| Great Leaps: Saudi Arabia’s First Olympic Medals |
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| Written by Peter Harrigan and Rosalind Mazzawi |
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| A second-place finish in the men's 400-meter hurdles in Sydney made Hadi Souan al-Somayli Saudi Arabia's first Olympic medalist. The former physical-education teacher hopes his success will help track and field get off to a new start in the kingdom. A few days later, equestrian jumper Khaled Al 'Eid of Riyadh cleared a different set of hurdles perfectly in two out of three rounds, winning the bronze medal in individual equestrian show jumping. |
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| Painting Cultural History |
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Written by Ni'Mah Isma'il Nawwab
Photographed by Hussain A. Al-Ramadan |
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| It is more than a deft hand with a brush that has made Safeya Binzagr the most acclaimed painter of Saudi Arabia: Her works are also carefully researched records of fast-disappearing ways of life, and together, they constitute an intimate visual record of the nation's recent past. To share that history more widely, she opened a museum in Jiddah last year that will permanently house her art and offer the public a new venue for art education and research. |
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| The Pictures Between |
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Written by Lynn Love
Photographs courtesy of Arab Image Foundation |
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| For nearly as long as travelers from the West, Arabs too have been making photographs in the Arab world. So between the heyday of the European Orientalists a century ago and today's global journalism, there lies a little-known, home-grown visual history: Daily life seen through the lenses of Arab photographers. Since 1997, the Arab Image Foundation has gathered in its Beirut archive some 15,000 photographs, and it has mounted three international shows. Its founders say they are just beginning. |
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| Shaking Up Architecture |
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Written by Lee Adair Lawrence
Photographs courtesy of Aga Khan Trust for Culture |
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| In the design of buildings, good looks matter—but so do the relationships among buildings and people. Twenty years after the Aga Khan Award for Architecture announced its first winners, the triennial Islamic-world prize has become a leading international forum for provocative and productive debate about the roles and functions of architects, craft-workers, engineers, residents and other users of "the built environment"—and that includes all of us. |
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