Category Archives: Blog

Here’s the trailer for Tom Cruise’s new movie: The Mummy. I’m looking forward to seeing it and adding it to my syllabus on Orientalism and Egyptomania in literature, theatre, and film (when I taught this seminar at Harvard, I received an award for excellence in teaching). Considering the number of mummies I have handled in Egypt and Sudan, I often wonder if I might be cursed too…

When I first moved to Beirut, I surprised by all of the Christmas decorations ornamenting city streets across the country — and the enthusiasm of many of my Muslim friends for Christmas celebrations, carol-singing, and concerts. Yesterday, in the spirit of peace and coexistence, the Greek Catholic Church in Sidon (one of my favorite coastal cities in the south) launched a festive event to celebrate the three major holidays that take place in December for Christians and Muslims: the feast day of St. Nicholas, Christmas, and the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday. The Greek Catholic Bishop for Sidon said, “On these happy days, we meet together in Sidon as Christians and Muslims to celebrate the glorious holidays.”

When I was in Iran this fall giving a series of lectures for the Commonwealth Club of California, I had the opportunity to view art from the Iranian diaspora in Tehran (gallery hopping of Tehran’s more than 150 galleries has become a popular affair). A recent article in the NYTimes, Tehran’s Ab-Anbar Gallery Links the Diaspora and Global Art, discusses the efforts of Salman Matinfar, the founder and director of Ab-Anbar, to bring art from the Iranian diaspora to Tehran. In the wake of Iranian art becoming popular over the past decade at auction houses and galleries in the “west” and Gulf, Matinfar observes: “Lots of not historically important artists got attention because of lack of knowledge from curators, from museums, from a non-Middle Eastern perspective. Like a kind of Orientalism view into the Middle East.”

I find it very relaxing to start off my week-end mornings hiking with friends through the majestic wadis of Oman…

This week, there will be a book talk on the history of the Russian hajj at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute — one of the world’s leading academic institutions devoted to Russian, Eurasian, and East European studies. I received my Masters in Russian, Eastern European, and Central Asian Studies from the Harriman Institute (which helped me get in touch with my Slavic roots and deepen my research on Islam in Central Asia), so I’m very happy to see that they are offering this book talk as part of their Harriman at 70 Lecture Series.

Book Talk at Columbia University
Russian Hajj: Empire and the Pilgrimage to Mecca, by Eileen Kane
Monday, December 5, 2016, 12:00 pm
Marshall D. Shulman Seminar Room (1219 International Affairs Building)

Eileen Kane teaches modern European and Russian history at Connecticut College. Her first book, Russian Hajj: Empire and the Pilgrimage to Mecca (Cornell, 2015) tells the story of how Russia, a Christian power, came to sponsor the hajj, a central Muslim ritual. Her current research looks at Russia’s role in the making of the modern Middle East, through a focus on migration.

“…a skilled ensemble…a treat to watch.”
— The New York Times

I’m happy to announce that our gamelan group from New York City has a concert coming up later this month (mark your calendars!). I have had the joy and pleasure of performing Javanese gamelan in concert for almost two decades now — at venues like Lincoln Center, Asia Society, and the Indonesian Consulate in New York. Unfortunately, I will not be able to play in this concert with the gang, because I am here in the Sultanate of Oman. While on a Fulbright award in Indonesia, I had the opportunity to study gamelan with gamelan masters in Solo — the musical and spiritual heart of Java.  Studying gamelan has radically changed how I understand myself and the world in so many ways — I’m totally in love with it. If you are in New York, don’t mess this spirited performance of meditative music from Java.

“Gorgeous. Meditative….a lot of detail. I loved the show.”
— Laurie Anderson

Gamelan Kusuma Laras, celebrating its 33rd year of studying and performing Javanese music and dance, will present a special program from the Central Javanese classical repertoire, featuring dancer Tri Kumara and singer Heni Savitri. The ensemble, directed by I.M. Harjito, will also be joined by members of the NYC-based Indonesian dance troupe, Saung Budaya.

Gamelan Kusuma Laras is a classical Javanese gamelan orchestra based in New York City that performs music, dance, and theatre from the classical repertoire of the courts of Central Java.  Kusuma Laras has entranced music and dance lovers with their authentic performances on instruments created especially for the Indonesia Pavilion at the World’s Fair of 1964-65 in New York. Over the years, the ensemble has performed at venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, Roulette, Symphony Space, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Bard College, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Lincoln Center, and the Yogyakarta International Gamelan Festival.

This week, I traveled with a friend about two hours out of Muscat to explore Wadi Bani Kharus in the Sultanate of Oman. We started off with a serene stroll through the shade of the wadi’s pleasant palm grove, ushered along by the sounds of rushing water, croaking frogs, and the greetings of Southeast Asian migrant workers tilling in the fields.
Since there was no clear path, we had to splash through some water, climb over boulders, and make our own way. Eventually we hiked up above the wadi along its falaj irrigation system for a charming view of the valley and fields below. When we reached the source of the water, we were dazzled by the pool’s turquoise hue — a stunning gem hidden in the mountains.

Tonight in Oman, my friends and I headed to the Royal Opera House Muscat for a spirited concert of South African music and dance — with legendary trumpeter Hugh Masekela, Johannesburg’s Mahotella Queens, and the award-winning duo Mafikizolo.

It was great to see so many audience members dancing in the aisles of the Royal Opera House Muscat tonight to the music of Mafikizolo at a concert of South African music and dance in the Sultanate of Oman.

It was such fun to see Johannesburg’s Mahotella Queens in concert tonight at the Royal Opera House Muscat (along with Hugh Masekela and Mafikizolo) and dance to their Zulu-influenced tunes!

Tonight I had the joy of seeing legendary South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela play the Royal Opera House Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman, along with the Mahotella Queens and Mafikizolo.

While giving a series of lectures in Iran for the Commonwealth Club of California, I had the opportunity to visit the
shrine of Shah Nimatullah Vali in Kerman Province. Shah Nimatullah Vali was a Sufi master and poet from the 14th and 15th centuries. He is considered the founder of the Nimatullah Sufi Order. For years, it had been my dream to explore this special Sufi shrine in the Iranian town of Mahan, and I was elated to finally reach it.
I had the chance to photograph every inch of the shrine complex — from the peaceful gardens to the tomb inside. Since I had been familiar with the Nimatullah Sufi Order and its Sufi lodges in Boston, New York, Washington, and California (the Sufi Order can also be found in Mexico, Russia, Western Africa, Australia, and Spain), I kept thinking of those far-flung related sacred spaces from inside the heart of the Order’s most beloved shrine. The Nimatullahi Sufi centers in America were established by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, a Sufi master and well-known writer on psychiatry and mysticism. About Sufism, he wrote: “The basis of Sufism is consideration of the hearts and feelings of others. If you haven’t the will to gladden someone’s heart, then at least beware lest you hurt someone’s heart, for on our path, no sin exists but this.”

I enjoyed visiting this madrasa in Kerman while giving a series of lectures in Iran for the Commonwealth Club of California. Kerman is a good spot from which you can explore the Lut Desert — which has the hottest land surface on Earth.

Last month, while giving a series of lectures in Iran for the Commonwealth Club of California, I had the opportunity to return to the tomb of the 14th century Persian poet Hafiz in Shiraz. About his tomb, he once wrote: “If the breeze of Your hair at Hafiz’s tomb makes a stop / A hundred thousand tulips will adorn his grave-top.” I had to wait for the perfect opening to take a photo, since we went on a holiday and his tomb was surrounded by a large crowd of Iranians from all walks of life — all drawn to the grave of this mystic master.

When you pass by my tomb, ask for grace,
It’s a shrine where the drunkards abound…

— Hafiz