Ten years after the “Islamic Attack” on 9/11, some of the saner Americans have overcome the trauma to reflect on the reality that is Islam’s historic legacy. I had the privilege of viewing many pieces of art from various muslim countries made of the period of centuries at the Metropolitan museum in New York. The pain taken in exquisitely presenting these incredible pieces is worth every praise.  The curators took the time and effort to dig into the history of each and every piece and present it to the visitor in both written and aural form. The respect shown to the work of muslim artists is in sharp contrast to the negative narrative still in mainstream media. But healthy signs are now manifesting them in different forms where some of the americans are having the guts to standing up to the mainstream media.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I took the opportunity to take some photos of the exhibits that I have shared in the album below. To enjoy it fully go to maximizing the screen after clicking on the image below.

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One of OPEN’s goals has all along been to support businesses in Pakistan in a manner consistent with our core principles of staying “Hungry and Foolish” with respect to entrepreneurism. OPEN chapters have historically gone out of their way to assist Pakistani businesses efforts to gain traction in the US and global markets.  We started off by assisting those Pakistani businessmen visiting the US, as we were busy establishing ourselves. We, then with the assistance of MIT Enterprise Forum, started the MITEFP-OPEN Business Acceleration Plan competition in Karachi Pakistan. This allowed us to gain traction with the young and budding entrepreneurs their. There were some hesitancy within OPEN about opening a chapter in Pakistan as some other similar organizations did not do as well due to lack of right kind of leadership needed. The winners of BAP competition showed us that there is a new breed of Pakistani businessmen who have the credentials and zest who could be worked with.

The writeup below was written by one of the member of the OPEN Karachi Chapter that was recently inaugurated.

Rabia Garib

It was the Worst of Times, ’twas the Best of Times

Such are often the words often used by businesses operating in Pakistan. Amidst the geopolitical crisis that has plagued Pakistan since forever, the past 3 years or so have seen a constant rise of buzzwords such as “entrepreneurship”, “Start-ups”, “Business Plans” and “Angel Investment”. Despite the turbulent times, companies that have been driven by IT have continued to thrive.

On the other side of the world, Pakistanis working through OPEN’s 7 chapters across the US, have been working through associations and individuals through one connection or another, trying to figure out what the temperament and potential on the ground really is. An increase in the amount of information being sent out of Pakistan through websites and blogs has helped to raise the profiles of many companies, but there really was a growing need to have a more “intimate” presence.

That’s why the turnout to the launch event of OPEN Karachi, OPEN’s first presence outside North America, was attended with such fervor. Getting some of Pakistan’s major IT players to sync their calendars isn’t an easy task, but here’s the thing: if the cause matters, Pakistan’s best make it happen.

The decision to set up OPEN’s first international chapter in Karachi couldn’t have been an easy one, but considering Karachi contributes almost 70% of the total GDP, is the financial capital of country and houses the bulk of the gateways to the region and rest of the world, it makes sense. There are more corporate gatherings in Karachi as compared to the rest of the country and the number of IT-run businesses are probably larger in number here, than elsewhere.

Having a chapter in Karachi helps the associations across North America to fill in another puzzle on a map of opportunity. That’s why one of the mandates OPEN Karachi has is to raise the awareness of local organizations and opportunities to the other Chapters. Raise the profile of the Pakistani companies who have achieved their peak, so to speak, in the local ‘ecosystem’ and allow them to collectively benefit being part of OPEN.

Packaging more intelligent messages about actual work being done in Pakistan, mentoring students and businesses and establishing collaborative projects between organizations and institutions in Pakistan and those in North America. There is a lot that has to be done, and a combination of experienced professionals with young and vibrant members of OPEN Karachi will hopefully get the ball rolling quickly.

But starting up an Chapter with the track record and profile of OPEN is also not an easy task. There is a great deal of work to be done and a lot many activities and opportunities for interaction to add onto what is usually a really heavy national event calendar. Only once the groundwork has been done from our side, will we be able to allow local companies to really benefit what OPEN Global has to offer.

Please watch this space for more updates from the OPEN Karachi team.

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I was recently invited to a dinner by a doctor friend where I had the opportunity to meet Ethan Casey and Todd Shea. Ethan has written a book called “Alive and Well in Pakistan” which captures his interactions with Pakistanis  in his stay there. Most of the people there were doctors of Pakistani descent living around the Boston area. They had organized a fund raiser a day earlier and the dinner was to get to meet these two gentlemen up close. I had met Todd Shea earlier a couple of years ago and was familiar with his work and admired how he had been able to connect with the people of Kashmir and had decided to settle amongst them. As we got talking it struck me that we in the US of Pakistani descent shared a lot in common the two guests. Todd mentioned that he deliberately travels in T shirt and western clothes without carrying any weapons and the people in Pakistan greatly appreciate it. A lady guest at the dinner,who works in a large retail store,  commented that ever since 9/11 she makes it a point to let people know that she is a Pakistani Muslim and that vast majority of people that she interacts with appreciate it. Ethan and Todd in their efforts are trying to convey to the Americans that Pakistanis are like regular people that have been wrongfully demonized in the US press to suit the narrative concocted by the US policy makers to further their goals of hegemony and power projection.

Unlike Gregg Mortenson and Todd Shea who got engaged in Pakistan in the areas of social engagement, Ethan has engaged America with Pakistan on an intellectual level. The journey that he weaves in his book through the discourse with various elements of the Pakistani society is like looking into a pond, where you find insights into the Pakistani thinking as well as a reflection of an American mind set. Gregg and Todd by and large engage with the poorer and remote parts of Pakistan. Ethan on the other hand interacts with more well to do city dwellers. When Ethan talks in front of American audiences they react to him very differently and get quite confused for what he has to say runs contrary to the carefully controlled narrative that Americans have been fed by the main stream new media. Todd mentioned an interesting story about completely changing the impression of an American in a short elevator ride. He asked the questioned that which is the only country that the USSR threatened with nuclear annihilation and for what. Todd also highlighted his frustration with the like of Anderson Cooper and Geraldo when he tried to make them cover the nearly 200 physicians of Pakistani descent assisting him in responding to the earthquake in Haiti. That story was not covered at all as it did not agree with the overall Pakistani narrative in the US media.

As the conversation went back and forth between their experiences in Pakistan and our experiences in the US, it became clear that the story of our experiences here is equally untold as the story of Westerners in Pakistan.  President of an Islamic Center outside Boston narrated the response by high school students to threats of protests by an extremist christian group that planned to protest outside the center.  These high school kids not only came out in larger numbers, without being asked by the center, but also raised and donated money to the center. He also narrated his experience in front of the town building committee when they were trying to upgrade the center, that a neighbor waited late into the night. And when the turn came he stood up and told the committee that the center had been a good neighbor to the community and that even if there is some deficiency in their proposal they should overlook it. Another gentleman in the gathering who had been the president of the center after 9/11 narrated his story, that when he opened the doors of the center the day after 9/11 he was horrified to see a large gathering of white folks outside, as the center’s membership is of mostly mixed ethnicities.  But then he realized that they were carrying flowers and had come over to make sure nothing untoward happened to the center and wanted to know how they could help.

Framingham Library did a month long activities around Gregg Mortenson’s book “Three Cups of Tea” which included talks about Pakistani history, cultural show of Pakistani dresses and cooking etc.. Local papers are getting into the act of lifting the veil of Muslim and Pakistani customs by writing articles about our faith and its practices. Last year Metro West carried an article called “Muslims celebrate Ramadan, battle misperceptions” about the fasting in Ramadan and how American Muslims go about practicing it. Part of it covered the breaking of the fast at our place.

Javed Jabbar who is conducting a book tour of his book “Pakistan-Unique Origins Unique Destiny?” paints a very different picture of Pakistan in the US. He was invited to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and his talk can be viewed here.

While the challenges in educating Americans about Pakistan are huge, I am encouraged by the presence of people like Ethan, Todd , Gregg and the young American generations who can see the goodness in others and not be swayed by the messages in the mainstream media. The coming years are going to be very trying in the relations between the two countries, but I believe that the truth about Pakistan cannot remain hidden from the American public for too long. At some point the decent among the Americans are going to demand that an end be put to the criminal drone attacks on a country whose leaders have abrogated their responsibilities to protect them.  The destiny of the Planet Earth is intimately linked to the harmonious relationship between the people of these two great countries.

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Carolyn Evans is both an artist and a sculptor.  Her art appeals to both the child amongst us as well as the thinker.  To me her art has been an acquired taste.  When I first saw her painting of houses with fish floating in the air, I did not know what to make of it. But over time it is exactly those paintings that have stuck in my mind’s eye.  Many of her paintings have an ambiguity that keeps the viewer’s mind active considerably beyond the time the visual pleasures have subsided.

Many of her paintings of houses have stories behind them. The house or home in these paintings is a place surrounded by memories, filled with laughter, joy and sadness, with an overwhelming feel­ing of what it means to be alive. These “homes” are places we want to visit, to remember and reflect upon. Sometimes the houses take on a persona and speak more of an individual or of a couple and their relationship with each other. Often the house is a place to go to find shelter or sol­ace or make a political statement, or have a laugh. She blends her Southern sensibilities with those of New England where she ended up spending most of her life.

Carolyn Evans is a mature artist who has the ability to remind us of what is important in life. She disarms us with provocative and yet simple subject matter that is familiar. Her paintings are infused with levity and sophistication using color, form and images, telling stories that excite our senses. Evans’ paintings are filled with wonder and discov­ery in the many layers of paint and story.

“Evans” compositions are simple-looking, but far from simplistic, and the cockeyed geometry of both natural and man-made forms within them are carefully considered. She has the uncanny ability to suggest much and manipulate the viewer’s perceptions by adroitly refining nuances of shape, color and paint application.”‘

When all is said, it is the viewer who brings new interpretations to the stories of the work. Carolyn Evans leaves enough space to include in her paintings, our own past, our memories and our dreams.

As a former teacher, Carolyn Evans has long focused on symbolic shapes that recall childhood. Bronze landscapes display a simplified version of the flowers and trees that grew in her mother’s garden. Colorful and expressive paintings explore memories  of’ fishing the Louisiana Gulf coast with her father, or wandering the port of’ New Orleans to view the small boats and large container ships that filled the Mississippi.

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist after he grows up.” Pablo Picasso

That Carolyn Evans has solved the problem to which Picasso refers is abundantly clear.  These whimsical vistas not only relate to the art of several 20th century masters but also clearly evoke the unselfcon­scious creations of a child’s mind. The paint­ings are, at once, both deceptively sophisti­cated and disarmingly simple. Moreover, they are not the work of a naive or untutored creator, but of one trained in a traditional course of fine arts instruction.

Sculptor

I have not come across many artists who are also sculptors. It is in many ways a very different medium and requires three dimensional thinking.  Like her paintings she leaves it to the viewer to interpret her work as there is sufficient ambiguity in them.

The farm bird sculpture evokes the fattened image of a Thanks Giving Turkey.

These sculptures evoke the same playfulness found in her paintings.

As it so happens, she is John Evan’s wife who has also been featured here.

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President Obama’s state of the union focused on investments into education and innovation as the key engines for maintaining USA’s leadership position in the long term. The same is equally applicable for developing countries like Pakistan. OPEN has been facilitating entrepreneurs in America for over ten years. OPEN joined hands with MIT to conduct Business Acceleration Plans as a way to doing the same in Pakistan.  It was felt that rather than focusing on start ups it would be socially more effective to take companies whose sales were $1M-$5M to the next level. This is the reason for naming it as an acceleration plan. BAP has impacted 120 companies over the last four years that it has been conducted.  The four finalists of the BAP were in Boston today and interacted with OPEN’s New England Chapter members.

As the global economy tumbled, and local conditions, both economic and political conspired to arrest their growth and development, alumni companies of the Annual OPEN/MIT Enterprise Forum of Pakistan Business Acceleration Plan Competition have somehow seemed to defy conventional wisdom and establish themselves as world class operators in their specific domains. You may not have heard of these entrepreneurs, nor their stories of entrepreneurial struggle and success, but it’s very likely that the products and services they provide intersect with your digital lifestyle here in the US, or directly impact the lives of friends and family members in Pakistan. Astronomical revenue growth rates that range from 3x to 50x (year over year and 3 year), addition of international operations and leverage of OPEN members’ reach and experience in international markets have made the OPEN/MITEFP BAP a signature event of Pakistan’s innovation economy.

The event for the finalists  was held at Cambridge Innovation Center, which houses nearly two hundred and fifty start ups in the Kendall Research Area of Cambridge MA.  Dr. Kenneth Morse, who has been instrumental in getting BAP off the ground, opened the event with an overview of what is happening around the world and how it relates to Pakistan.  He said that BAP’s objective was to create a vibrant and supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem for Pakistan’s ambitious tech entrepreneurs. He said that BAP was from conception tethered to OPEN and that it was the wind beneath our wings. The finalists of BAP are given one week intensive training at MIT and also get to visit most of the six OPEN chapters. There they interact and network with charter members.  Each of the OPEN chapter offers a different and complementary areas of expertise.

There were two winners this year. They were accompanied by two finalists as guest speakers.

Dr. Zakiuddin Ahmed, CEO NexSource - Joint Winner – 2010 OPEN/MITEFP BAP

Dr. Zakiuddin Ahmed is a visionary strategist specializing in developing innovative solutions for Healthcare Services through information technology. He holds the following positions in various companies and organizations: As a globally recognized speaker Dr. Zaki has presented on eHealth / mHealth in many international conferences around the world in the last 10 years. His list of “Pakistan’s First” include: First “Medical Call Center”, First “Hub & Spoke” Telemedicine model, First Family Health Membership Program, First Videoconferencing Studio and Services, First National & International Telemedicine / eHealth Conference and Exhibition, First TeleRadiology project, among many others. His areas of interest, expertise & experience are eHealth, mHealth, eMarketing & MedicoMarketing, eLearning, Videoconferencing & Web Conferencing, Medical Tourism & Medical Ethics.
Dr Ahmed holds a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and a Master’s degree in Health Management and serves on the boards of various organizations.

Mr. Tanveer Sharif, CEO Vopium – Joint Winner – 2010 OPEN/MITEFP BAP

Tanveer Sharif is the founder and CEO of Vopium involved in the overall management of the company by starting it from scratch and listing it today on NYSE EURONEXT in Paris. He holds a B. Sc in Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School. He initiated his career in the IT field by working for Danish companies like Soft Design and Columbus IT partner. He also worked as an advisor for Danish Parliamentarians and various Danish ministries. In 2000, Tanveer Sharif joined a Not-for-profit organization where he was appointed CEO arm for Venture Cup. The main purpose of Venture Cup was to help entrepreneurs in their business start-ups. This was a successful venture for him where he created almost 80 companies and raised 40 million dollars in venture capital along with his team. In 2002- 2006, he worked as an elected member of Copenhagen County Council, where he represented his party in the Social and Health Committees. In 2010 he raised another 16 million dollars for Vopium, the largest investment that year in a Danish startup. He was runner-up for business leader of the year 2010, awarded by the crown princess Mary of Denmark.

Mr. Reza Samad, CEO Noblet – Finalist – 2010 OPEN/MITEFP BAP

Reza Samad is the founder and CEO of Noblet. His business experience spans over 15 years within the technology space. Having founded Pakistan’s Automated Clearing House (ACH) for banks (nift.com), he helped revolutionize the cheque processing system in Pakistan. NiFT currently handles 95% of Pakistan clearing instruments for all banks operating in the country. Reza simultaneously founded a logistics company that could handle the transportation of clearing instruments to and from bank branches 4 times a day across the country. The operation stands at over 400 people in 20 cities catering to over 200 cities/towns in Pakistan. Reza then established Noblet Consulting representing Manpower Inc (among others) in Pakistan. A host of Soft-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications covering HR, Admin and Finance have and are being developed for roll out across the MEAA region. Noblet made the top 5 companies in the MIT Business Acceleration Program 2010 competition.

Mr. Faisal Khan, CEO, Ovex Technologies – Finalist – 2010 OPEN/MITEFP BAP

Mr. Faisal S. Khan is the CEO of Ovex Technologies Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd and is a Chartered Accountant by profession. Prior to his joining Ovex Technologies, he has been working with KPMG TaseerHadi& Co. as a Partner for approximately a year and half. During his tenure of all inclusive 20 years, with KPMG TaseerHadi& Co. He spent two years with KPMG Oman, on international secondment. With KPMG, Mr. Khan has been involved primarily with assurance and some advisory work. His areas of expertise included banks and financial institutions, manufacturing concerns and retails businesses. He is well conversant with risk management and SOX requirements. He has also worked in an educational institution primarily in the field of Accountancy. He is a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan.

The panel discussion was moderated by Imran Nasrullah, the Chief Business Officer of Massachusetts BioTech Council and Dr. Scharukh Jalisi, Directorof Boston Univerty’s  Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery. It was interesting to see that the Pakistani businesses are viewing the Middle East, Asia and Africa as areas of operation. They see these regions as not being adequaltely serviced by the established western corporations. It was exciting to see highly democratized technologies of communication and medical devices being effectively employed to deliver quality health care services to widely dispersed populations in the rural areas of Pakistan. With the infrastructure in place, these technologies and processes could be expanded to deliver other services like education. The are potentially 120 Million Pakistani who can eventually benefit from these efforts.

One thing that was evident right from the start is that the next generation of Pakistani Americans are now running OPEN. The young Dr. Bilal Zuberi, who runs VC fund, encouraged the participants to come forth with new ideas. He said that he could write a check for $200K today, without going through any process. This was also reflected by younger Pakistani students studying in the Boston universities also being present. The event was moderated Raza Sarwar is the new Vice President of OPEN New England chapter.

The Incredible OPEN Spouses

OPEN would not have been formed without the active participation of spouses. I would like to appreciate the incredible support provided by them to OPEN right from the early days to today. They were also present today to encourage the OPEN activities.

The Right Revolution

In conclusion I would like to observe that as we see revolutionary events unfold in the Middle East and Africa, that create the potential of great uncertainty but also hope;  a better way to bring about transformational change in developing countries is through innovation and entrepreneurial activities. Pakistani leadership in different domains have a unique opportunity to encourage their incredibly talented technology entrepreneurs to achieving their true potential. They also have an opportunity to leverage the Pakistani diaspora in speeding up the societal transformation that the burgeoning youth of Pakistan so desperately needs.

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The TSA confirmed last week that it has told its agents nationwide to start using the new procedure. Here’s its official statement: “TSA is in the process of implementing new pat-down procedures at checkpoints nationwide as one of our many layers of security to keep the traveling public safe. Pat-downs are one important tool to help TSA detect hidden and dangerous items such as explosives. Passengers should continue to expect an unpredictable mix of security layers that include explosives trace detection, advanced imaging technology, canine teams, among others.” That doesn’t tell you much, but according to media reports, persons who have undergone the new pat-downs use much more graphic language to describe them, referring to the inspection with words like “invasive,” “groping,” and even “foreplay.” TSA agents who conduct pat-downs will now reportedly be allowed to use their palms instead of only the backs of their hands to conduct the pat-downs in sensitive areas, and no part of the passenger’s anatomy is off limits.

A week before the Thanksgiving travel crush, some passengers and pilots have complained that the searches -- particularly the pat-downs -- are too invasive.
“I wouldn’t want my wife to be touched in a way that these folks are being touched. I wouldn’t want to be touched that way and I think that we have to be focused on safety, but there’s a balance,” said Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla. “I think we’ve gone to right field.”

But TSA Director  Pistole responded that “my job as administrator is try to find that balance, recognize the invasiveness of it and also recognize that the threats are real, the stakes are high and we must prevail.” He also emphasized that most passengers will continue to go through metal detectors and that only and a far smaller number will be directed to body scanners. A pat-down is ordered only for passengers who refuse the body scan or who trigger an alarm in a metal detector.

Pilots unions also are fighting the additional measures, saying pilots should continue going through metal detectors only. The Allied Pilots Association told its members that the cumulative effect of frequent full body scans could be harmful, given that pilots are already exposed to higher doses of cosmic rays during long flights at altitude.

Studies conducted on the full body scanners by the National Institute of Science and Technology and Johns Hopkins University concluded that radiation from the scans is minimal, Pistole said. The scanners expose a flier to the same amount of radiation as being in the air at 30,000 feet for three minutes, he said.

But after giving it some thought, I think there is a lot of sense in the deployment of these scanners and pat down procedures. Flying is not a right but a privilege. I would much rather have some people offended rather than risk the lives of those who might die as a result of not being able catch a terrorist from boarding a plane. The one billion dollars of tax payers money are well spent as the cost to the society of a successful attack is far greater than either this sum of the inconvenience. The dose currently being used is equivalent of 5000 chest Xrays. This dose is enough for TSA to secure the planes for us without needing to pat down passengers that take time and cause some sensitive souls to protest.  I think passengers should treat the pat downs in the same spirit as a doctor needing to probe the body to secure your body from disease.

What most Americans don’t really get it is that we are at war with an enemy that does not obey any rules of engagement as is willing to resort to all means.  We are always a step behind in responding to the evolving tactics.  First it was the shoe then there are these packages. I think we need to get more aggressive in protecting the homeland rather than try to please all the different sensitivities.  I think we should actually have the strength of these scanner be controlled by trained TSA agents who can increase the dose of Xrays being used depending on the thickness of clothing and the perceived threat level being posed by a passenger in the eyes of the agent.  A swarthy Middle Eastern person wearing flowing thick clothing should be a good candidate for at least one XRay’s worth of dose in a scan so that the agent can see if he or she has something in her intestines that might be dangerous.

If such a person’s behavior is suspicious we should actually have Virtual Colonscopy Machines installed to make 100 percent sure that they are not a threat to the society.  In case they are found to be not dangerous we could, if they so desire ,give them the result of the scan which they could show it to their doctor thus saving them some money in not have a need to get a colonoscopy done. Getting a blood sample and performing a test for drugs prior to a flight should also improve the level of ensuring a safer flight.

We should actually have all the options on the table when it comes to flying in larger planes over longer distances as they have the potential to cause the maximum damage.  In these longer flights I think the passengers should actually  be sedated as this would obviate the need to feed and entertain them. These savings could be passed to the passengers in lower ticket prices.

Just as the investments into X ray machines are now bearing fruit in making us safer, HomeLand Security should increase investments into research towards understanding the brain wave patterns of the criminal mind. Should that technology mature we could offer those passengers that cannot be sedated due to medical reasons to opt to wear the “thought probes” on the heads for the duration of the flights that should be coupled with lethal poison injectors under their seat cushions. The close coupling between such sensor which injects the suppressive poison if the level of objectionable thoughts cross a dangerous threshold would make flying nearly 100 percent safe for the American public to fly.

Once we have all these defense mechanisms in place we would be in a position to take on the terrorists around the world with impunity and they will be running for their lives and the Mission will be finally Accomplished.

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Even though John Evans is considered as a landscape artist, I consider him an artist who creates the illusion of incredibly vast spaces on a two dimensional canvas and uses cues from landscape and texture of the sky to frame it. When I first became his neighbor and was invited to view his works, I was struck by the vivid colors that he used to stylize his landscape art. Over the years he has toned down his palette and become more of an abstract artist.

Whenever I visit a new country, I am attracted to visiting museums in order to understand its culture. Within the museum I tend to gravitate towards the art of that culture that provides me with an insight into the soul and sensitivities of its people.  I find it interesting that it is not the knowledge about the rich and powerful of the land that grabs the attention of tourists, but that of the works of art.

In that sense John’s art captures the American spirit. His art reflects the American playfulness, vigor, optimism, naivete, grandness and drama.

Spiritual Spaces

Capturing the grandness of landscape is a spiritual experience, according to John. Thomas Lyon Mills had this to say about John’s art from this perspective -

The paintings of John Evans reveal a transcendent love affair with the New England coast. While studying at Boston University, John first came into regular contact with the rocky islands, secretive wetlands and beaches that frame the Atlantic. Now the places of solitude that John seeks are becoming increasingly rare; as population densities along the coast explode, uninterrupted vistas are replaced by expansive highways and anonymous architecture. However, the raw beauty of the coast survives in key locations, and John knows where to find every one of these spots. These days he frequents two favorite locations to make his oil-stick drawings: Plum Island in northern coastal Massachusetts, and Truro, one of Edward Hopper’s favorite Cape Cod haunts. In these drawings, used as preparatory studies and as complete works in their own right, John records the blossoming grasses of Plum Island in spring, and in fall, the blazing rich hues which this same ground displays. In summer, John draws and paints the dunes of Truro, an otherworldly place of hypnotic, undulating sand.

A classic example of creating a sense of immense space can be found in the painting of cottages in the fields in France. His abstract rendition of landscape with choice of playful colors please both the eye and mind at the same time. There is a sense of minimalism in the elements like cottages and trees that populate the landscape.

FIELDS WITH COTTAGES IN BENYAK

Another one is a New England beach scene. The placement and tightness of the horizon when coupled with the texture of the sky and reflections off the sand create a uniquely John touch of creating the luminous illusion of space.

LOW TIDE WITH BOATS AND BUOY

An Act of Faith

Artists of the Romantic movement in the 19th century wrestled earnestly to express their experience of what they called “Sehnsucht”, a profound sense of inner longing in the presence of the transcendent, numinous other (be it nature, or a beloved, or God). The best art revealed this subject/object relationship where we come to recognize both ourselves and something outside of ourselves. The idea of Sehnsucht continues to have power today, because what lies at its heart, the terrible awareness of our simultaneous isolation and connectedness, is so deeply woven into the fabric of the human condition.
Sehnsucht is at the core of John Evans’s paintings. If you ask him what drives him to paint the landscapes and seascapes that he loves, he will tell you it is a mental state he calls ‘ ecstasy .’ His radar is calibrated to register those moments when nature presents itself ecstatically, without his having even to seek them. This is because he understands intuitively that the Numinous, that Other which lies behind and beneath and beyond mere visual appearance, is ever poised to reveal itself in what seem to be the most mundane shapes glimpsed in time: the slope of a country road into the distance: the angle of a dinghy lying forlorn on a dusky beach; a solitary, dark tree hovering wildly on a seaside cliff, or a pair of anonymous, mastless boats whose prows chance to align momentarily as they drift languidly in opposite directions. The humble dignity and simplicity of the subject matter is sublimated in flickering planes of luminous color both in the earlier works in this exhibition, in which a great density of marks reveals the vastness of space and light from within, and also in the newer, larger works, without visible horizon, a boat or two recalling figural isolation and intimacy.
The world seen in John Evans ‘ paintings is composed of beautiful interlocking shapes, in turn awkward and then elegant, that alternately either dissolve into one another or assert their identities to cleave earth from sky, horizon from punctuating vertical forms (trees, piers, signposts) though land and air, vertical and horizontal, are always united by the vitality of the marks and the feeling of accumulated light arrested. The landscape in Evans’ paintings is occasionally agitated, sometimes at rest, but almost always silent, a silence from which the radiance of the spirit grows. He assembles different moments of day and place, each with its own particular qualities of light, into a new whole so as to arrive at not so much a summary of the landscape as a revelation of the experience of being in it and outside of it at the same time. Perspective becomes a centripetal force, pulling the viewer in; yet at the same time the dense surface textures, scraped and scratched, mottled and scumbled, crusty, hard-fought, well-traveled by eye and hand, sanded down and then rebuilt again, halt entry into space and concentrate visual energy on the flatness of the picture plane.
Therein lies the key to what separates Evans ‘ vision from the transcendentalism of the Romantics: it is mediated by the lens of Modernism. Cezanne, cubism, and expressionism have not gone unnoticed. Evans studied with James Weeks and Philip Guston at Boston University, where realism and expressionism respectively were the coin of the realm, so their union in his work seems to have a certain prophetic inevitability. The work on exhibit synthesizes the landmarks on a journey from realism and painterly geometric abstraction through an expressionism akin to Kokoschka’s landscapes and finally to his heart’s true home: immersion in the sublime in plein-air forays to Cape Cod, the Mohawk Valley of upstate New York, and anywhere else the Numinous might reveal itself in nature.

- by Clifford Davis Associate Professor of Art Rivier College, Nashua, New Hampshire

Some of his selected works can be experienced in high resolution in the slide show below.

Click on the Image to open the Album

John Evans has been painting and showing his work since the 70’s and had studied at Boston University for his BFA and MFA studying under Philip Guston and James Weeks. James Weeks, who was part of the movement of Bay Area Figurative School painters such as Richard Diebenkorn and other show influence in the lyrical and painterly qualities of John’s work. John takes you through his process of painting four of his master pieces in the  two videos below.

Boat Paintings

In his travels along the New England coast John had the opportunity to photograph a number of boats. He used these to create a new genre of boat paintings that are shown in the album below.

Clicking on the image will take you to the album.

Pond Paintings

John recently did pond paintings in which he has evolved a new style that seems like a cross between Monet and Van Gogh.

A lot more information about John’s art can be found at website at http://www.evansartstudio.com/JohnEvans/ArtStudio.html

Video were produced by LAGO KASS PRODUCTIONS.

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US Senate Tea Party candidate, Nevada’s Sharron Angle yesterday made public comments about Islamic religious law taking hold in some US cities coupled with equating such a development with a “militant terrorist situation.” We’re in the depths of electioneering silly season.

Leaving aside the tiny matter of evidence, and tempting though it is to dismiss for its obviously flawed illogic, such rhetoric nonetheless speaks volumes about the audience that Angle felt it necessary to pander to. She was clearly not attempting to persuade anyone, but was instead reassuring like-minded voters that their ill-informed fears resonate with her and that by implication they should vote for her against incumbent Senate majority leader Harry Reid.

For anyone interested in the increasingly unlikely triumph of reason over fear, here are a couple of things to consider.

Let’s suppose that what she chooses to call Muslim Sharia were to be practiced in one or more US cities. We can overlook for a moment her manifest lack of grasp of what Muslim Sharia even is, but before raising our arms in horror at the thought, or rushing to deny the claim, should we not at least pause to uncover why this is being conflated with terrorism? It reflects upon us all that our would-be political leaders require us to be so fearful of the branded bogeyman of Islam to fall for such obvious pandering. Sadly, enough voters are out there to lead to such a calculus. Legitimized by the likes of such luminaries-turned-fearmongers as Newt Gingrich, why not?

In this lies a truly tragic prospect for this country’s future,  one incidentally, that is well illustrated in Mike Judge’s disturbingly funny movie “Idiocracy.”

Be as it may, let’s consider the other side of this issue. What indeed of Muslim Sharia law? First, we need to get past the talk-show, shock-jock brand-identity of this word, in this country, in these times. Next, we should understand that it’s a common mistake to imagine Sharia to be some form of book of statutes which lists a body of Muslim laws, prescribing iconic punishments such as amputation or stoning. Try as you might you won’t find such a volume because none exists.

So what is Sharia? The word comes from the Arabic meaning for “path” but especially a “path to water”, which in desert country, is an important path. It refers in this sense not to an end but to a means. What’s significant about this is that Sharia can best be described as a combination of actual laws prescribed in primary sources—such as the Qur’an and the example set by the most corroborated of the reported actions and sayings of the Prophet Mohammed (upon whom be peace)—coupled with “principles” to be applied when deliberating new law. This is not an esoteric point.

Indeed, Islam expects change and, beyond the few primary laws, stops short of declaring what the actual laws should be by focusing instead on such principles precisely because laws can be both guided by modernity and influence it too. This is analogous to the US Constitution which along with certain guaranteed rights, offers principles for balancing individual liberties with the needs of societal order, while allowing laws to be passed, modified or repealed as circumstances arise.  Yes, the bigots will try the “Don’t compare your Sharia with our Constitution” line but the point for those with a mind, isn’t such a direct comparison. It’s simply to illustrate an obvious parallel.

With principles, we can apply jurisprudence to determine what laws should look like in any given human era. Those laws are capable of change without violating the notion of Sharia principles.

That said, it would be naïve to suggest that this more ideal perspective on Sharia has been followed in modern so-called Muslim countries, which in just about every case offer a mish-mash of legal codes derived from a bygone colonial era and various Sharia compliant constructs. Outdated laws have lived on instead of adapting Sharia principles to the changing world. By counter-example, the flurry of modern ideas for Sharia-compliant or “Islamic” finance represents a departure from this norm and such products are proving hugely popular among Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Meanwhile, some western countries have allowed Muslims to apply Sharia compliant family laws while requiring Muslims to conform to secular civil and criminal legal structures that apply to all society in those countries. Success in this respect has been frankly, mixed.

Nonetheless, the bottom line is that terrorism isn’t the natural state of affairs in either those or in Muslim majority countries and it hasn’t been for the past 1400 years. Yes, places like Pakistan and Afghanistan have seen a massive rise in terrorism not since Islam came to the region but since the American adventure in this part of the world at the tail end of the Cold War but even more so after the horrific events of 9/11 nine years ago.

Sharron Angle and others of her ilk cannot be expected even to try to grasp such concepts while in the grubby pursuit of votes and even if she’s capable of it, we should not expect her to reach for reason when fear-stoking is sadly such an effective alternative.

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Today is the ninth anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan by US troops. It is time to reflect on the manner in which US got involved. It is also a good time to look at responsible ways to get out of the Afghan quagmire while ensuring peace for all the nations involved.  To re-phrase the line from the movie “Gladiator”, “Countries should know when the war has been lost”. This comment is not a reflection on the proud soldiers serving there, and has more to do with the policy. I had stated in a publicly broadcast show that the war in Afghanistan had been lost early last year.  Everything since then has gone downhill,  as was easily predictable to those who have the slightest sense of the region. It is already the longest war that US has ever fought. Churchill once said that “America will always do the right thing, but only after exhausting all other options.” It is now time to do the right thing as all the options have been exhausted.

I believe the main reason for hastily attacking Afghanistan after 9/11 was primarily a need to take revenge. This was abundantly evident by the expletive markings on the bombs being loaded onto aircraft aboard aircraft carriers to attack. Pakistani leader was begging for more time to work on Talibans to offer Osama bin Laden for trials. Had the Bush administration not been blinded by sheer hubris, we could have had him and his cohorts without resulting in huge human and monetary loss.

In my opinion the war was lost before it even started. The reasons have to do with the way it was planned. The fundamental long term mistake made then was that we wanted to do Afghanistan on the cheap. Then Secy Rumsfeld was obsessed with containing costs and wanted to do Iraq first. So we chose the easy way in the short term by using Northern Alliance and committed far fewer troops than were needed. These decisions were made in a rush and not enough long term thinking was put in. The result was that Osama got away in Tora Bora and we ended up working with  Northern Alliance, a group far more criminal than the Taliban. An important side effect of this association was giving India the back door space into Afghanistan, as they were supporting the Northern Alliance. We were forced into resorting to the blunt instrument of bombing from the air at the slightest provocation, since we did not have boots on the ground. This in the long run turned us into a brutal occupational force in the eyes of most Afghanis. This fact could be witnessed recently on CBS’s 60 minutes, where US soldiers ventured out only in their armored MRAPS and no Afghani was willing to work with them.

It does not serve anyone much to dwell on the past. What is essential is to do the right thing going ahead. I don’t think US can afford this war in the medium to long term when 40% of the US population is hovering around the poverty line, and the cost of getting one gallon of gasoline to Afghanistan is a whopping $800.

We need to immediately do the following things:

• Training Afghan Army a lot more aggressively.
• Distance ourselves from the Karzai gang of warlords and criminals. ( Read Taliban by Ahmed Rashid  for more details.)
• Get a much larger (300,000+) peace keeping force in Afghanistan, from preferably muslim countries.
• Give more representation to Pashtuns, who are the majority.

We must not do is

• Talk to the Talibans.
• Conduct criminal drone attacks on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Alienate Pakistan by military incursions and intrusive activities into their internal affairs.

I am no longer too sure about Churchill’s words. My prediction is that we will be in Afghanistan till well into the next century. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.

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We’ve just passed the 9th anniversary of 9/11 and in lockstep with each passing year’s remembrance of that awful, tragic day, we’re reminded less than a month later of another anniversary, that of the start of America’s longest war—the war in Afghanistan. 

Such as it is, the war has seen progress and setbacks. We failed to capture or kill Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri. Indeed, the $25 million bounty on Osama bin Laden should probably be dropped. It hasn’t worked and only an imbecile would argue that this was due it being too small a figure. Yet in this simple observation surely lies a deeper truth.  Although we might share some aspirations with ordinary Afghans, what we think motivates us in an American cultural setting does not readily apply to the people of Afghanistan or Pakistan. In fact, bounties as a whole have been among the more notable failures of America’s policy in the region, too often proving to be vehicles for acting on local grudges rather than a means to ensnare our enemies.

Similarly, although drone attacks no doubt prove effective at times, their attempts at elimination of enemies generally create disproportionate resentment. Leaving aside their now well documented inaccurate targeting, the underlying resentment has much more to do with the remote-controlled and faceless nature of such attacks rather than their effectiveness or otherwise. Violence is not new to the people of Afghanistan and they pride themselves on their own martial codes. What is new is death-from-a-distance, from an unseen enemy operating from the comfort of an office somewhere in America and dispensing that death with less difficulty than in writing a memo. That resentment has to do with the dishonorable nature of killing without confronting an enemy, without putting one’s own life at risk, sipping a cup of coffee and returning to spouse and family after putting in “a day’s work.”

Mountaineer-turned-author and now deeply committed peace-worker, Greg Mortenson’s two books, Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, along with his Central Asia Institute’s Pennies for Peace initiative stand on the other side of the chasm separating success from failure. The approach exemplified in his excellent and timely works require more patience and less spectacle. Yet, their successes are spectacular nonetheless and now America’s politicians and generals are paying heed to his words. Through vivid descriptions of his encounters with the people of the region he illustrates their willingness to reciprocate when confronted with (especially face-to-face) gestures of goodwill and efforts to rebuild their homes, schools and clinics.

It may no longer be important to capture or kill bin Laden or al-Zawahiri, and as long as the underlying resentments fester, there’ll be other bin Ladens and his ilk. But if there’s to be an end to this war that makes any kind of sense, we need to build on what works. Cultivating and acting upon a deeper understanding of the people we choose to affect, works. Sadly, however, it’s an understanding which most Americans, including many politicians, seem to lack. This isn’t the same as merely studying the people in the manner of a student or observer. One has to live within that world to embrace its truths. Mortenson’s words provide a graphic reminder of how important it is to take the trouble to do that and achieve a deeper understanding of a people, giving up something of oneself in the process.

And while his work is in the realm of facts and experiences he shares with his reader, other approaches from the world of fiction such as this writer’s own novel, SIKANDER, provide a different vehicle for internalizing how people of a different religious, cultural and ethnic makeup are motivated to think and act. After all, fiction can often provide access to otherwise inaccessible ways of living and experiencing those realities, and do so in as much detail and context as the narrative is able to convey.

After nine long years, simply having a dignified exit strategy is as unlikely to be a winning move as was America’s neglect of the region after the Soviet withdrawal. We need to respect unfamiliar customs, like the jirga system of tribal justice, the right to bear arms, and counter-intuitive customs like the obligation to defend a protection-seeker whether friend or foe, to name just a few examples. We need to avoid demonizing institutions like madrassahs based purely on the superficial imagery of TV sound- and video-bites. We need depth of understanding to equip us to discriminate the good from the bad. In short, we need to help the local people re-establish a functioning society which isn’t alien to their long-standing sensibilities. Only then will an American entry have had any meaning and an American exit be a cause for celebration.

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