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Aga Khan Documentation Center

Category Archives: All AKDC News

Books and Bites displays new books, zines, and other media in Rotch Library

Art, Architecture and Urban Studies and Planning Librarian Kai Alexis Smith and Matt Saba, Visual Resources Librarian in AKDC, joined forces to host the first Books and Bites at Rotch Library. This event welcomed visitors to peruse featured new books, zines, and ephemera while also enjoying snacks. Among the highlights were recent additions to the library’s ephemera collection including the music album from the Lithuanian Pavilion, the winning international pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale; select items from the new zine collection which included items collected from the 2018 Feminist Zinefest and the 2019 Black in Design Conference at Harvard […]

AKDC Visual Resources Librarian to lecture on Palace Building and Poetry at Abbasid Samarra

Dr. Matt Saba, Visual Resources Librarian in the Aga Khan Documentation Center, will speak on “Durability through Verse: Palace Building and Poetry at Abbasid Samarra,” at 6 pm on Monday, February 10 in 3-133 at MIT.  The presentation “examines the relationship between palace building and poetry writing at Samarra, the capital of the Abbasid Empire in Iraq from 836 to 892 CE.” and is part of the Spring 2020 lectures of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT. The series continues on February 24 with a presentation by Farrokh Derakhshani, Director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, […]

Join us for Books and Bites, February 26

MIT Libraries and the Aga Khan Documentation Center are pleased to invite you to “Books and Bites,” a new event hosted in Rotch Library showcasing recent library acquisitions of interest to Architecture + Islamic Studies. We will have an array of newly acquired books and other materials available for you to peruse, and your librarians will be there to answer questions. Come see what’s new, have a bite to eat, and chat with colleagues. Wednesday, February 26 from 5 to 7 PM Rotch Library Reading Room MIT Building 7-238 Light Finger Food and Refreshments Served

Balloons Over Babylon screens to a packed house

Room 3-133 was packed on Saturday evening for the first US screening and discussion of Balloons Over Babylon, a documentary film produced and directed by Folke Rydén, who responded to audience questions after the screening via Webex.  He was joined online by Dr. Muhamed Almaliky of Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and Dr. Kanan Makiya, writer, Senior Fellow of the Crown Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and Professor Emeritus at Brandeis University, who attended the screening at MIT. The event was part of a joint series organized by AKDC@MIT and the Center for Arabic Culture (CAC), Boston. Murtada al-Hachami, whose project is […]

AKDC@MIT and A3 receive a grant to document Nigerian architecture

The Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT Libraries and A3: Archives of African Architectures have been awarded a grant from the General Seed Fund of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) to pursue their project “Prototypes for the Digital Documentation of Nigeria’s Build Heritage.” The goal of the project is to document significant historical and contemporary architecture in Nigeria to be hosted simultaneously on Archnet.org and on a web site to be developed by A3.  Students, researchers, practitioners, and faculty from Nigeria and MIT will participate in all aspects of the project. The project, initiated by Nigerian architect Baba Oladeji […]

Center for Arabic Culture and AKDC to present Balloons Over Babylon

The Center for Arabic Culture and the Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT Libraries, will screen Balloons Over Babylon on Saturday, January 11, 2020, 6 PM – 9 PM in Room 3-133 of the MIT campus. The film is part of the “One Voice, Endless Change” film series for Spring 2020. Balloons Over Babylon tells the story of Murtada al-Hachami,  one man’s quest to fight terrorism and promote peace and love by flying hot air balloons over his war-torn country.” The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Folke Rydén, the Director; Murtada al-Hachami, the subject of the film; Dr. […]

Happy New Year from ARCHNET!

Happy New Year from all of us who work on Archnet.org.  We wish all  our users, donors and contributors a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2020! 2019 was an eventful year for us. Archnet moved to a new platform and a new provider in 2020 without causing significant disruptions to our users.  In addition we made available records for over 6,500 images, 170 new sites, 90 publications, and 45 authorities. We brought you documentation of the shortlisted and recipient projects in the 14th-cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. We also launched new collections of abstracts from Cities as Built […]

42 elements added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List

On Thursday, December 12, 2019, the 14th session of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage announced additions to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. 42 elements were added to the list, including Date palm, knowledge, skills, traditions and practices, Byzantine Chant, Practices and craftsmanship associated with the Damascene rose in Al-Mrah in Syria, Malaysian Silat, Ak-kalpak craftsmanship, traditional knowledge and skills in making and wearing Kyrgyz men’s headwear, Kwagh-Hir theatrical performance from Nigeria, and many other cultural traditions in the Iran, Iraq, Kenya, the Philippines, Spain (and Mexico), Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. Elements from 55 countries were included […]

AKDC Program Head Participates in Regional Conference on Cultural Heritage Protection for Religious Communities

The Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, with the support of the U.S. Department of State and the partnership of the Rabita Mohammadia des Oulémas (Mohammadia Association of Ulema)recently organized the “First Regional Conference on Cultural Heritage Protection for Religious Communities” October 3-4 in Rabat, Morocco.  AKDC Program Head Michael Toler was one of approximately 100 experts and government officials from Morocco, the US, Europe, and multiple countries in North Africa and the Sahel regions; as well as representatives of other International Organizations, NGOs and other organizations involved in the preservation of cultural heritage, who were invited to […]