“As soon as I saw the house I knew what I was going to do,” says Shahrzad Ghaffari.
The Iranian artist is talking about the 11-metre mural of a couplet from a poem by Persian poet Rumi that she hand-painted in Leighton House Museum.
Noted for its spectacular Arab Hall and exquisite collection of tiles from the Middle East, the Victorian art house in London was a place Ghaffari felt immediately at home.
“When you walk in and see all these beautiful Victorian paintings, it's capturing, and then you walk in and see those tiles and I felt at home and I just instantly got a connection with the place,” she tells The National.
With stunning samples of Islamic art inside the redbrick Victorian house, it’s easy to see why the painter found such affinity within its walls.
Decorated with tiles from Syria, Iran and Turkey, wooden lattices, shimmering mosaic frieze and soaring dome, the two-storey room has been an orientalist oasis in the UK capital since being built in 1881.
The former studio of Sir Frederic Leighton, the British artist, traveller and celebrity of the 19th century, is undergoing an £8m refurbishment and Ghaffari’s handiwork, Oneness, will be its centrepiece.
It is the first contemporary artwork that will be on permanent display in the house whose former artist owner, who was also the President of the Royal Academy, lived in it for 30 years.
“It was just in front of me and quite obvious when I saw these two cultures being together under one roof, living so peacefully and elegantly together,” says Ghaffari.
Ghaffari, who is based in Canada, was commissioned by the museum for her work’s creative ‘interlacing of east and west’ as a way of integrating the new extension with the older building.
Adorning a helical staircase in the museum's new wing, the calligraphy artwork, Oneness, draws on a Rumi poem from 13th century that explores universal themes of love and knowledge, weaving words into abstract form.
“I have put duality away, I have seen that the two worlds are one;
One I seek, One I know, One I see, One I call.”
“It's about union renewal and cultural fusion,” Ghaffari tells The National while on a break from painting.
The central visual motif, the turquoise calligraphic brushstrokes, pays homage to the traditional designs of the Middle Eastern tiles in Leighton’s Arab Hall while its spiralling form echoes the helical structure of the staircase.
“It's a double helix, which starts from the base and comes up towards the skylight and is like a bridge between art and literature, and this double helix together represent east and west, the coming together to forge a third, like a blueprint, like a new DNA, a new generation, which will embrace different cultures.”
Split over three levels, Ghaffari’s artwork aims to create a harmonious bridge between the past, the present and the future of the museum.
To experience the vision of Leighton himself so many years ago, bringing that part of the world here, it really touched me and became very personal to me
Shahrzad Ghaffari
A Middle East aficionado, Sir Leighton travelled often to the region, picking up both inspiration for his own artistic creations, as well as local handiwork for his home’s Arab Hall.
Ghaffari said she was moved by the integration of beautiful wares from the region within an understatedly grand redbrick Victorian house.
“To experience the vision of Leighton himself so many years ago, bringing that part of the world here, it really touched me and became very personal to me,” says Ghaffari who knew immediately that Rumi’s renowned esoteric invocation of unity would be woven into her work.
“It was just in front of me and quite obvious when I saw these two cultures being together under one roof, living so peacefully and elegantly together,” she says.
Her work is meant to be a continuation of the dialogue between Middle Eastern and European tradition and craftsmanship throughout the house's interiors and bring a fresh perspective on the fusion of cultures.
The museum has spent the past two years carrying out much-needed works to the ‘unsympathetic’ 20th-century additions made to Sir Leighton’s home.
New visitor facilities, including a lift for the first time, exhibition spaces, a purpose-built collections store, and a dedicated learning suite have been married to the historic house and garden.
Leighton House Museum is still under refurbishment and is set to reopen later this year.
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
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- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
More on Quran memorisation:
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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
