FirstLook: Mobile Library, Java

FirstLook May/June 2019 PDF
- Photographed by Putu Sayoga

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

Arab Translators of Egypt’s Hieroglyphs

Written by Tom Verde

The translation of hieroglyphs in 1822 culminated more than 1,000 years of efforts by Romans, Arabs and Europeans. Insights from 10th-century Assyrian scholar Ibn Wahshiyya al-Nabati helped build the understanding that the Egyptian symbols worked in three distinct ways.

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History

Kanga’s Woven Voices

Photographed by Samantha Reinders
Written by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein

Skirt, scarf, or both; sling for a child, basket for shopping, or both; bought to honor a special occasion, to give as a gift, or just to feel good tomorrow; its distinctive, one-line jina a proverb, a plea, a proclamation or a sunny burst of whimsy; above all, a social statement on a colorful cotton cloth. From rural villages to city streets, women and girls along East Africa’s coast do more than wear the popular rectangular kanga: They weave it into life, from birth to death, a “social medium” worn, traded and treasured, for designs, messages and memories.

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The Seventh Summit

Written by Johnny Hanson // Images courtesy Raha Moharrak @rahamoharrak

One Saudi woman's historic journey to climb atop the "the seven summits," the highest peak on each continent, is about making the impossible achievable.

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Now
Culture

Bahrain's Pearling Path

Written by Sylvia Smith
Photographs and video by Richard Duebel

Linking the waters once plied by pearl divers to the town their pickings paid for, the island of Muharraq’s streets-and-alleys walking trail strings together some 17 restored buildings, bringing new life to Bahrain’s most historic urban neighborhood.

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FirstLook: Qubbat al-Sakhra, ca. early 20th century

Photograph by Kelvin Bown

Photo restorer and artist Kelvin Brown stitched together scans from stereoscopic negatives bringing renewed clarity to the Qubbat al-Sakhra (Dome of the Rock).

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Creatives

Islamic Science's India Connection

Written by Alok Kumar and Scott T. Montgomery

Mutual belief in the idea of a universal order drew Muslim scholars to Indus Valley knowledge, and their translations advanced the trans-civilizational endeavor we today call science.

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The Music Through the Window

Written by Matthew Teller
Photographed by Andrew Shaylor

London’s biennial summer festival of Arab culture, Shubbak (“Window” in Arabic), staged 80 events with 150 artists, writers, dramatists—and musicians, all chosen for fusion-oriented creativity. We take in six outstanding new sounds.

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Morocco's Cinema City

Written by Tristan Rutherford
Photographs by Rebecca Marshall

From Lawrence of Arabia in the ‘60s to Star Wars in the ‘70s to Game of Thrones last year, Ouarzazate is where it’s at for film and TV shoots— more than 100 a year—and it’s home to North Africa’s newest film festival.

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