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Zakir Hussain Played Tabla in Indian Classical Music and Beyond
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AramcoWorld inspires global connections that broaden the appreciation of diverse cultures. We believe in celebrating our shared experiences through engaging and educational stories and content.
History in Objects 12th-Century Glass Flask an Islamic Golden Age Masterpiece
History
Arts
Golden Vessel From the Islamic Golden Age Reflects Cross-cultural Connections
‘Make It Your Own’: The Self-Belief Simmering in Noorjahan Bose’s Shemai Recipe
Food
A Bangladeshi dessert reflects hard-fought adaptability in life.
FirstLook: Poetic Fusion
Arts
Prior to our modern practice of image manipulation with editing software, photographers worked more with planned intention and craft.
Egyptology Today: A Conversation With Egyptian Archeologist Monica Hanna
History
Until recently, Egyptian archeological sites were filled with foreign archeologists excavating prized treasures from the country’s ancient past.
Mundane to Magnificent: Yale Manuscript Exhibition Illuminates Muslim Knowledge
Arts
Manuscript exhibition reveals handwritten treasures spanning centuries and nations, in graying script and glorious technicolor, on ancient papyrus and gold-coated paper.
How South Africa Came to Popularize Luxury Mohair Fabric Globally
Arts
South Africa is the world’s largest producer of mohair, a fabric used in fine clothing. The textile tradition dates to the arrival of Angora goats from the Ottoman Empire in the 1800s.
Quick Summer Salad Recipe: Sea Beans With Fava Beans and Dill
Food
This recipe serves up one of London-based food writer Sally Butcher's favorite lunches—a perfect mezze dish of beans.
Zakir Hussain Played Tabla in Indian Classical Music and Beyond
Arts
While mastery of Indian musical traditions is one clear accomplishment, the late Zakir Hussain’s bold pursuit of his art across genres likely best defines his legacy.
Discover the History of Portuguese Tiles as Artistic Icons
Arts
Tilemaking is arguably Portugal’s most identifiable artistic expression today. And it all goes back to a 15th-century king’s love of Moorish ceramic design.
Flavors
Flavors: Poulet Stuffed with Herb-Infused Freekeh
- Food
- Recipe
Poulet Stuffed with Herb-Infused Freekeh
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Cultivating the Adaptive Powers of the Fig
- Science & Nature
Figs are a signature crop. in Tunisia. The fruit is part of a Mediterranean research project, FIGGEN, to assess how the trees thrive while climate changes are causing other crops to fail. The study aims to plant a seed for preserving the biodiversity of increasingly arid ecosystems.
Video by Sofiene Lahdheri and Noor Elloumi
Discover the story "Can Fig Trees Help us Adapt to a Changing Climate?" here.
Written and photographed by Rebecca Marshall
Sitar Sounds With Alif Laila
- Arts
What is a sitar? Where did it come from and what kind of sound does it make? With a lifetime of training from leading virtuosos, Alif Laila is one of a few women to achieve international recognition playing the mesmerizing instrument whose sound evokes the musical identity of the greater Indian subcontinent. She is as passionate about music as she is about encouraging other women. Hear her talk about the sitar and play its mesmerizing sounds.
Ithra: A House For the World
- Arts
An ultramodern concept inspired by a simple arrangement of stones won architectural firm Snøhetta the international competition to design the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Open to the public, Ithra’s site alongside historic Dammam No. 7, the country’s first major oil well, symbolizes its role as a source of energy of a different kind: human energy, powered by creativity and sparked by architecture that embraces past, present and future. Named both for the founder of Saudi Arabia and an Arabic word meaning enrichment, Ithra offers museums for science, natural history and traditional and contemporary art; theaters for music, drama and cinema; labs for ideas in technology and design; programs for youth in stem subjects and reading—and at its heart, a luminous library, where the story of Ithra begins.
Art of Islamic Patterns: Mamluk Rosette – Part 1
- Arts
To make the second pattern in this series, instructor Adam Williamson breaks the process into two parts. In Part 1, you use a straightedge and compass to construct the geometric pattern of the rosette’s central medallion. In Part 2, he shows how to draw, freehand, one slice of the biomorphic pattern that then, using tracing paper, burnishing and overdrawing, gets reproduced eight times to finish the design: It’s a pattern-maker’s hack that has been in use for more than 700 years.
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Author's Corner Q&A
A Personal Exploration of the `ud: A Conversation With Rachel Beckles Willson
- Arts
- Music
Entranced as much by its sound as by its centuries of history, in 2010 Rachel Beckles Willson started playing the `ud (oud), building enough skill to start performing on the instrument. She also became curious about its origins.
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