Understanding the Art of Islam

2011 SchoolArts article.

It was with some concern this morning that I read a Facebook post about a Virginia school district's over-the-top response to a world geography lesson. Here is what was reported:

A central Virginia school district has canceled classes Friday after concerns over the "tone and content" of calls and emails received about a lesson in Arabic calligraphy.

Augusta County Public Schools, near Staunton in central Virginia, will be closed after the district received "voluminous phone calls and electronic mail locally and from outside the area" about a high school World Geography class lesson, the district announced Thursday evening.In a lesson Friday on the Middle East, students were presented with an Islamic statement of faith written in Arabic calligraphy, superintendent Eric Bond told The News Leader.

"The students were presented with the statement to demonstrate the complex artistry of the written language used in the Middle East, and were asked to attempt to copy it in order to give the students an idea of the artistic complexity of the calligraphy," a statement Bond gave the paper said.

The statement was not translated into English, and students were not asked to "translate it, recite it or otherwise adopt or pronounce it as a personal belief," Bond said.

The calligraphy shared with the students.

A parent organized a forum Tuesday night about the lesson, calling it "indoctrination" in Islam, The News Leader reported.Since then, the school system has received so many calls and emails that Sheriff Randall Fisher advised schools to close, the statement from the district said.

"The communications have significantly increased in volume [Thursday], and based on concerns regarding the tone and content of those communications, Sheriff Fisher and Dr. Bond mutually decided schools and school offices will be closed," the district said.

School officials said there are no specific threats to students, schools or school offices.

Augusta County students will continue to learn about world religions, as state standards require, but a non-religious sample of Arabic calligraphy will be used in the future, the district said.

"As we have emphasized, no lesson was designed to promote a religious viewpoint or change any student’s religious belief," the district said.

Though the superintendent did seem to try to explain the controversy fairly (and this was a world geography class), apparently parent complaints resulted in the entire school district being closed. And the teacher's name was published as well.

In the interest of an educational philosophy that promotes respect and understanding of other cultures, I am here sharing two articles that have appeared in SchoolArts in the past that I believe are still timely and helpful to explain concepts found in Islamic art, both written by Themina Kader. Please feel free to share them.

 You can read "Understanding the Art of Islam" in the digital edition here.

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The Art of Henna

Themina Kader

In the context of art and aesthetics, decorating one’s body using henna is closely aligned with modifications such as tattooing and scarifications. Henna painting is often erroneously referred to as henna tattoos or henna tattooing. This is inaccurate as henna, from the plant Lawsonia Inermis, is painted on the skin and is not permanent. Conversely, tattoos seen on the faces and bodies of the peoples of the South Pacific Islands comprise permanent motifs incised into the skin and are a practice whose origins are steeped in Polynesian culture based on myths, rites of passage, and the rank of a person.

Henna painting as an art form in contemporary United States provides a non-threatening and tangible approach for introducing Islamic culture into an art class. Henna painting is an ancient art. Five thousand-year-old mummies in Egypt and Indian cave paintings in the Punjab Hills, Kangra, testify to the practice of skin decoration using henna.

Henna is a symbol of good omen and enhances the auspiciousness of specific events such as weddings and festivals. In Muslim weddings women, particularly brides, show off their intricately henna-painted hands and feet. Eid, the festival celebrating the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, is another occasion that provides Muslim women and girls a reason for applying mehndi (henna in Urdu), usually in designs based on floral and geometric patterns.

Culturally for Muslims, henna painting is an occasion for bringing together families and friends in a spirit of communality and celebration. Following is a lesson plan that provides a springboard for a multicultural experience in an art class.

Grade Level: Fifth

Class Periods: This lesson could be a 1-day lesson of 45 minutes or extended over 2 or more lessons.

Objectives

By the end of the lesson students will be able to:

·      explain the terms henna and henna painting.

·      describe how henna is prepared.

·      explain how henna is different from tattooing.

·      express appreciation of the values attached to the use of henna in non-American cultures.

·      express understanding of the use of henna for decorating one’s body in the United States.

·      use henna to make patterns on one’s hands or another part of the body.

Materials

·      henna in powder form

·      henna cones

·      paper towels

·      Vaseline or oil such as clove or tea tree oil

·      toothpicks

·      6 tsp sugar

·      8 oz of water

·      concentrated tea

·      fresh lemon juice                

References

·      Traditional Mehndi Designs by Dorine Van Den Beukel

·      The Art of Mehndi by Sumitra Batra

Teacher Directed Instruction
Begin by discussing the many concepts/methods of making oneself beautiful:

·      Cosmetics

·      Tattoos

·      Scarifications

·      Dress and accessories

·      Give a background history of henna and henna painting

·      From where does henna painting originate?

·      What is the difference between henna painting and tattooing?

·      Discuss the kind of motifs/designs students can use to decorate their hands

·      Let students draw their motifs on a piece of paper first

·      Encourage students to keep the motif for at least an hour on the body before washing it off.

Activity

Students can work in pairs or each student can make a motif on her/his own hand.