IRCICA Newsletter Issue 72

The 24th Tunisian Creative Crafts Fairheld in TunisThe National Office for Handicrafts (ONA), Tunisia,organized the 24th Tunisian Creative Crafts Fair during theperiod from 16 to 25 March 2007. The fair attracted about700 national exhibitors in the commercial section and 200in the creativity section. For ten days, the 24 governorates ofTunisia presented theme-based exhibitions and workshopswhere artisans gave demonstrations highlighting the specialregional qualities of crafts and products. The fair took place atthe Karam Exhibition Hall in Tunis along with a symposiumaiming to establish the Arab Union of Traditional Industries.A variety of innovative handicrafts were presented, such ascopper, mosaics, carpets, tapestry, textiles, weaving, wroughtiron and cane furniture, wood and wooden furniture,silverware, blown-glass, among others. The events relatedto the fair included the Awards of Creativity for Artisans,the Award of Creativity for Arts Students, the Award for theBest Stand – Commercial Space, the Award of the “GoldenKhomsa” for daywear. ONA has been organizing this fairsince 1982 in order to safeguard and promote the traditionalhandicrafts and the know-how embodied in them.Dr. Nazeih Marouf, Head of the Craft Development Program,IRCICA, represented IRCICA during the fair and relatedevents; a set of working sessions were held between ONAand IRCICA whereby modalities were set for preparing aninternational congress that would deal with a topic needingstudy, namely, the use of traditional industries in theframework of architectural projects.Book SurveyBooks selected from IRCICA LibraryStudies in Islamic civilisationWisdom of Islamic Civilization – A Miscellany ofIslamic Quotations (1-803 AH/622-1400 CE), translatedfrom the classical Arabic literature, edited and compiledwith an Introduction by Dr. Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Beg,Cambridge, 2006, 132 p.This valuable book is a collection of quotations compiledfrom Islamic literature - both the fundamental sources andworks of literary and intellectual creation. It is a renewedand enlarged edition of the book after its first four editionspublished through 1977-1986. The quotations, relating toa wide range of significant themes, depict the teachings,concepts and practices that shape the spirit emerging fromIslamic civilization: its wisdom. Every civilisation is distinctfrom the others in its wisdom, which defines its identity.In this respect, the wisdom of the ancient Greeks wascrystallised in philosophy, says the author, while the Romansexcelled in the Law; as to the wisdom of Islamic civilization,it emerges from the Islamic literature, which is vast andvaried in scope. The author classifies the main sources of thequotations into four groups, i.e. literary, historical, religiousand proverbial (folk-loristic). In fourteen chapters, the bookgathers the components and formative concepts of wisdomfrom nearly all areas, including the quest for wisdom andknowledge, science in Islam, Prophetic medicine, traits suchas patience, silence, trust, rejection of falsehood, generosityand miserliness, justice and injustice, greed, honoringparents and elders; the use and abuse of language; the originand varieties of writing/calligraphy; the virtues of intellect(‘aql) and knowledge/science (‘ilm); scholars (men oflearning); the role of women in Islamic civilization; variousvirtues and frailties of human beings; the religious outlook;Islamic political and economic wisdom; the origins of Arabtraditions; the impressions of Arabs about other nations andcivilizations. The book also contains biographical notes onthe main contributors and authors of Islamic quotations.The Image of Islamic Civilization (A compendium ofinterpretations of the civilization of Islam during the lastIslamic century, 1330-1400 AH/1882-1980 CE), editedand compiled, with an Introduction, by Dr. MuhammadAbdul Jabbar Beg, Cambridge, 2006. x+ 134 p.The purpose of this book is to portray the image characteristicof Islam and its civilisation. Its first edition was published incommemoration of the 14 th century Hijra/1979-80 AD; thisnew edition includes three new chapters on religious art ofIslamic civilization, social welfare in Islam, and the image ofMuslim women. Besides the editor’s own chapters, writingsby some other scholars are included in this book; amongthem, Muhammad Asad (“A Modern Theory of the Birthof Islamic Civilization”, “Shari’ah and Islamic Civilization”),26 Newsletter JANUARY-APRIL 2007, NO: 72