Living Rumi: A three-part multimedia presentation by Jadid Media
1. Baqer Moin: Rumi from Balkh to Konya
2. Nusrat ul-Ghani: Rumi in New Media
3. Sabohat Qosim: Rumi In Theatre, from “The Lost Joseph” to “Dajjaal”
Jadid Media of London, England, will be presenting a multimedia celebration of Rumi’s work, first recalling the poet’s life from his birthplace in the Centeral Asian city of Balkh to his shrine in the Anatoian town of Konya; then recounting his influence on modern performance arts and new media in moving songs and passionate verse; and, finally show-casing a recorded performance of a ground-breaking recent theatrical production based on Rumi’s poetry originally staged by Ahoroun Theatrical Ensemble of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, titled “Anti-Christ,” as presented by its leading actress, Sabohat Qosim.
Jadid Media is a London-based independent company for content production, consultancy and media development, focusing on the Middle East and the Islamic World. Jadid Media is presently managing multimedia projects in Persian focusing on cultural and social issues in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
Rumi from Balkh to Konya
Baqer Moin, Jadid Media
If you walk in the ancient city of Balkh, in northern Afghanistan, you will see the oldest mosque in the east, the shrines of many mystics and Sufi saints, and the remnants of many ancient cultures. What is left of the Madrasah where Rumi was initiated into a life long commitment to learning is an old building broken into pieces and washed away with snow and rain. Children are playing on the bare dusty ground of the school were Rumi's father was teaching young Jalaluddin. What made Sultan-ul-Ulama take his young and gifted son and head west? Who or what may have influenced Rumi to become what he is to the 21st century, an eternal voice which the peasants of the east and the intellectuals of the west enjoy listening to equally, feeling the bliss of his ethereal words. What happened to Rumi in the long journey he took from Balkh through Naishabur, Ray, Mecca and Damascus to Konya? Who, what inspired him and to what extent? Whence his ideas of tolerance and a world-view shared by so many who speak his language or attempt to intimate his message through such bewildering diversity of mediums ancient and new?
Rumi in New Media
Nusrat Ul-Ghani, Jadid Media
From Madona and Demi More in North America to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent and Dawlatmand Khal in Central Asia, from Shahram Nazeri and Shajarian in Iran to Ostad Sarahang in Afghanistan, countless master vocalists and performers have recited Rumi's lines. If Hafez of Shiraz captured the imagination of western poets in the 18th and 19th centuries, if Omar Khayyam captured the imagination of late 19th and early 20th centuries, Rumi is doubtless the rage of the late 20th and early 21th centuries. The Rumi industry, which has led to Youtube having over 2,200 videos about him and 28, 300 Myspace pages reffering to him, rages on unabated in 2007. Doubtless Coleman Bark's English versions of Rumi have played a pivotal role in ensuring that Rumi is the best-selling American poet of our time with an urgent message for us all. At once informative and entertaining, this multimedia presentation will showcase Rumi’s universal appeal to modern humanity, across languages and cultures, through sound, image and vibrant voice.
Rumi In Theatre, from “The
Lost Joseph” to “Dajjaal”
Sabohat Qasim:,Jadid Media
Dajjaal or Anti-Christ, a performance based on the work of Rumi, will be presented here by the play’s original lead actress Sabohat Qosim who will briefly discuss her work with the Ahoroun Theatre Group of Dushanbe, Tajikistan and her cooperation with Farrokh Qosim who is the leading modern theatre director in Central Asia. The story of Dajjal takes place during the persecution of Christians during the first century. The story revolves around the conflict between the Dajjaal (an Anti-Christ figure), who finds a way into the heart of the Christian community by deceiving them all, including Jesus's mother Maryam.
Baqer Moin grew up in Nishabur where he was encouraged early on to memorize as much of Rumi's poetry as he could; later in life he wrote and translated several articles and books on Persian literature and Arab and English mysticism. The founding Director of Jadid Media, he is a well-known and highly respected commentator and journalist tackling issues related to Islam and the West and a regular contributor to www.jadidonline.com. A former head of the BBC Persian and Pashto Service (which broadcasts to Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan), Baqer studied Arabic, Persian and Islamic Jurisprudence in the city of Mashhad, and pursued modern Arabic at Tehran University. He has written and translated a number of books on the Iranian revolution, including Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah. In 2002 the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association awarded him the Elizabeth R Award for his contribution to public service broadcasting.
Nusrat Ul-Ghani was born in Kashmir into a family culture of reciting poetry - Rumi was often top of the list. Her passion for Rumi stems from that early introduction to the poet and from her childhood memories of verses on opening up the heart and feeling sacred, on freedom and self-knowledge and, most particularly, on self-expression. Nusrat has recently been appointed as Director of Jadid Media. Her skills as a communications professional range from experiences in private and public sectors, most recently managing communications and fundraising for the BBC’s international development NGO for over 5 years. She has worked across media development projects to development policy initiatives all over the world and more recently in Pakistan, Iran, Burma, India, the Middle East and Afghanistan, where she produced and broadcast the first live simultaneous drama production as well as staging the first broadcast of female singers, post Taliban.
Sabohat Qosim is an award-winning and honored actress of Tajikistan and a founding member and manager of the acclaimed Ahoroun Theatre Group. She has also worked in the Lohuti Academic Theatre in Dushanbe prior to Ahoroun and has performed leading roles such as Ophelia in Hamlet, Cordelia in King Lear and Maria Antonovna in Revisor by Gogol. Since the formation of Ahoroun, her acting has been at the heart of all Ahoroun productions and a staple in almost every performance staged by the group. The most outstanding examples of her contribution are the roles of Zoleikha in The Lost Joseph, Maria in Anti-Christ, Joker and Cordelia in the newest version of Shakespeare’s King Lear, where the Tajik King Lear speaks in 10th century Persian verses). She is married to world-famous Tajik actor, producer and director Farrukh Qosim, Ahoroun’s founder.
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