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VOICE OF AMERICA By Faiza Elmasry "Maïmouna Family (Mother of Two Cultures)" by Maimouna Guerresi CALIFORNIA--The Arabic word “ muslima ” means a woman who believes in God. The online Muslima exhibition , by the International Museum of Women , highlights the individuality of Muslim women and the rich diversity of their thoughts and contributions. The exhibit's curator says one of the goals is to dispel negative stereotypes. “When we think of Muslim women, we think that they are as weak, passive women who also happen to be veiled,” said Samina Ali, an Indian-born Muslim novelist, artist and activist. [ link ]

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR By Will Higgins "Being Part of the Moment," by James Wille Faust INDIANA--- James Wille Faust , the acclaimed Indianapolis artist whose sculptural painting “Chrysalis” in late 2011 was replaced by a video screen at Indianapolis International Airport — to the outrage of much of the arts community — has a show opening here later this month. The works, to be on display at the Arthur M. Glick JCC , 6701 Hoover Road, will be a series of small paintings and prints and possibly some sculpture, said Martha Faust, the artist’s wife and manager. This is Faust’s first show in Indianapolis since the giant flap over his giant, three-story-high piece made expressly for the airport. “Chrysalis” was removed from the new terminal to make room for a revenue-producing video screen that shows a blend of art and advertisements. [ link ]

THE HARVARD CRIMSON  By Ann Powers "The Holy Family" - 36" x 48", oil on canvas,  collection of Loyola School, New York, NY MASSACHUSETTS---Standing behind her acclaimed painting “Jesus of the People”—a depiction of Christ as a young black man—artist Janet McKenzie spoke about her art and inspiration Monday night at Memorial Church . She created the painting for the 1999 National Catholic Reporter competition that challenged artists to portray Christ for the new millennium. McKenzie said her inspiration was her nephew, who, as a young man of color, had trouble relating to her work. [ link ]

BUSINESS STANDARD Sudarsan Pattnaik's Ganesha sculpture in Moscow RUSSIA---India's noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has won the "Moscow choice prize" in Russia with a 12 feet creation of the Hindu elephant god Ganesha, who he says is a symbol of world peace. "Nowadays, violence has increased in every part of the globe so I created Lord Ganesha for world peace," the Odisha artist told IANS from Moscow. The world sand art championship 2013 was held at Moscow's Kolomenskoe Museum Reserve from April 22-28. The prize distribution ceremony was held Sunday evening. [ link ]

BANGKOK POST BANGKOK---It is said that a sense of faith and awe-inspiring grandeur motivated Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel and many other famous works of religious art. Similarly, Thiraphan Lorphaibul has been inspired by religious faith from Buddhist teachings, in particular a book by His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch. The artist aims to create a collection of paintings to mark the centenary of the Supreme Patriarch's birthday on Oct 3. His paintings are meant to be a medium to make abstract Buddhist teachings more "visible" and accessible to people. The Supreme Patriarch composed a series of Buddhist teachings titled "Chitta Nakhon (City of the Mind)" for his radio broadcasts every Sunday between 1968 and 1980. The series was later compiled and published in book format. [ link ]

MICHIGAN LIVE By Sue White MICHIGAN---For 32 years, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church has celebrated the traditions of the old world, worshiping at an east-facing altar in a church of domes and arches and sharing its food and culture at its annual Greek Festival every June. But in its 75th anniversary year, the congregation serving many across the state reached into its roots in Saginaw. The iconography, or religious art, that once screened the altar in the renovated St. Paul Lutheran Church at Fifth and Lapeer on Saginaw’s East Side and survived a fire there in 1950 hangs again in the church at Mackinaw and McCarty. “While the western churches reflect on Christ’s sufferings, everything in the Greek Orthodox church is flavored with the resurrection,” [Fr. Cox] said, adding that they will celebrate Easter on May 5 this year, aligned with the traditional Passover. [ link ]

GULF TIMES QATAR---Students of the Museum and Gallery Practice Master’s Degree programme at University College London Qatar (UCL Qatar) are curating an exhibition to run at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) from May 1 to June 2. As part of the Qatar UK 2013 Year of Culture celebrations, the exhibition, named “Backstage”, explores the work that goes on behind the scenes in a museum. Utilising stunning examples of Iznik pottery from the Museum of Islamic Art’s collections, the exhibition conveys the work of archaeologists, conservators and curators, disciplines that are unfamiliar to many museum goers. [ link ]

JEWISH ART NOW  COLORADO--- HaLapid: Journal of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies (SJCS) is seeking artistic submissions in the form of paintings, drawings, photographs, etc. to feature on the cover of its next volume. We invite artists’ submissions on a variety of themes pertaining to crypto-Judaism, crypto-Jews, and/or crypto-Jewishness. Send no more than 5 images in the form of jpeg files, along with a short bio (100-200 words) to: scjs@uccs.edu. Deadline for final submissions: July 1, 2013. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS  By TAHLIB A Jewish heaven— Paradisus Iudaeorum —is how a 17th-century Vatican diplomat once described Poland, wrote a  BBC  analyst in 2005. During the Holocaust, it became hell on earth. This week, previews began at the new Museum of the History of Polish Jews  which will tell of 1,000 years of Jewish presence in Poland; and the centerpiece artifact is the  replicated roof of a 17th-century wooden synagogue that is suspended overhead for museum viewing. April is Holocaust Remembrance Month , when painful memories to Jews and non-Jews alike are center stage. My exploration of world religions through art makes this 17th-century synagogue  roof (being viewed by Rabbi Boaz Pash), my NEWS OF WEEK .

THE WEEK By Damon Linker HOLLYWOOD ---Both The Tree of Life (2011) and the just-released To the Wonder  (2013) are deeply Christian in outlook and inspiration — and both demonstrate the religion's continued power to serve as a vital cultural and intellectual force. Mainstream critics hardly seem to have noticed. The problem is that, regardless of whether they've admired or ridiculed the films, the vast majority of mainstream critics have failed to treat them as the profoundly religious — and specifically Christian — works of art that they are. Whether or not the silence is a product of the theological illiteracy and scriptural ignorance that typically prevails among overwhelmingly secular journalists, something essential about these remarkable films has been missed. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib "I Sleep on Top of Myself (Dog)," 2011 NEW YORK---Eli Klein Fine Art is hosting its second solo-exhibition for the Chinese-Australian artist, Shen Shaomin , " I Touched the Voice of God ." The exhibition expresses Shen Shaomin’s deep concerns for the future of our planet. "I Sleep on Top of Myself" and "I Want to Know What Infinity Is" are works that reveal the artist’s outlook through hyperrealistic sculptures that illustrate the potential and metaphorical consequences of a world which is over-developed and despoiled. The work from  the exhibition derive their name from broken sections of China’s second manned rocket into space. As symbols of the larger greater universe, the artist’s choice reflects a belief that normal messaging has blinded us to a true understanding of the universe. Eli Klein Fine Art: " Shen Shaomin: I Touched the Voice of God " | 462 West Broadway New York, NY 10012 | ekfineart.c...

OTTAWA CITIZEN By Peter Simpson " Susanna (Katelin)," from Olivia Johnston's Fallen, portraits of biblical women, at La Petite Mort Gallery in Ottawa. CANADA---Two years after the grand exhibition of Caravaggio paintings at the National Gallery, a particularly disturbing image still lingers. The scene, captured in two of the Caravaggio paintings, was of Abraham sacrificing his son, Isaac. God commands the sacrifice and even though it doesn’t happen — an angel stops the blade before it gets to Isaac’s throat, once Abraham’s “fear” of God has been dramatically proven — I found it all to be incomprehensible. A father’s final duty is to protect his child above all, so how could Abraham slaughter his own son, even to prove himself to God? The disquiet of the scene, rendered so powerfully by Caravaggio, crept back this week while I looked at the photographs in Fallen , the exhibition by Olivia Johnston opening Friday at La Petite Mort Gallery . [ link ]

THE ART NEWSPAPER By Lauren Gelfond Feldinger EGYPT---The new elected head of Cairo’s declining Jewish community, Magda Haroun , said she will campaign to save Egypt’s Jewish synagogues and other historic sites—but according to reports, she will reject offers of help from Israel, because she wants the Egyptian government to recognise that the sites are an important part of their history. “Jewish temples are like the pyramids and the Sphinx,” she told the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram. “They are part of Egypt’s history that cannot be ignored.” Haroun’s election, following the death last month of 84-year-old Carmen Weinstein , is a good sign for Egyptian heritage, an Egyptian filmmaker told The Art Newspaper . [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Ed Rothstein Roman Catholic clerics give the Nazi salute at a  Catholic youth rally in the Neukölln stadium. Courtesy of USHMM WASHINGTON — Whatever larger themes are sounded when the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum commemorates its 20th anniversary here this weekend, whatever is said at a Monday ceremony by former President Bill Clinton or by the museum’s founding chairman, Elie Wiesel, and whatever assessments are made about its influence, accomplishments or limitations, it will take a visit to its new exhibition, “ Some Were Neighbors ,” to grasp one aspect of this imposing institution’s power. It reveals the demonic not in grand forces, but in the most minute details. [ link ]

CHINA DAILY | USA   Detail: Celestial Music, mural from Mogao Cave 288 Western Wei dynasty (535-557), 52 x 522 cm Image courtesy of Dunhuang Academy NEW YORK---Dunhuang, the western gateway to China, is one of the world's most esteemed art shrines and cultural heritage sites. "Dunhuang: Buddhist Art at the Gateway of the Silk Road" will address art and ritual practices of the Northern dynasties (386-581) and the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The exhibition will feature excavated art works, high relief clay figures, wooden sculptures, silk banners and molded bricks. A group of treasured Buddhist sutras from the famous Cangjingdong (The Library Cave) will illustrate the story behind Dunhuang's historic discovery. [ link ] China Institute Gallery and Dunhuang Academy:  " Dunhuang: Buddhist Art at the Gateway of the Silk Road " (Ends Oct. 19). China Institute, 125 East 65th Street, New York, chinainstitute.org

USA TODAY By Dan Vergano A carved stone head excavated from the lowland Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala (around 400 BCE). GUATEMALA---Soaring pyramids, ceremonial platforms and ritual plazas, signatures of the ancient Maya, owe their origin to a broad cultural shift in Central America around 1,000 B.C., the ruins of Ceibal suggest. The ancient Maya started building their storied cities amid a construction boom in Central America as early as 1000 B.C., archaeologists reported Thursday. Anthropologists study the origins of civilizations for clues to the ties that bind us together. The Maya offer an interesting example of a society that started building cities uninfluenced by the Old World's Egyptian and Fertile Crescent civilizations. More than 6 million Maya people still live in Central America. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib "Adoration of the Shepherds" (1620) by Gerard van Honthorst at the Uffizi Gallery ITALY---On the 20th anniversary of the bomb disaster of Via dei Georgofili, the Uffizi Gallery will have a special opening of the Gallery free of charge. Also known as "The Massacre of via dei Georgofili (Italian: Strage di via dei Georgofili)", this disaster was a bomb explosion set by the Mafia very early in the morning of 27 May 1993 in Florence, Italy. This year, on Sunday May 26, 2013 the museum will remain open until 1:30am (last entrance at 1am May 27) in order to commemorate the precise time, 1:04 a.m. of the explosion of the car bomb explossion that took of the lives of 5 innocents along with three paintings, including an Adoration of the Shepherds (1620) by Gerard van Honthorst .

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib MASSACHUSETTS---In the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombings, the attention of the media and the American public quickly turned toward the Islamic faith of terrorist figures Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev . A recent Barna study suggests that Americans of all ages are fairly split on how they perceive Islam, though not too surprisingly, the general trend reveals both older Americans and Republicans have a less positive impression of Muslims. Only one-third of Americans (33%) have a favorable perception of Islam, while slightly more (36%) say they have an unfavorable perception of the religion. Add to that the 31% who don’t know what they think about Islam, and you have a nation decidedly divided on how to deal with a religion that includes 1.57 billion followers worldwide.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By Marynia Kruk POLAND---Poland wants to re-legalize ritual slaughter , but with limits on what the country’s prime minister called the cruelest practices, after a legal challenge to the procedure to produce kosher and halal meat last year pitted the country’s powerful agriculture export industry against animal rights activists. “For Jews, moves against shechita [Jewish ritual slaughter] even subconsciously raise resistance,” said Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich. “But as far as I can see this has nothing to do with the pre-war experience. It impacts on Jewish life, but it’s not about Jews.” At present, the niche industry remains in legal limbo after a Constitutional Tribunal ruling last November. [ link ]

THE TIMES AND DEMOCRAT  By Associated Press The painted ceiling of a reconstructed wooden synagogue that dates back centuries, photographed in Warsaw, Poland, on Tuesday March 12, 2013. POLAND — In March, a Jewish history museum in Warsaw unveiled a reconstructed synagogue roof with an elaborately painted ceiling modeled on a 17th-century structure, presenting the first object that will go on permanent display in the highly awaited museum. The wooden roof and ceiling will be a key attraction in the Museum of the History of Polish Jews , which is due to open next year in the heart of the city’s former Jewish quarter. The ceiling is a rich panoply in milky blues and brownish reds of zodiac signs and animal symbols, along with inscriptions in Hebrew. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, the program director of the museum’s core exhibition, said some of the animals express Messianic yearnings prevalent in Polish Jewish communities after a period of wars and destruction in the 17th cen...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib Hanuman Murti at Jakhu Hills in Shimla Himachal Pradesh in India - 108 feet INDIA--- Marking the Hindu Holyday honoring the diety Hanuman, the Hindu Blog is featured images of the world's   5 Tallest Hanuman Murtis (Idols or Statues) . The Festival of Hanuman Jayanti – April 25, 2013, is celebrated to commemorate the birth of Lord Hanuman. Hanuman is an ardent devotee of Lord Rama, and is worshiped for his devotion. Lord Hanuman is the symbol of strength and energy. Hanuman is able to assume any form at will, wield rocks, move mountains, dart through the air, seize the clouds and rival Garuda in swiftness of flight.

ARTSLANT by Natalie Hegert “There is no such thing as inanimate matter…there is  God or divinity in all matter and it is all living energy.”  – JAY DEFEO "The Rose" by Jay DeFeo (1958–66) NEW YORK---This is a tale of unparalleled devotion. This is a tale of inspired vision. This is a tale of heaving beauty, of divine obsession, of possession, of cosmic light embodied. This is the ballad of Jay DeFeo. Jay DeFeo in the old country saw color and light, in cruciform, in carmine and ochre and earth. She traveled in the footsteps of monks, perhaps not knowing, yet with her she brought back vivid memories of primal shapes and magic circles, spirals, stars, crosses. The studio became her temple. They called her mad. It became as a living thing. It was the divine incarnate; it was Christ from God, Shakti from Shiva, the unity of death and life. [ link ] Whitney Museum of American Art: " A Retrospective: Jay DeFeo ," (Ends June 2, 2013) 945 Madison Avenue, 75...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib With art galleries looking to reach new collectors and to offer more affordable routes to buying works, at least one company believes that digital religious art  is the answer. In fact online art dealer  s[edition] , is offering a 21st century digital reinterpretation of Giovanni Bellini's painting  Holy Allegory  for only $80.00. How do they do it? Like a bricks-and-mortar gallery they've contracted with AES+F , an artist partnership which creates  unique aesthetic famous for its hypnotic appeal, classical beauty to allow their Bellini re-interpretation, Reincarnation  to be purchased online with video download plus a certificate of authenticity. Whether you prefer the original (1490-1500) in the permanent collection of the Uffizi Gallery , or this modern trilogy: heaven, purgatory and hell are all there and open to creative interpretation. AES+F  in the tradition of Bellini. AES+F  is a group of four Ru...

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Brent E. Huffman An Afghan archaeologist examined Buddha statues inside an ancient monastery at Mes Aynak, in eastern Logar Province, in 2010. AFGHANISTAN---In 2007, the Chinese state-owned China Metallurgical Group Corporation (M.C.C.) won the rights to mine copper at a site called Mes Aynak. Situated in volatile Logar Province, Mes Aynak is home to one of the world’s largest untapped copper deposits — worth more than $100 billion. Yet, as this Op-Doc video shows, the site also houses the astonishing remains of an ancient Buddhist city , which archaeologists are now racing to save. An international team has only until June to finish the excavations, which began in 2009. Yet perhaps 90 percent of the site remains underground and unseen. To finish the job could take decades. In all likelihood, the destruction of the Buddhist sites will begin later this year. [ link ]

THE INQUIRER By Michelle R. Smith, Katie Zezimia and Jack Gillum, AP MASSACHUSETTS---The woman who was married to the Boston Marathon bombing suspect who died is being described as sweet and dedicated to the Islamic religion to which she converted. Katherine Russell Tsarnaev's high school art teacher says she was at the top of her class in drawing and an excellent student. She converted to Islam and wears the hijab, the traditional Muslim headscarf. Katherine stayed in the couple's Cambridge apartment last year while Tamerlan traveled to Russia for about six months. [ link ]

MAINLINE NEWS PENNSYLVANIA---It was a remarkable week at Villanova’s University Art Gallery . On Monday, the university welcomed Lama Losang Samten , a renowned Tibetan scholar and former Buddhist monk, as he created a “Wheel of Life” sand mandala throughout the week. Then on Friday Samten brushed the finished work away. Symbols are used in the mandala to convey the nature of the human mind and our illusion of permanence, according to Samten. The mandala circle is a cycle starting from the yin and yang in the center. Figures in the rings show the different realms of human existence and the cycles of birth, growth and death. Just like our lives, the mandala is not permanent; when the work is done it is dissolved. In this mandala, which is a unique work of art, Samten incorporated images that relate to the Villanova community. including Franciscan priests, and young figures with V's on their shirts. [ link ]

VARIETY By Marilyn Stasio BROADWAY ---Where to begin? Well, there’s a live vulture on stage, and an uprooted tree suspended in mid-air, and a pool of water that appears to be bottomless. And that’s before the house lights even go down on “ The Testament of Mary .” The matchless Fiona Shaw commands the stage in this solo piece adapted by Irish scribe Colm Toibin from the 2012 novella he fashioned as an interior monologue delivered by Mary, the mother of the historical Christ and, in Christian legend, the Mother of God and the Queen of Heaven. It’s safe to say you’ve never seen anything like it. [ link ]

THE NONPROFIT TIMES By The NonProfit Times One of the most important parts of any grant proposal is the program description. Without it, the funder will not know why they should agree to give you the money requested. What goes in a program description? In his book “ The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Grant Writing ,” Waddy Thompson explains that some funders specify the order in which they want you to present the information about your program.  [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest Disney-Britton INDIANA---The leading funeral stationery manufacturer in North America, Messenger LLC is commemorating its 100(th) anniversary in business. The company was founded on March 24, 1913, by Frank M. Messenger, a deeply religious man who first introduced Sacred Art Religious Calendars before focusing the company's resources on funeral stationery products. Frank Messenger was 61 years old when he began to manufacture religious scripture-verse calendars. Messenger LLC , headquartered in Auburn, Indiana, has been in business since 1913 and has grown to be the most innovative manufacturer of funeral stationery products in North America. Among a long list of their innovations include an extensive line of funeral stationery products featuring the art of Thomas Kinkade , known as the "Painter of Light."

THE BOSTON GLOBE By Penny Schwartz The Gwozdziec project in Warsaw. MASSACHUSETTS---For the last 10 years, Laura and Rick Brown have been immersed in the art and architecture of Poland’s historic Gwozdziec synagogue , as well as that of many other Jewish houses of worship built during the 17th and 18th centuries. In March, the 25,000-pound, 85 percent scale replica was hoisted into place as the centerpiece of Warsaw’s new Museum of the History of Polish Jews , which will trace the 1,000-year legacy of Poland’s Jews. A film of the replication project is being made by local filmmakers Cary and Yari Wolinsky, of Trillium Studios, in collaboration with Cambridge-based John Rubin Productions. [ link ]

THE NATION By Crystal Koelmeyer Golden era Buddhist Temple SRI LANKA ---According to records available, the period of twenty five years from 1930 to 1955 is considered the ‘Golden era’ of the temple and Buddhism in Negombo, under the leadership of M.B Sri Medhankaratissa thera. Standing opposite Harischandra Maha Viddyalaya in Negombo, ‘ Bodhirajaramaya ’, popularly known as the Angurukaramulla temple , is one of the few places of worship available for Buddhist folks in the city. Records on the history of the temple suggest that it has taken nearly hundred years for the overall construction activities to complete. Bodhirajaramaya is a Buddhist temple; an asset to the city and a right of the generations to come. [ link ]

TAMIL WEEK By Maheen Senanayake INDIAN---" The Life and Times of R Namasivayam " and his contribution of the restoration of Tirukketisvaram serves perhaps to fill an unforgettable chapter in the commitment to and retention of a Hindu tradition. The book edited by Prof. S. Pathmanathan, Professor Emeritus, University of Peradeniya, and published by the Namasivayam family will be launched on April 25 at the Saraswathi Hall, Bambalapitiya at 5.30 pm. Hindu lore states that in ancient Sri Lanka there were five sacred Hindu temples dedicated to Siva. They were Munnesvaram, Kataragama, Kailayanatar Kovil in Nallur, Tirukketisvaram in Mantota and Tirukkonesvaram in Trincomalee. [ link ]

DEUTSCHE WELLE By Angelina Verbica Damaged Onufri frescoes, such as this one in Vlash, attest to thieves' failed efforts ALBANIA---Since the end of communism in Albania, an increasing number of priceless works of art have been stolen from Orthodox churches. Now, a theft that left historic frescoes destroyed has finally caused an uproar. any of the destroyed works were by Onufri, a famous icon painter of the 16th century anhd the best-known medieval artist in Albania. The thefts sparked broad outrage in the media, especially among archaeologists. Paradoxically, works of religious art were safer during the communist dictatorship in Albania than today - even though the exercise of religion was forbidden in the world's first atheist state, and churches were even destroyed. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS  By TAHLIB Inspired by Buddhist principles, an exhibition of new works by Takashi Murakami  opened in Los Angeles this week just as notions of "impermanence" were shaping human experiences from North Korea to Boston .  There are three basic tenets of Buddhism: (1) nothing is fixed or permanent; (2) actions have consequences; and (3) change is possible. Unlike Hindu and Abrahamic traditions, it does not include the idea of worshipping a creator God; but its goal of reaching "Enlightenment" or "Buddhahood" where an individual ( Arhat: Saint ) sees the nature of reality absolutely clearly, and lives fully in accordance with that vision is consistent with other religions. My exploration of world religions through art makes Takashi Murakami's " Arhat " series (above), my NEWS OF WEEK .

BLOUIN ARTINFO | By Julie Hamilton "Walking on Water- Waves," (2012) Azurite on Canvas with Polished Gesso, 84 x 132 inches NEW YORK---Trained in the techniques of Japanese Nihonga, Makoto Fujimura offers a seasoned yet innovative vision in his upcoming exhibition " Golden Sea " at Dillon Gallery, with vanguard approaches to traditional materials. Originally intended as a response to the devastating Japanese tsunami in 2011, the Walking on Water series became a reality for Fujimura as he waded through the flooded Dillon Gallery this past October, losing numerous works. Yet the “walking on water” reference alludes to more than the event of Sandy. For Fujimura, it is also an encounter with the impossible, even the miraculous, an ability to maintain peace amidst the storm. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS "10 Commandments" by Keith Haring FRANCE---The Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, in association with Le CENTQUATRE, is devoting a wide-ranging retrospective to American artist Keith Haring (1958-1990). The exhibition entitled, "Keith Haring: The Political Line" will bear witness to the importance of Haring's work, in particular its profoundly "political" content, apparent in his work throughout his career. Almost 250 pictures on canvas and tarpaulins and from subway walls – as well as twenty monumental works – will be exhibited at Le CENTQUATRE, making this one of the largest presentations of Keith Haring’s works ever.

LOS ANGELES TIMES By Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times Film Critic HOLLYWOOD ---" Oblivion " will make you remember, not forget. This Tom Cruise vehicle is a throwback to the days when on-screen science fiction was about speculative ideas rather than selling toys to tots — think of it as the most expensive episode of "The Twilight Zone" ever made. " Oblivion " is not perfect. Its dystopian story makes no apologies for its familiarity, echoing such films as "The Planet of the Apes," "The Matrix," "2001" and even "Wall-E." And expecting the wheels not to eventually begin to fall off its pleasantly complicated, head-spinning plot (based on the director Joseph Kosinski's graphic novel) is asking a little too much. But even given all this implausibility, " Oblivion " has the ability to haunt you visually and, with an unanticipated love story, even emotionally. [ link ] ( A&O   Rating:  ★★★)

CALVERT JOURNAL By Oleg Kulik "Madonna" by Oleg Kulik RUSSIA---At the beginning of my career I never planned on becoming a human-dog or on studying Buddhist or Christian philosophy. Oleg Kulik made his name with shocking, provocative performance art with an animal twist — most memorable are his extended periods inhabiting the persona of a dog and his bid for president in the guise of a bull. But now, at a new show, Frames, at Moscow’s Regina Gallery , Kulik’s art is taking a new turn, investigating the role of the sacred in contemporary society.  [ link]

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL By Chavie Lieber NEW JERSEY---In the space of a single painting, Siona Benjamin juxtaposes feminism, Indian mythology and Jewish imagery. On a three-foot canvas, she’ll paint a portrait of a blue-skinned figure, usually a character from the Bible, with nods to Persian miniatures, Talmudic fables and Vishnu gods. Often there’s a message in Arabic. “I want people to realize there can be a universal message in Jewish art,” Benjamin said. “I didn’t want to just be a Jewish artist, explaining my culture in my paintings, because it’s deeper than that. I’m a Jewish woman of color and a feminist with Islamic and Hindu influences, and they are all a part of me.” [ link ]

NY | THE JEWISH WEEK By Sandee Brawarsky Detail of Frankfurt Mishnah Torah, which was created in Italy in the Middle Ages. NEW YORK---In the largest sale of a single owner’s Judaica collection in more than 50 years, Sotheby’s New York is offering “ A Treasured Legacy: The Michael and Judy Steinhardt Judaica Collection ” at auction on April 29. With 386 lots, the sale is estimated in excess of $11 million. Michael Steinhardt, the legendary hedge fund manager and mega-philanthropist best known for his role in launching the Birthright Israel program, told The Jewish Week, “I’m selling it because I am 72 years old and I have been collecting for over 40 years. No one else in my family, sadly, has expressed any deep interest in the collection.”[ link ]

STRAIGHT.COM By Robin Laurence Oh Persepolis II, a sculpture that’s part of a UBC Museum of Anthropology show. CANADA---Few of Parvitz Tanavoli’s West Vancouver neighbours know that he is one of Iran’s most acclaimed modern artists. Perhaps his understated local status will change, however, when Safar/Voyage opens at the UBC Museum of Anthropology this Saturday (April 20). A survey of contemporary works by 16 Arab, Iranian, and Turkish artists, the exhibition promises to introduce Vancouverites to a range of ideas and practices from a region of the world that is little understood in the West. Among the video, installation, performance, and photographic works on view is Tanavoli’s striking "Oh Persepolis II." Nearly two metres high, it is executed in bronze so highly polished that it gleams like gold. " Safar/Voyage " is at the UBC Museum of Anthropology from Saturday (April 20) to September 15. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib PHILIPPINES---If God created Man in his own image, why don't artists make Adam look like God? Recently, Niccolo Cosme explored that question in a new work. "This guy, named Ramon Bautista is a famous personality here in the Philippines (TV, Movie, online)," said Cosme.

MATADOR NETWORK By Paul Sochaczewski Photo: rajkumar1220 BHUTAN--- Phalluses — sometimes simple and stylized, often ornate and anatomically correct — adorn many houses in Bhutan . They must do a good job of keeping the home free from evil spirits and slander, as Bhutan is famously pacifist, the people are largely content (this is the home of Gross National Happiness ), and the landlocked kingdom is relatively free of the troublesome domestic dramas that afflict other Asian countries. Called po in Dzonghka, Bhutan’s national language, these phallus images are sometimes painted on the outside walls of Bhutanese houses, or carved from wood and hung from the eaves of their sturdy stone and timber dwellings. [ link ]

HELL'S TEETH "Krucifix" by Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin The thing which interests me about this crucifix is firstly the sheer artistry of the photograph. Overtones of sexuality permeate the scene. It is, however, sensual, without being in any way offensive. The elements which make it up are entirely natural. There is something essentially voyeuristic about it - not unlike the unveiling and display of the consecrated Host at Benediction. At the same time, the perfect, yet deathly outline of the Cross is apparent, but a cross which one has succumbed to - which has extracted the last from the tormented body. I find it an extraordinary piece of work. [ link ]

FOREIGN POLICY By Naheed Mustafa The other day, I was sitting around thinking about all the women who are trying to bring real change to the world. Why? Lift your blouse, Aung San Suu Kyi ! Welcome to Freedom! What's that? You want to stop a civil war, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee ? Forget working with the trauma-afflicted and building networks and doing the scary work of looking rapists in the face and shouting "enough!" Show us your boobies! And come on, Shirin Ebadi . Do we even have to talk about this? Confronting the Iranian theocracy with your brain? We know the other b-word that would be so much more effective! Femen -- a Ukrainian group that "empowers" women through breast-focused action (Femen/feminist -- get it?) -- wants to save Muslim women, and they will do it without their shirts because Muslim women also have breasts and since we can't show ours, they'll show theirs. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEW YORK--The Brooklyn Museum hosts " Gravity and Grace " through August 2013, the first solo exhibition in a New York museum by the globally renowned contemporary artist El Anatsui .  This show will feature over 30 works in metal and wood that transform appropriated objects into site-specific sculptures. Anatsui converts found materials into a new type of media that lies between sculpture and painting, combining aesthetic traditions from his birth country, Ghana; his home in Nsukka, Nigeria; and the global history of abstraction.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib Frontside of the condom portait of the pope WISCONSIN--Retired Pope Benedict was a strident opponent of the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS in Africa, and in 2009 he said "the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics: on the contrary, they increase it." In response, Niki Johnson , an artist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin created a unique portrait, " Eggs Benedict " (Video) of the pope using 17,000 non-lubricated condoms. During his retirement years (beginning Feb. 2013), he is known as His Holiness Benedict XVI, Pope emeritus .

ISRAELI INTERNATIONAL NEWS  By Arutz Sheva ISRAEL---In Israel, during the weeks before Independence Day flags come out of boxes, draped from their balconies and stuck on cars. When you’re in Israel, it’s hard to escape the excitement of Independence Day! So why blue and white? The blue of the flag originates in biblical times . During these times, tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, had blue dye in it ( NUM 15:38-40 ). The blue and white is fitting for a flag, fitting for Judaica, fitting for tallit, but it doesn’t quite stand alone as a symbol. What is the origin of the Jewish Star? The Star of David (or Jewish Star) has evolved into a symbol of Judaism, chosen by the Jewish people to represent themselves. Starting in the 17th century, the Jewish Star became the prominent symbol of Judaism. A symbol is only as relevant as the meaning we ascribe to it – so as Jews and gentiles began to identify with the Star of David as a symbol of Judaism, it truly became to represent the Jew...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib The weapons and ornaments on the turban are original objects dating to the 19th century UNITED KINGDOM---The magnificent fortress turban is a distinctive symbol of Sikh faith and history, and will remain on view at the Birmingham Museum through April 28, 2013. This exhibition will explore the story of this warrior’s turban and include contributions from Birmingham’s Sikh community explaining why the turban remains important to them today. If you would like more information you may like to follow Sikh Fortress Turban on Facebook .

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Seated Buddha, Korea, Goryeo dynasty, 10th century, gift of the 2013 Collectors Committee CALIFORNIA--Since 1986, the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art’s annual Collectors Committee Gala has resulted in numerous important acquisitions in all areas of the museum’s collection. This weekend the Collectors Committee added nine more. For the event, Collectors Committee members create a pool for acquisitions funds and then use those funds to vote for artworks presented by LACMA curators earlier in the day. In the final tally, LACMA raised more than $3.2 million—a record for the event—toward seven artworks. Two  religious art aquisitions were included: a Shinto Mountain Avatar, and a rare Korean cast iron Buddha sculpture (above) from the tenth century Goryeo dynasty which depicts the historical Buddha Shakyamuni’s Enlightenment at Bodha Gaya in India; this acquisition makes this the largest example of Goryeo Buddhist sculpture outside of Asia.

ARTDAILY The world's tallest statue of late pope John Paul II was unveiled Saturday. POLAND---The world's tallest statue of late Pope John Paul II was unveiled Saturday in the Polish city of Czestochowa, already home to a Catholic icon believed to work miracles. The heavily Catholic country's tribute to its pontiff, who died in 2005, shows him with arms outstretched and all in white save for a gold cross around his neck. It weighs 10 tonnes and is 13.8 metres (45.3 feet) high, surpassing the 12-metre likeness in Chile, project originator Leszek Lyson told AFP in the southern city. The statue stands paradoxically in a miniature park, which includes reproductions of sacred sites like the Lourdes shrine in France. [ link ]

INTERVIEW MAGAZINE By Erica Bellman Detail in "Arhat" (2012) from Murakami's Buddhism series CALIFORNIA---In the realm of Takashi Murakami's latest artwork, the road to enlightenment—Buddhism's storied Eightfold Path—Murakami's " Arhat ," now at Blum & Poe gallery in Los Angeles [Ends May 25]. The figure of the arhat—the Sanskrit term for "one who has achieved enlightenment"—has been used to depict spiritual transcendence over suffering throughout the ages. Painter Kamo Kazunobu's monumental scroll paintings depict 500 arhats in hell, and illustrate the painful aftermath the Japanese endured after an 1855 earthquake killed over 5,000 people. Echoing the Buddhist statuary found in the artist's native Japan, the monumental sculptures included in Arhat are among the show's most striking pieces. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Roberta Smith Great and Mighty Things Works by Howard Finster at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. PENNSYLVANIA---Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz are doing a great thing for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and for the rest of us too. They are planning to bestow upon it their beloved, finely calibrated collection of 20th-century American outsider art. The museum is celebrating its good fortune with “ Great and Mighty Things: Outsider Art From the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection ,” an exhilarating exhibition accompanied by an exceptional catalog. The Bonovitz collection, formed over 30 years by Mr. Bonovitz, a lawyer in Philadelphia, and his wife, a ceramic artist, is widely acknowledged as outstanding in outsider circles. [ link ]

ARTDAILY Shiva and Parvati, India or Nepal, seventeenth century, bronze, 7 7/8 x 7 x 5 inches, Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature, University of Richmond Museums, Gift of Gertrude Howland, R2001.03.03 VIRGINIA---The Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature, University Museums , presents " Religion and Tradition: Objects from Nepal, India, and Tibet ." This new installation features a selection of objects from the museum’s permanent collection, including woodcarvings, jewelry, and bronze statues from Nepal, India, and Tibet. The exhibition highlights the major art forms of the region, and provides an introduction to the religions and culture of the area. It includes examples of traditional craftsmanship used to produce objects for worship in Buddhism and Hinduism, for everyday use, and for trade and tourists. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahib "Last Supper, Bomb Shelter" (2012) By Justin Chase Lane. Chromogenic Photograph

AISH.COM | YOUTUBE Never Forget by Francky Perez Courtesy of Aish.com

THE MANTLE  By Anam Reproductions of paintings by Pakistani artist Muhammad Ali of Islamic clerics with Boys in homoerotic poses (photo: Queerty ) PAKISTAN -- By looking at Pakistan through a despondent narrow light, people restrict themselves from appreciating the region’s innate beauty. Pakistan’s grandeur can be found in its spectacular northern mountain ranges, rich heritage, vibrant culture, delectable food, and a booming art market that has grown to become a foundation of national pride. This booming creative market has recently come under scrutiny from extremist groups, who criticize various facets of artistic expression to be offensive to Islamic beliefs. For instance, in January 2012 Jamaat ul Dawa , a notorious religious party, accused Pakistan’s leading arts college of committing blasphemy. This is a serious accusation, because blasphemy is a crime that has been punishable by death in Pakistan since the 1980s . [ link ]