Movable Exhibit Displays Images of Iranians in Everyday Life If his latest project sparks debate and discussion in America, photographer Tom Loughlin will believe it is a success. By that measure, “Pictures of You: Images from Iran,” described by Loughlin as a “traveling multimedia installation featuring portraits of Iranian citizens printed on translucent fabric,” has done well. Comments on the project’s Web site and in other publications range from reverent to resentful. more  Photo Gallery: Pictures of You — Images from Iran

Muslim Filmmaker Looks at Social Issues with Humor, Warmth Though she defies expectations of what a filmmaker should look like -- she is young, female, devoutly Muslim and Indian American -- the 24-year-old film school graduate writes and directs music videos and short films, as well as commercials. Her three-minute short A Land Called Paradise, essentially a music video set to a song of the same name by Muslim country singer Kareem Salama, won a $20,000 grand prize from One Nation, a Muslim advocacy group that sponsored the film competition. Khan directed dozens of men and women of diverse backgrounds to hold up handwritten signs that express messages they would like the world to know about them as Muslim Americans. The statements are as whimsical as "I, too, shop at Victoria's Secret," or as serious as "My sister died on September 11." more
 

Arab Americans Present “Spirit of Humanity” Awards Some 800 people, many of Arab origin, gathered in a hotel ballroom a few blocks from the White House April 23 to mark the 10th annual Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards. The awards were created to celebrate the life of the great Arab-American writer, philosopher and poet Gibran Kahlil Gibran, who died in New York 77 years ago this month. Established in 1999 by the Arab American Institute Foundation, the awards recognize individuals and organizations whose work "promotes inclusion, cultural understanding and cooperation across ethnic, racial and religious lines." more

Iranian Americans Celebrate Encyclopedia Iranica
1,400 scholars have contributed to the cultural and historical work. Started in the mid-1970s by Ehsan Yarshater, a leading Iranian scholar working in the United States, the encyclopedia is intended as an objective and exhaustive reference work on the history and culture of Iran and the large swath of Central Asia that the Persian Empire once dominated. Since the third millennium B.C., Persia — as Iran was long called — has been home to one of the world’s oldest and most flourishing civilizations. It also has a long and rich literary tradition, though most surviving works date from after the Islamic conquest of Persia, around the year 650. more

New Encyclopedia Celebrates Arab-American Artists
Fayeq Oweis, noted artist and professor of Arabic language and culture at Santa Clara University in California, has published a unique volume entitled Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists, which highlights 85 individuals and groups working in painting, sculpture, photography, film, cartooning, calligraphy, mixed media, architecture and theater design. more

Dearborn, Arab Capital of America
Dearborn, Michigan, is a thriving center of Arab life in America.

Diversity: American Ramadan

Muslim Dialogue Conference Video

This initiative by Ambassador Tom Korologos, co-sponsored by the Royal Institute for International Relations, was designed to bring Belgian and American Muslims together to break stereotypes and foster networking opportunities. Through the process of mediated dialogue, 30 American and 60 Belgian Muslims met for two days to share experiences, acknowledge challenges, and identify good practices necessary for improving the participation of Muslim communities in Belgian and American societies. more