Samira Kitman
Samira Kitman (born 1984) is an Afghanistan/born calligrapher and miniaturist currently residing in Lancaster in northern England. Early life Her parents fled to Pakistan to avoid the troubles, where they lived as refugees during her early childhood. They returned to Kabul in 2002. Career She learned her craft with the Turquoise Mountain Foundation and went on to organise the contract that provided Afghan miniature painting, ceramics and woodwork to the brand new five-star Anjum Hotel in Mecca which is used by wealthy pilgrims. She employed fifteen women calligraphers. The contract worth £175,000 was for 6,000 illuminated Quranic verses to decorate the five-star hotel. She and her artists had 11 weeks to complete the intricate ink lettering with swirls of green and gold watercolour. She was voted Afghan businesswoman of the year, has been praised by Prince Charles and has had her art displayed at the Victoria and Albert museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbrevi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Calligrapher
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner". Modern calligraphy ranges from functional inscriptions and designs to fine-art pieces where the letters may or may not be readable. Classical calligraphy differs from type design and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may practice both. CD-ROM Calligraphy continues to flourish in the forms of wedding invitations and event invitations, font design and typography, original hand-lettered logo design, religious art, announcements, graphic design and commissioned calligraphic art, cut stone inscriptions, and memorial documents. It is also used for props and moving images for film and television, and also for testimonials, birth and death certif ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Portrait Miniature
A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century elites, mainly in England and France, and spread across the rest of Europe from the middle of the 18th century, remaining highly popular until the development of daguerreotypes and photography in the mid-19th century. They were usually intimate gifts given within the family, or by hopeful males in courtship, but some rulers, such as James I of England, gave large numbers as diplomatic or political gifts. They were especially likely to be painted when a family member was going to be absent for significant periods, whether a husband or son going to war or emigrating, or a daughter getting married. The first miniaturists used watercolour to paint on stretched vellum, or (especially in England) on playing cards trimmed to the shape required. The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster (, ) is a city and the county town of Lancashire, England, standing on the River Lune. Its population of 52,234 compares with one of 138,375 in the wider City of Lancaster local government district. The House of Lancaster was a branch of the English royal family. The Duchy of Lancaster still holds large estates on behalf of Charles III, who is also Duke of Lancaster. Its long history is marked by Lancaster Castle, Lancaster Priory Church, Lancaster Cathedral and the Ashton Memorial. It is the seat of Lancaster University and has a campus of the University of Cumbria. The Port of Lancaster played a big role in the city's growth, but for many years the outport of Glasson Dock has become the main shipping facility. History The name of the city first appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086, as ''Loncastre'', where "Lon" refers to the River Lune and "castre" (from the Old English ''cæster'' and Latin ''castrum'' for "fort") to the Roman fort that stood on the site. Ro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Turquoise Mountain Foundation
The Turquoise Mountain Foundation is a non-governmental organization legally established in Scotland. It takes its name from Turquoise Mountain and initially focused on the enhancement of the Afghanistan craft industry.Felicia CraddockIn Afghanistan, Creating Jewelry in the Midst of Conflict ''New York Times'' (September 11, 2014). The organization subsequently expanded its work to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Myanmar (Burma). History and activities Turquoise Mountain was founded in 2006 by King Charles III (then the Prince of Wales) in partnership with President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, and British writer, academic and former politician Rory Stewart, a former Conservative member of Parliament. Stewart was chief executive of the foundation from 2005 to 2008; the current chief executive is his wife Shoshana Stewart. Among the charity's projects was the Turquoise Mountain Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture, a school for the study of traditional Afghan calligraphy, ceramics, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above sea level. Its last recorded population was 1,578,722 in 2015. Its estimated metro population in 2020 is 2.042million, making it the List of cities in Saudi Arabia by population, third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. Pilgrims more than triple this number every year during the Pilgrimage#Islam, pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Islamic calendar, Hijri month of . Mecca is generally considered "the fountainhead and cradle of Islam". Mecca is revered in Islam as the birthplace of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Hira cave atop the ("Mountain of Light"), just outside the city, is where Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad. Vis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Watercolour
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the Stone Age when early ancestors combined earth and charcoal with water to create the first wet-on-dry picture on a cave wall." London, Vladimir. The Book on Watercolor (p. 19). in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution. ''Watercolor'' refers to both the medium and the resulting artwork. Aquarelles painted with water-soluble colored ink instead of modern water colors are called ''aquarellum atramento'' (Latin for "aquarelle made with ink") by experts. However, this term has now tended to pass out of use. The conventional and most common ''support''—material to which the paint is applied—for watercolor paintings is watercolor paper. Other supports or substrates include stone, ivory, silk, reed, papyr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Victoria And Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The V&A is located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area known as "Albertopolis" because of its association with Prince Albert, the Albert Memorial and the major cultural institutions with which he was associated. These include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Royal Albert Hall and Imperial College London. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. As with other national British museums, entrance is free. The V&A covers and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. Ho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
We Are Afghan Women
We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope is a 2016 non-fiction book about women's rights in Afghanistan. It was published by the George W. Bush Institute at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, with an introduction by former First Lady Laura Bush. Back Content The introduction of the book was written by Former First Lady Laura Bush. The book is a collection of life stories of Afghan women. The book is about those determined women of Afghan who are defying the odds to lead Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ... to a better future. References 2016 non-fiction books Books about Afghanistan Women's rights in Afghanistan Books about women Charles Scribner's Sons books History of women in Afghanistan {{fem-book-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. She is the wife of former President George W. Bush, and the daughter-in-law of former president George H. W. Bush. Born in Midland, Texas, Bush graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in education, and took a job as a second grade teacher. After attaining her master's degree in library science at the University of Texas at Austin, she was employed as a librarian. Bush met her future husband, George W. Bush, in 1977, and they were married later that year. The couple had twin daughters in 1981. Bush's political involvement began during her marriage. She campaigned with her husband during his unsuccessful 1978 run for the United States Congress, and later for his successful Texas gubernatorial campaign. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Afghan Women Artists
Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pashtun ethnicity **Ethnic groups in Afghanistan, people of various ethnicities that are nationally Afghan * Afghan Hound, a dog breed originating in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and the surrounding regions of Central Asia *Afghan (blanket) *Afghan coat *Afghan cuisine People * Sediq Afghan (born 1958), Afghan philosopher * Asghar Afghan (born 1987), former Afghan cricketer * Afgansyah Reza (born 1989), Indonesian musician also known as "Afgan" * Afghan Muhammad (died 1648), Afghan khan in modern day Russia * Azad Khan Afghan (died 1781), Afghan Commander and Ruler Places * Afghan, Iran, a village in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran Other uses * Afghan (Australia), camel drivers from Afghanistan and Pakistan who came to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |