May 23, 2008
Things Remote
South Asian Exhibits in Washington, DC:
Roberta Smith,"Silent Survivors of Afghanistan's 4,000 Tumultuous Years," NYT, 23 May, reviews"Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures From the National Museum, Kabul," an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Here is National Geographic's video about the exhibit. Blake Gopnik,"Drawn In by Details," Washington Post, 18 May, reviews"Muraqqa' : Imperial Mughal Albums From the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin," an exhibit at the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery.
John Noble Wilford,"Project Digitizes Works From the Golden Age of Timbuktu," NYT, 20 May, introduces the project to digitize fragile 17th to 19th century manuscripts and books in Arabic script from Timbuktu. See also: the project's Aluka Blog. Hat tip.
Adam Kirsch,"Doing Battle with the Bard," NY Sun, 21 May, reviews Nigel Smith's Is Milton Better Than Shakespeare?
Finally, LOL Manuscripts is yet more evidence that pre-modern historians have more fun.