MAALI: 2012

Inspiration......Sports and Arabs...

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

What comes to your mind when you think of Sports and Arabs....? What comes to your mind first, when you hear the word POLO...probably Ralph Lauren and the polo shirts and maybe Lacoste (if you are into fashion and the arts), and if you are into sports, the sport of Polo itself and possibly Tennis....

With all that said, very few people know that Polo (the sport) originated in Persia and that it was a very popular sport in Iran. In time polo became an Iranian national sport played normally by the nobility. Women as well as men played the game. I find this very interesting as the involvement of Muslim women in sports had previously been and still is an issue in certain parts of the Arab world. Most Arab women have a certain image and are hardly regarded in the area of sports, in fact they are often discriminated against and envisioned as covered up powerless creatures subjected to and restricted by culture and religion. It gave me great joy to see that Arab/Muslim women are now major participants in all sorts of sports.

xx.A

Saturday, 27 October 2012

....and the lack of posting does not mean we have not been engaged in a lot of activities. Contrary to that thought we have been quite busy. Maali in collaboration with our friend Bariats Brushstrokez Makeover had the annual sales party at the Maali store in Abuja about two months ago (pictures will be posted below).

I (Alheri) resumed school and have a pretty intense semester as it shall be my last. I am taking a couple of hard courses, as well as my project which deals with Dimensionality Reduction (yea, I know... the link is for those who are interested in finding out what it is). Linda on the other hand has been busy with other major projects which cannot be disclosed now. By the way my birthday is this Sunday so watch this space for posts on that. View pictures from the Maali sales event below. Be Blessed! xx.A

Wednesday, 1 August 2012

SHELL MUST USE ITS PROFITS TO CLEAN UP THE NIGER DELTA

"Shell has been extracting oil in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria for over 50 years. They are the major operator there and have made billions and billions of dollars out of the country. And what have the people of the Niger Delta received in return? For the vast majority, they have been subjected to grinding poverty, little access to clean water, a polluted environment and ongoing violence and conflict." Vivienne Westwood Blog

Watch Amnesty International Film on the issue below -Shell: Own up, Pay up, Clean up the Niger Delta!

*Sign Amnesty’s global petition to Shell’s Chief Executive Peter Vosser at www.amnesty.org.uk/ownup.

Monday, 30 July 2012

We did not get to stay to the end of the third day but this last day was the most musically fulfilling. It included performances by Bez Idakula, Keziah Jones and King Sunny Ade. We came a little bit late (dragging our feet at Portobello Road market) so we missed part of Bez's performance. We managed to watch him perform 'That Stupid Song' (Linda posted the video some time ago, watch Here) and 'Super Sun' (watch live performance Here) both off his Album Super Sun.

Next up was Keziah Jones. It took about an hour (exaggerating a little bit) to set up the stage for his performance. We all started to get impatient but in the end it was the best performance of all. It was well planned, executed and very different. Linda was already familiar with some of his music but I was not, so I did not know what to expect. All in all we were blown away. Keziah Jones....where do I begin (He's the type of artiste you Google to find out more after a live performance)...His music which he calls 'Blue Funk' is a fusion between raw blues elements and hard, edgy funk rhythms was so unexpected. I was in awe of both his style of music and performance. All of the lights moved with the music and then he took off his shirt....(**swoon**, Randomly, he is a 44 year old, hot man) and started to move along with the music. He was an amazing way to end the 3 days. Sadly, we did not get to take pictures with him.We had to leave early and also missed the King Sunny Ade performance.

Bez

Keziah Jones Back drop (a little blurry)

Keziah Jones

He had this cool funky way of playing the guitar

and the shirt went off....

Linda, Bez and Alheri

Zel, Linda and Alheri

xx A.

Sunday, 29 July 2012

Bluesy folksy song...Ben Howard...Only Love

Saturday, 28 July 2012

The second day of the show included performances by Wiz Boy, Waje, Tiwa Savage, M.I and King Sunny Ade. Before that night, I had little knowledge of Wiz Boy and Linda had none whatsoever, but he managed to get us on his fan team. Linda is now officially a major Wiz Boy fan. We sat with Zel ( Mrs. Chocolate City) and it was so funny and amazing how she knew the lyrics to all the Wiz Boy songs (which were Ibo and highlife-ish).

Linda and I loved every bit of it...watch this space for a post on him soon. Next was the talented Waje. I knew she could sing but I did not know that she could SING (live performances always prove if an artist can truly sing). She sang and we all got goosebumps...waiting for her album and her signing to an awesome record label (wink). Tiwa Savage joined Waje on stage as they sang a song to those they lost in the plane crash. Then Waje left and Tiwa performed her hits while dancing to 'The Azonto' (Slow Motion).

M.I was up next with an entertaining performance...(at this point me and most of the crowd got up). Highlight of the night was when he brought a fan on stage and he and Waje performed One naira to her..after which he gave her his watch. Finally, King Sunny Ade and his entire band came on stage and put out an entertaining performance. I was in awe of the back up singers/dancers..(I had to take a pic with my favorite whom reminds me of my Uncle Lawi..) Also, Wizboy and Weird Mc performed with the band and then KSA came back on stage to end the night.