Foreign Language Film Love

Over the previous week, i've collected many foreign language films, mainly Iranian.

Majid Majidi is a renowned Iranian film director, his simple but beautiful stories mostly revolve around children and their innocent ways. 

From art direction point of view, his films are amazing, 

i don't speak Farsi, but the unique attention to detail and use of symbolism, 

i understand each touching moment without reading the subtitles.

I especially love his stories, 

because they are so simple, so real, 

so everyday and so important.

I can relate more i feel as the characters and their experiences, 

the surroundings and issues are the same as in my country.

Children of Heaven is probably his most famous movie to date 

and has been the winner at 'The Montreal Film Festival'

The sweet and intense relationship between 2 siblings 

and the strive for a male child to excel 

is so beautifully portrayed, it brought tears to my eyes.

Just a day ago i saw 

 'The Color of Paradise'.

It was by far the best.

My heart was in my stomach for most part of the movie, 

as the blind, nine year old 'Mohammed' 

searches for beauty and acceptance in the world all around him.

Another riveting, haunting and deathly true movie i saw was 'The stoning of Soraya M.'

Sigh...

I couldn't sleep at night, had nightmares. I forwarded most of the ending.

If there's a movie that makes you really feel 

or search for humanity inside you, it's this movie.

Stories of men and women, mostly women 

falsely accused of adultery being stoned in the name of religion is not uncommon.

I wont comment on the law but on the attitudes of society and the men in particular, 

their actions just despised me, i wanted to scream and shout.

Sigh..........

Observe till there is no observation left.

Somebody said to me and i put it to the test, 

foreign language films make you notice the unusual.

It's funny and true and amazing.

For anyone and everyone who loves life, 

Majid Majidi's stunning stories will move you.

And for the artist in you it will awaken you.

The movies above are a must must must watch!

Saturday - Town Storming, Auction and Dinner by the Sea

Saturday Morning got up with an agenda at hand.

Fully charged and excited for the day's plans, 

i impatiently waited till noon for my friends' 

to pick me up and to start the days escapades.

We headed to "Azam Basti" 

in a not so near not so far area of Karachi, 

in search of Baba Haji Sarver.

In search of his quarters full of "retro finds" 

we drove through intertwined roads, no alleys.

We passed through a herd of cows, several donkey carts, 

asked many in the area where Haji Saab lived

and stopped at a little building, with chairs, sofas, 

crates, tables and endless wooden "things" 

jutting out of windows and doors, piled on the narrow street.

We looked left, we looked right, 

there was old wood lying around everywhere, but no sign of Haji Saab.

Waited a while then headed out.

Mission Azam Basti - Failed

NEXT STOP: AUCTION MART

Then we headed east of Karachi, to Mai- Kolachi.

Enjoyed the long seamless road, 

well by Karachi standards; it's not so pebbly/ rocky and pot holey.

Landed outside a bigggg warehouse which has

 "aaakshun maart" in urdu spray painted on the gate.

Got off, and inside was, well a big dump of things. lol.

It's true "one man's garbage is another man's gold".

Above is the top of a "saarangi" a musical instrument - 

It was beautiful and way to expensive, but in perfect condition.

Couldn't exactly figure out what this was, 

a press of some sort, used for what exactly not print making, 

dunno, do help if u guys know!

But it was so interesting, 

instantly started imagining what i could use it for, 

DIY project,

press turned into a table or jewelry hanger, 

lol, something.

A wooden baby's cradle. Jhoola or swing.

It was in pretty good shape and it had really cute slightly carved edges.

Had been looking for something like this for sometime, 

and this was better than something i had previously almost bought.

Was a great deal too, so i got it!!!! :P

Interesting clock, it was electric, 

some remains of an old navy ship or something.

My friend got this cute little trolley fits in your hand, 

and i got this candelabra.

Didn't know what it was, 

till my dad told me, but just thought it was pretty.

NEXT STOP: DINNER BY THE SEA

We went to Olive Cafe near Devil's Point in phase 8.

It serves the same as all the out eating joints in its line, 'Pakistani, mostly bbq',

but the ambiance is different, very relaxing.

The decor was sweet, 

cane and bamboo, very Zen; Pakistani style!

We sat by a picket fence, 

it was the only thing between us 

and the waves hitting the rocks at the shore underneath.

Food took forever, but we had good company, 

about 15 of us yapping away 

and enjoying the cool sea-breeze and a lovely full moon night.

So Saturday was fun. :P

Friday - Training day

Friday was an unusually different/ different day!

Instead of work went to receive training on 360 communication -

Yea, interesting stuff, but we've been through this several times.

Met, some strange people, brainstormed about some strange ideas.

Was there too early so was snapping around. 

The light coming from a "roshandan" was interesting.

Don't know if the phone camera does it justice, 

but it highlighted the beautiful rosewood banisters.

Friday was purely advertising, 

inspiring but not disruptive, 

not clutter-breaking 

and definitely way too long.

An Ode...

This was supposed to be an ode to Kari Herer, 

who inspired me to try out her style. Lol i think i failed miserably, but i wont give up. 

I'll try again this time not with instagram. 

I think i'll brush the dust off the Canon SLR and give it a go.

On searching for things to match Herer's tea cups etc, i found a ceramic bell.

And today has turned out to be an ode to my mother - Sameera.

This is a little hand painted bell painted by ammie (mom) with love.

It's got a beautiful golden top and rim and cute colourful flowers of all sizes and colours.

These were painted for me take to my new home after i become a Mrs when i was 15. Yes, 15!

They've been saved,wrapped and stored so carefully, waiting for the day i'd have my own home.

In a culture where mothers start planning their daughters wedding 

the day/minute/ second they are born, 

this was a expected and accepted gesture.

Especially, from ammie.

Along with 2 identical white porcelain candle stands, 

she gave me these on her first visit to a post-wedding/ honeymoon, Mahrukh. 

With goodluck, endless blessings and instructions to keep them safe 

and enjoy them in times of happiness and joy, my mother gave these to me finally, 

and not without a tear or two in her eyes.

I'll always value and savour these pieces as they decorate my new home.

They lie at the moment in a glass cabinet waiting to be cherished,

 waiting to turn into 

victorian, 

vintage, 

antique heirlooms.

Waiting to be appreciated by another generation.

To the love of a mother; my mother  - 

i kinda love... i really really love. :)

Tea Time 2

Continuing with this tea time fever - 

I think i could do this for a while -

lol - maybe i should've been born in 18th century Britain 

Drink tea and scones and preserves - and marmite - and walk with a parasol -

I'd look quite unique - hmmm with my brown skin and dark hair -

But i can own this bracelet - http://etsy.me/fsdlYN 

 

or make this one myself - :)

Found it: The artist is Kari Herer - http://etsy.me/gbe4x1

I absolutely adore these compositions and ofcourse the items featured.

Today's homework; i'll try re-creating these images - 

Try i say -

With instagram that i just downloaded on my iphone.

I'll rummage through the cutlery drawers & tea cups and see what i can do - 

So stay tuned -

Already excited -

Tea Time

Where i live, it's always tea -time, 

we grew up learning tea was more important 

than any meal of the day, even water!

Started having tea since i started work and now, 

i'm dependent on my morning dose to get my eyes, ears and brain working. 

Quite the tea addict, but just mornings and 5 days a week for now.

Tea-time is special and important. Cute cups make it even better.

Was fascinated with my mainly etsy.com finds, so here they are.

For a tea-time fanatic. http://bit.ly/dNlztv

 For the kitchen - http://etsy.me/hBfl3a

This artist has amazing photographs, available on etsy.com , 

i forget her name, but they're awesome.

I'm a sucker for vintage looking things so i love this.

literally spelling it out - tea-time.

What a wonderful way to display/ save all those odd tea cups left at home -

I'm gonna make one, one day soon.

I know a friend who'd freak 

if she sees this and would totally wear it - all the time. 

So awesome, available at anthropologie.com,

the lamp shade doesn't do it justice, 

but again tea-cups and pots, 

so cute.

How Grand

 I don't know how to play a piano or know anything about Pianos. 

Don't know what a steinway is or what an octave means. 

All i know is that they're Grand and they're B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L .

Today's love: A Grand Piano -

So got these pictures from an auction held locally. 

Didn't get to go, but a friend took some pix of interest to me. 

It's basically a big warehouse with loads of stuff. 

Hoping to go there this Saturday. Let's see what i can find.

How would you auction for something like this where do you begin -hmmmm-

Do i have space to keep this? i'd love to... let's see, waiting for Saturday.

I like the one above this better than the straight lines here.

trinGgggGg!

L . O . V. E  this - ultra contemporary and so retro - 

Hope i've got the category right - lol - 

Theres a little pin to plug in your iphone/ ipod - absolutely Hilarious!!!

AND FUN!!!

Found this image from urbanoutfitters.com

http://bit.ly/dGt9fC - $78 - bit much - since the conversion rate keeps rolling in my head.

$1 = Rs85

So $78 is a bit much - but i love it anyway!

Antique phone love - these  black and white ones are probably from the 60's.

Have a few more pix of phones from the 80's, they're so hilarious, hope my M (Mohammed Ali aka husband) hasn't thrown them out - will do the search over the weekend!

I kind of love this -

ScReEeeech!!! 

Love how real this looks and feels. 

Simple, functional and fun.

I can hear the scratching and its raking my insidessss - 

Ouch and lol at the same time!

Radio star!

Love these things - 

Absolutely love the the radio looking bedside clock - 

Maybe i can make myself one -

Looking for a turntable/gramaphone - a nice wooden one!!!

Have one at my grandparents place on top of a credenza shaped thingy with a built in radio thing as well.

Wish my mom got it when she could. One of my cousin got dibs on it! sigh - oh well - 

I'll still try to find one - somewhere - 

The one my cousin now has look like that - ( above) I should pictures of it - 

I'm sure he'll be fine with that - but need one. :P

            
Hmmm...
Wonder what my boss would think about that!

It all makes sense now -

I used this on some friends - so totally works - 

Lost for words? It's Funky - lol - yup!!! i guess thats the word - :P

I am me!

I'm mahrukh,and  i live in Karachi, Pakistan. I graduated with a graphic design degree from art school in 2007.  Ive been a student of art for ever and always. I love everything art - Graphic design, fashion, industrial, architecture everything. Presently i'm working in an advertising agency.

 As i went through en endless and interesting list of design blogs i said to myself

"Theres too much out there", it was strange, confusing and exciting.
I thought i need to know this and i need to remember. 

Thus, Ive begun this blog so i can remember. 

Remember all the things that catch my eye, i like, love and hate about art around me.

Things that make me happy and above all make me, me.

There is a detail to be noted in everything, everywhere. I hope that you see it too, and help me see more.

So here goes...