FirstLook: Mobile Library, Java

FirstLook May/June 2019 PDF
- Photographed by Putu Sayoga
Categories
- Creatives

In 2015 Ridwan Sururi of Serang Village, central Java, Indonesia, started the Kudapustaka (Horse library), and since then, three days a week, he has visited villages and schools like Miftahul Huda Islamic Elementary School. On this day he was joined by his two-year-old son, Tria Ramadhan. Together they handed out donated books to the students. As a photographer I did this story because I was also born in a village with difficult access to books. I believe in the power of books, and I know what Mr. Sururi is doing is important.
—Putu Sayoga
www.putusayoga.net
www.arkaproject.com
@putu_sayoga @arkaproject

FirstLook: One Eye on You

Photography by Mohammad Khorshed

I usually photograph birds in Kuwait during the migration seasons, when the country becomes an important stop for birds migrating throughout Africa, Europe and Asia. In October 2012 friends alerted me to a spotted, short-eared owl at Jahra Pools Nature Reserve in al-Jahra.

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Creatives

Gahwa Renaissance

Written by Shaistha Khan
 Illustrated by Teresa Abboud

Preparing, serving and sipping gahwa—the Arabic word for coffee—is a ritual steeped in centuries of hospitality. In December in Abu Dhabi, the inaugural Gahwa Championships honored not only tradition but also innovation.

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Now
Tastes
Culture

Sepak Takraw Takes Flight

Written by John O’Callaghan
Photographed by Beawiharta

Take the Malay word for kick and pair it with the Thai word for a hollow, woven ball and you have sepak takraw, the name of the acrobatic, lightning-fast Southeast Asian sport in which players use feet, legs, chest and head—no hands—to power a ball over a badminton-style net. (Think “kick volleyball.”) It’s been played across the region for more than three centuries, and recent decades have brought international agreements on rules that have led in turn to local and national leagues, tournaments in schools and capitals—all pushing sepak takraw onto an increasingly global sports stage. With more than two dozen countries now fielding national teams, the sport’s leading promoters have set their eyes on the Olympics.

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Now
Culture

The Middle East on a Plate

Written and photographed by Larry Luxner

His roadside discovery of a discarded Lebanese license plate kindled the author’s 30-year passion for license plates from the Middle East and North Africa. Along the way, he often found pleasant and humorous stories, as well as bright artifacts of the diversity of daily life.

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Culture
People

The Arabian Journey of Geraldine Rendel

Written by William Facey
Photographs by George and Geraldine Rendel

In 1937 Geraldine Rendel became not only one of the first non-Muslim women to traverse the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but also, quite possibly, its first tourist. She and her husband, George, a British diplomat, were invited by King Abdulaziz Al Sa`ud, and 83 years later her account is being published for the first time.

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History
People

I Witness History: I, Eternal Bodyguard

Written by Frank L. Holt
Illustrated by Norman MacDonald

I’m from Kemet. You call it Egypt. Now I live in Texas. Crafted from wood and ritually painted nearly 2,000 years ago, my job in afterlife protection never ends. I haven’t always done it so well.

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History

Flavors: Cherry and Tomato Gazpacho

Fiona Dunlap

Sweet cherries are a Middle Eastern fruit thought to have originated in Anatolia and later cultivated in al-Andalus. Not the case for the tomato, of course, that American interloper

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Tastes

Flavors: Pistachio, Zucchini and Lemon Cake

I started making this cake years ago when I was running my deli. I really prefer it to carrot cake and the green of the pistachio slivers running through it make it not only beautiful but delicious.

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Tastes

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