Afghanistan discussion series kicks off at SJIMA on Aug. 3

SJIMA shares a look at their Look­ing Inside Afghanistan dis­cus­sion series.

The San Juan Islands Muse­um of Art announces a dis­cus­sion series begin­ning on August 3. The talks will pro­vide oppor­tu­ni­ties to learn about the cul­ture of Afghanistan, Islam, advo­ca­cy for women and chil­dren, and James Longley’s per­son­al sto­ries of every­day life — all lead­ing to a bet­ter under­stand­ing of this ancient and trou­bled region.

Join us this com­ing week on Wednes­day, Aug. 3, for Call of the Minaret: Islam in Afghanistan, fea­tur­ing a dis­cus­sion with Rebec­ca Moore, Ph.D., of how Islam­ic faith has shaped and influ­enced the cul­ture of Afghanistan. Moore is an Emeri­ta Pro­fes­sor of Reli­gious Stud­ies at San Diego State Uni­ver­si­ty. She has lec­tured and pub­lished on Jew­ish and Chris­t­ian rela­tions in a vari­ety of venues. Her book Jews and Chris­tians in the Life and Thought of Hugh of St. Vic­tor focused on the medieval Chris­t­ian debt to Jew­ish bib­li­cal com­men­taries. Her body of work con­sists of a myr­i­ad of pro­fes­sion­al pre­sen­ta­tions, books, arti­cles and a mul­ti­tude of com­mu­ni­ty lec­tures and talks.

Moore’s talk will take place at SJIMA, 540 Spring Street, at 7 p.m. Light refresh­ments will be served and admis­sion is pay-what-you-can. This event is gra­cious­ly spon­sored by RaVae Luck­hart and Jack Rice, Rob Ray, and the Town of Fri­day Harbor.

All of the events sup­ple­ment and expand our under­stand­ing of Afghanistan life viewed in the James Lon­g­ley exhi­bi­tion Look­ing Into Kab­ul, at SJIMA until Sept. 12. Oth­er dis­cus­sions in the series include:

The Life of My Choice: 21 Years in Kabul
Marnie Gus­tavson is a tire­less activist for women and chil­dren. She is Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of PARSA, an NGO build­ing healthy Afghan com­mu­ni­ties. This talk will be held at SJIMA on Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. It is spon­sored by RaVae Luck­hart and Jack Rice, Rob Ray, and the Town of Fri­day Harbor.

Per­son­al Sto­ries of Every­day Life
James Lon­g­ley, pho­tog­ra­ph­er and award-win­ning film­mak­er, speaks to his years immersed in the dai­ly life of old city Kab­ul. His exhib­it at SJIMA com­bines vast panoram­ic images with por­traits and film focus­ing on every­day life. This pre­sen­ta­tion will be on August 28 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Orcas Cen­ter in East­sound. It is spon­sored by the Orcas Island Com­mu­ni­ty Foundation.

Paths to Under­stand­ing: Afghanistan
Rev. Ter­ry Kyl­lo will be fea­tured in dia­log with James Lon­g­ley on Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. at the San Juan Com­mu­ni­ty The­atre. Ter­ry is a Luther­an pas­tor and Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of Paths to Under­stand­ing, a mul­ti-faith peace­mak­ing orga­ni­za­tion. James is Fri­day Harbor’s Oscar-nom­i­nat­ed film­mak­er and pho­tog­ra­ph­er. His exhib­it Look­ing into Kab­ul at SJIMA com­bines vast panoram­ic images with por­traits and film focus­ing on every­day life in Kab­ul’s old city. SJIMA thanks the spon­sors of this pre­sen­ta­tion, RaVae Luck­hart and Jack Rice, Rob Ray, and the Town of Fri­day Harbor.

These pre­sen­ta­tions require no reser­va­tions and are pay-what-you-can.

Also exhibit­ing until Sep­tem­ber 12 is Lat­tice II, a soar­ing sculp­tur­al instal­la­tion com­bin­ing glass, bronze, steel, wood and fiber. Muse­um hours are Thurs­day through Mon­day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with extra sum­mer hours of Thurs­day through Sat­ur­day from 7 to 9 p.m.

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