming the lives of the communities within which they were built.

The event continued late into the night, with guests appreciating the warm and festive ambiance and engaging in thoughtful discussion with new friends.

“The Ismaili Centre seeks to drive the exchange of knowledge and ideas in order to create better understanding between cultures and communities,” said Amiruddin Thanawalla, President of the Ismaili Council for the UAE.

The Dubai Jamat also benefited from the event. The exhibition remained on display and Shiraz Allibhai held a separate session for the Jamat the next day.

“I thoroughly enjoyed this thought-provoking presentation,” said Safdar Rashid, a longstanding member of the Dubai Jamat. “We are privileged to have such expertise in our community, and fortunate that people are willing to give their time and share their knowledge.”

http://www.theismaili.org/ismailicentre ... evelopment

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Revealed: Humayun’s Tomb is a documentary on the first monumental mausoleum of India. At the same time the narrative takes us on a historical flashback into the incredible world of the great Mughals. It shows us how the Monument has stood as silent witness to Imperial Delhi’s ups and downs.

Running parallel to the historical theme the documentary follows the restoration work undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture that has brought this monument back from near ruin to a condition that is like when it was first built. The documentary uses a series of ‘re-creations’ with actors that take the viewer into key moments of Mughal history, from Humayun’s death as he tumbled down his library staircase, to Akbar the Great’s coronation as a young teenager.

Juxtaposing the historical re-creations are scenes filmed in present day depicting the ‘behind the scenes’ efforts that went into the restoration of the site and the buildings around the monument. Bringing all these sub stories together is the environment the Monument exists in. Built next to the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamudin, Humayun’s Tomb stands within the densest cluster of Islamic buildings of Delhi.

» Learn more about REVEALED: HUMAYUN'S TOMB
» Watch a trailer of the documentary
Premiering on Monday, 27 July at 9:00 PM (India time) on the Discovery Channel.

http://www.theismaili.org/media
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Agha Khan Trust to also promote Deccan Park

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nyoooz.com/hyderabad/236799/agha-khan-trust-to-also-promote-deccan-park

gha Khan Trust to also promote Deccan Park

NYOOOZ Hyderabad Tue,20 Oct 2015

Agha Khan Trust to also promote Deccan Park

Summary: The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) has agreed to restore the park and carry out developmental activities. Earlier Developmental works were done by Quli Qutub Shah Urban Development Authority but its opening was delayed due to various reasons and controversies. The ‘Deccan Park’ which was lying unused for the past 15 years close to the Qutub Shahi Tombs and the historic Golconda Fort will be thrown open for public soon. Developed at a cost of Rs 3 crore the park has a swimming pool, a kitty pool for children, conference hall and a facility for a toy train ride. It is spread over 30 acres which also includes the Eidgah land where Eid prayer is offered every year.

The ‘Deccan Park’ which was lying unused for the past 15 years close to the Qutub Shahi Tombs and the historic Golconda Fort will be thrown open for public soon. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) has agreed to restore the park and carry out developmental activities. Earlier Developmental works were done by Quli Qutub Shah Urban Development Authority but its opening was delayed due to various reasons and controversies. Developed at a cost of Rs 3 crore the park has a swimming pool, a kitty pool for children, conference hall and a facility for a toy train ride. It is spread over 30 acres which also includes the Eidgah land where Eid prayer is offered every year. Siasat news
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Restoration of Quli Qutub Shahi tombs

Oct 28, 2015

Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) has undertaken the restoration and conservation work of Quli Qutub Shahi tombs at a cost of Rs.100 crore and it might take upto 10 years. The tombs in Qutb Shahi Heritage Park will transform into a major archaeological attraction in Telangana. - Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyd ... im-image-7

Magnificence that history has forgotten. Work is on at a slow pace by Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) on restoration and conservation of Quli Qutub Shahi tombs.


8 / 13

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Nizamuddin Basti Mela organised by Aga Khan Development Network

Visited the Nizamuddin Basti Mela organised by Aga Khan Development Network. The three-day event, which ended yesterday, celebrated the last 700 years heritage of Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, one of Delhi’s oldest settlements. A truly enriching experience... Perfect execution of a great concept...
Met old friend Ratish Nanda who has played a vital role in the restoration of around 50 odd monuments in the vicinity with Aga Khan Trust for Culture

https://www.facebook.com/saurabh.tankha ... 1670590980
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Badakhshan Ensemble performs in Paris with support from AKDN and Ismaili community

TheIsmaili.org

The halls of the Académie Diplomatique Internationale in Paris were filled with the mystical music of the Pamir mountains during a concert given by the Badakhshan Ensemble last month. The ensemble blended devotional poetry, folk songs and the deep and inspiring sounds of instruments traditional to Central Asia.

Organised by the Ismaili Council for France in conjunction with the Aga Khan Music Initiative, the performance on 7 November captivated members of the Jamat and a number of distinguished guests.

“This initiative is about promoting and celebrating cultural diversity,” says Shamir Samdjee, President of the Ismaili Council for France. “Music can be a vector of peace between peoples of different traditions, and sharing in it is a way to enhance pluralism within society.”

Warm applause greeted the musicians and dancers, whose visit to the country was part of a European tour.

The Badakhshan Ensemble is supported by the Aga Khan Music Initiative, a programme of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. The Music Initiative aims to preserve the musical heritage of Central Asia by seeking out talented artists like those belonging to the Ensemble and promoting their work worldwide, as well as through educational programming.

Founded in 1926, the Académie Diplomatique Internationale is an international organisation focused on modern diplomacy and international affairs. Mawlana Hazar Imam was elected President of the organisation in 2000, and during his presidency, he has focused the Académie’s efforts on diplomatic training and the study of emerging dynamics in international relations and diplomacy.


The Badakhshan Ensemble performing at the Académie Diplomatique Internationale in November 2015.

Ismaili Council for France
http://www.theismaili.org/heritage-expr ... -community
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Wazir Khan Mosque rehabilitation starts in Lahore Pakistan

By Ali Raza for The News. December 22, 2015 – LAHORE: Following the rich heritage value, the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) has started conservation and rehabilitation of the Wazir Khan Chowk inside the Delhi Gate.

The conservation and rehabilitation will be carried out with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and funding from US Ambassador’s Fund. Wazir Khan Chowk is the courtyard outside the Wazir Khan Mosque, which includes a shrine and mosque of Sufi Saint Said Soaf and the well of Raja Dina Nath.

Wazir Khan Mosque Restoration in Lahore, Pakistan (Image Credit: Aga Khan Trust for Culture via Archnet)

Officials said the project will be completed in 18 months time at an estimated cost of Rs 112.5 million. They said an MoU had already been signed between the WCLA, US Ambassador & Aga Khan Cultural Services Pakistan (AKCSP) in this regard and initial work on the project has been started.

https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2015/ ... -pakistan/
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43 million


By AKDN · Updated on Friday

Since 2004, the city parks and gardens developed by the AKDN in places such as Cairo, Kabul, Delhi and Bamako have received over 43 million visitors, mostly urban dwellers who have otherwise limited access to green spaces. These parks attract over 5 million visitors every year

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 9458166839
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Paper-cutting craft, transforming the lives of women of Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti

This short film on the paper-cutting craft of Saanjhi and how it is transforming the lives of women from Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti.

The women cut patterns of jaalis, motifs, and patterns from the Mughal-era monuments situated in Nizamuddin, and create products like lamps, screens, tea-lights, bookmarks and notebooks. The 800 years of heritage providing livelihood means to its people now.

https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2016/ ... din-basti/
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The garden king of Kabul: Babur’s legacy lives on in Afghanistan

How the restoration of a warrior emperor’s 16th-century garden is helping to secure Afghanistan’s heritage


The role of cultural heritage is a hot topic. Can it unite a nation shattered by war and civil strife? Can it become a rallying point only if a sense of nationhood already exists? In what sense is it “heritage”, if at all? Even those bent on destroying it are proof that monuments, sculptures and art have heritage power.

The most successful heritage project in a war-torn land is not the restoration of a statue or a building. It is the restoration of a garden in the urban heat of Afghanistan. In Kabul, the recently restored Garden of Babur, the Baghe Babur, has just attracted its three millionth visitor since the beginning of its restoration in 2008. Until then, I and others had viewed the project with misplaced doubt. This year the plan is to achieve world heritage status.

Babur, the garden’s founder, was a remarkable person, the most prolific garden king in history. Born in 1483, he was a descendant of Tamerlane and became the first of the Mogul emperors. He is author of an autobiography which still enchants readers with its love of flowers and landscape, its poetry, its tales of daring and its frank admission of the pleasures of becoming drunk and holding parties to that end, accompanied by cakes of hashish while Babur and his friends mellow out among nature’s beauties. His pen portraits of friends and relations are as sharply drawn as priceless contemporary Mogul miniature paintings, some of which depict Babur himself, involved in a garden’s design. Young Babur grew up near Samarkand in what is now Uzbekistan. In 1504 he captured Kabul, but in 1526 went east to conquer parts of northern India. He died at Agra in 1530 but wished to be buried in Kabul whose climate and landscape he much preferred. In 1544 his widow sent his body back there and he was buried in one of the 10 landscape gardens which he had personally ordered to be built in the city.

In May 1972, when red and white roses still blossomed all over Kabul and bottles of iced fizzy drinks were sold with coloured marbles as corks, I first paid my respects at Babur’s garden tomb. The site had been repeatedly altered and his monument on the top of the terraced hill was not appealing. Most of the garden below had disappeared and his memorial was only an inscribed slab beneath an ugly canopy of later date.

In the civil wars of 1992 the garden was on one of the front lines. Trees were cut down, waterworks were ruined, buildings were burnt by mujahedin and landmines were not removed from the site until 1995. After the Taliban were forced out of Kabul in 2001, the Aga Khan and his Trust for Culture guided plans for a full restoration of Babur’s garden, seeing it as a focal point for a city which badly needed a new start. Funds from Germany, the US and other governments have helped the ambitious project, which has been a triumph and a multinational success to a degree that is not always realised.

Designs for restoring the terraces were drawn up by the admired Indian landscape architect Mohammed Shahir. Archaeological research was led by Ute Franke Vogt of the German Archaeological Institute, who duly found traces of the original line of pools and long-lost terraces. Jolyon Leslie, born in South Africa, led much of the work on site for the Aga Khan’s trust. Marble was brought south from Babur’s native Fergana in Uzbekistan and was carved into shape in Delhi. Most important, the garden has been planted and now maintained by devoted Afghan gardeners. Its leading garden engineer, Abdul Latif Kohistani, has had a crucial role. The aim has been to plant the garden with as many local species and plants known to Babur as possible. More than 5,000 are now on site, including roses, pistachios and the purple-flowered Judas trees which Babur described with love. To find plants, Kohistani set off into the nearby hills and engaged with local plant-growing associations as far afield as Herat. Despite years of war such groups still existed and now, Kohistani presides over 11 gardeners and 13 support staff. Much of his plant-collecting was done with the help of a simple motorcycle, visiting hill sites where he knew he would find what he needed.

Since November the garden and its maintenance have been handed over essentially to Afghan management and the Baghe Babur Trust. Outsiders, aware of Iraq, might be apprehensive about the garden’s future. Babur’s heritage has not been uncontroversial. In India he has been demonised by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) as the alleged desecrator of what it claims was a historic Hindu site on which a Muslim mosque was built. The now ruined mosque, the Babri Masjid — which was torn down in 1992 — has an inscription inside it which names Babur but does not prove that he ordered the building himself. Babur was a conqueror of Kabul, an Uzbek, not a Pashtun or Tadjik. In eastern Uzbekistan, at Andijan, there is already a big statue of Babur, a museum, paintings of his deeds and a fine hillside garden with a replica of his tomb in Kabul. Babur was a Sunni Muslim who also favoured Sufi saints. The Aga Khan, of course, is Isma’ili — a Shia branch of Islam — as suspicious mullahs in Kabul complained in 2002.

In fact, the handover and the garden are working very well. One reason is the role of the committed Afghan gardeners and Kohistani himself, still in charge of more than 5,000 recently planted species. Gardening for food and beauty is deeply rooted in parts of Afghan society. I would gladly welcome some Afghan gardeners to come and work on London’s Garden Bridge if ever that uneasy project gets off the ground.

Another good reason for the success is the garden’s value as a secure and beautiful urban space. Much of the $250,000 in the garden’s maintenance budget is raised from ticketed events at the garden. There have been festivals of Pashtun dancing, though Babur was no Pashtun. There has even been western drama, a staging in 2005 of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost in translation. This remarkable venture is recorded in a touching book, A Night In The Emperor’s Garden by Qais Akbar Omar and Stephen Landrigan. “Afghans do not do tragedy,” the Afghan actors told their French director, after all their tragedies of the past 40 years. They acted comedy instead and entranced their audiences in Babur’s garden, although the scene in which young men pretend to be Russians had to be rewritten for Afghan sensibilities.

A Night In The Emperor’s Garden was reissued in November last year. The updated edition makes chilling reading: a tale of murder, threats and the enforced exile of actors and actresses who had played Shakespeare to such acclaim in the emperor’s garden but then found themselves caught in a Taliban backlash. The present danger for the garden is not Taliban puritanism but a phenomenon better known in Britain: the absence of effective planning control on new buildings. The garden and its long central axis of water pools and paving are surrounded by a secure wall. Against it, high-rise blocks are going up apace, nestling for safety against this cultural icon.

In their own public gardens, British visitors find invaluable space for exercising their dogs and their keep-fit selves, letting their children run free and for meeting their lovers on neutral ground. Afghans have social needs too, accompanied by their relief that one urban space is secure, lovely and a link with the past. As Jolyon Leslie returned to his heritage work in Afghanistan, his home for about 20 years, he told me: “A nation is not alive unless its culture is alive.” There are other ways to enhance its life besides museums with histories of the world in 100 objects. Around a few restored gardens, a nation’s threatened sense of itself can unite.

Photographs: Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images; Oleksandr Rupeta/Alamy; V&A/Bridgeman Images

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The Other Classical Musics: a new concert series co-produced by Wigmore Hall in London & Aga Khan Music Initiative (AKMI) celebrating traditions from Afghanistan to Syria

On Thursday (10 March), the Wigmore Hall in London will launch a new concert series – co-produced by the Aga Khan Music Initiative (AKMI) – which is also entitled “The Other Classical Musics”, and which will celebrate the music of the Muslim world.

The Other Classical Musics: a new concert series celebrating non-European classical traditions from Afghanistan to Aleppo
A new concert series will celebrate non-European classical traditions. It’s about time, says Michael Church

By Michael Church for the Independent Published on Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 12:37 pm

The Qur’an may be ambiguous on the question of whether music should be permitted in Islam, but the fact is that music has blossomed in a thousand wonderful ways in Muslim societies, in an unbroken swathe of the globe stretching from Morocco to Indonesia.

And in the first concert, a group of string virtuosi from Afghanistan and north India will present the music of a region of Central Asia where styles and sounds from medieval Persia and the Mughal Empire blended in the 17th and 18th centuries, and are blending anew today.

… The popularisation of the umbrella genre “world music” since the 1980s has been problematic, to say the least.

More seriously, although the term is logically meaningless – all music is “world music” – it has ironically helped to perpetuate the old fallacy that while Europe has “classical” music, everywhere else – with the exception perhaps of north India – has only “folk” music.

The myriad forms and styles of what marketing people call “world music” are lumped together in an undifferentiated mass, reflecting a mind-set which is still essentially colonial. We should simply drop this injurious and misleading term.

Discover, Explore and Learn more via The Independent | Culture | Classical | Features | The Other Classical Musics: a new concert series celebrating non-European classical traditions from Afghanistan to Aleppo

About The Aga Khan Music Initiative (AKMI)
&#61702;

“I believe in the power of plurality, without which there is no possibility of exchange.”

– His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan
49th hereditary Imam of the Ismaili Muslims


The Aga Khan Music Initiative (AKMI) is an inter-regional music and arts education program with worldwide performance, outreach, mentoring, and artistic production activities.

The Initiative was launched by His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan in 2000 to support talented musicians and music educators working to preserve, transmit, and further develop their musical heritage in contemporary forms.

Music Initiative began its work in Central Asia, subsequently expanding its cultural development activities to include artistic communities and audiences in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.
Aga Khan Music Initiative – International Performance and Outreach Activities Map
Discover, Explore and Learn more via the Aga Khan Music Initiative

Research, Insight & Perspective by A. Maherali

ismailimail.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/the-other-classical-musics-a-new-concert-series-co-produced-by-wigmore-hall-in-london-aga-khan-music-initiative-akmi-celebrating-traditions-from-afghanistan-to-syria/
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India’s Vice President Hamid Ansari visits AKTC Restoration Project of Quli Qutb Shahi Tombs Complex in Hydrabad

Hyderabad: Vice President Hamid Ansari along with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor E S L Narasimhan visited the historic Quli Qutb Shahi Tombs complex here on Sunday (March 6th).

During the one hour spent at the necropolis site, Vice President Ansari appreciated the ongoing restoration works by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC).
Mr. Ratish Nanda, CEO, AKTC appraising the Vice President of India Mr. Hamid Ansari along with Governor Sri E.S.L. Narasimhan and other senior government officials on their visit to Qutb Shahi Tombs (Image via Siasat Daily)
Ansari asked the Telangana government and Aga Khan Foundation to explore the possibility of attracting tourists to this spot as these structures do not find required recognition on tourism map, an official release said.

The project for restoration of the over 400-year-old tombs complex started in 2013 after the AKTC signed a memorandum of understanding with Telangana state department of archaeology and museums.

AKTC Project Director Ratish Nanda said there are 75 structures, including 23 mosques spread out over 108 acres.

These monuments are popularly known as seven tombs and are built in Iranian architecture style. The restoration works taken up by AKTC at a cost of Rs 100 crore would be completed in a span of 10 years, he added.
Mr. Ratish Nanda, CEO, AKTC leads the Vice President of India Mr. Hamid Ansari along with Governor Sri E.S.L. Narasimhan and other senior government officials on a site tour of the Qutb Shahi Tombs (Image via Siasat Daily)
Also present were Sri Md.Mahamood Ali, Hon’ble Deputy CM, Sri B. Venkatesham, Secretary Tourism, Sri Mahesh Baghat, IG Security Wing, Mrs. Visalatchy, Director Archaeology, Sri A. Venkateshwar Rao, DCP, West Zone, Aga Khan Foundation, Chairman Dr. Abad Ahmad and other senior officials.
Mr. Ratish Nanda, CEO, AKTC appraising explains architecture and significance of the area to the Vice President of India Mr. Hamid Ansari along with Governor Sri E.S.L. Narasimhan and other senior government officials on their visit to Qutb Shahi Tombs (Image via Siasat Daily)
Source:
&#9632;The Hindu | Ansari visits Qutub Shahi tombs
&#9632;Siasat Daily | Ansari visits Quli Qutb Shahi Tombs Complex Hyderabad
&#9632;Siasat Daily | Historical Vist to Seven Tombs

AKTC & Qutub Shahi Tombs Complex Initiative

ismailimail.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/indias-vice-president-hamid-ansari-visits-aktc-restoration-project-of-quli-qutb-shahi-tombs-complex-in-hydrabad/
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