The Tehran Ensemble
Prof Zikrgoo, Iranian painter, poet
Hijjas (doesn't he look like Sultan Selangor yang lama tu?)
Hijjas loves talking to students(and they love him too)
A full day indeed.
We had Hijjas Kasturi as a guest speaker for KAED students. A bit kecoh as Dr. J was away and we found out things were not really in order.Hijjas came early.We were not late, just him being early to set up his stuffs at KAED.I had to miss out Mahmud's talk (which I had looked fwd to) but Hijjas is a guest.Luckily Dr. Aldila was around to mc the event.What a relief! And Hijjas is such a humble person..dia tak kisah pun takda orang sambut dia when he arrived.He said he's familiar with the place having been an Adjunct Prof at KAED before.
He told the crowd his humble beginnings.Born in Spore in 1936 (that's before the 2nd world war, OK?) and how out of 80 applicants, he was one of three to win a Colombo scholarship to study in Adelaide. Came back to turbulent Spore and when Spore was separated from Msia, Tun Razak plucked him out of the island (paid his bond) to bring him back to KL and get him to set up the first Architecture school for MARA.He combined art and architecture but some clowns later on separated the two schools hence ending imagination/creativity via exposure to culture, literature, music and performances, etc.An architect needs all these to understand his/her surroundings before he/she can create anything.
I learned a lot today.And hey, the Tabung Haji building was his creation, OK? Often I'm told a NZ architect designed it.Not true.NZ engineer helped out, yes, but not a NZ architect.The building was done based on Islamic concepts (er..not qualified to go into details except to mention the 5 pillars, the colour white to symbolise purity and the word Allah on top of the building as something Islamic that I can relate to).
Why no Sultan awards Hijjas any Datukship or Tan Sriship? This man has contributed a lot to our architectural landscape.I'm glad he's gone global (his architectural pieces have won awards in Saudi, Pakistan, etc.Had it not been for the econ slow down, Saudi would have its Saudi Jewel which is taller than KLCC.That project is put on hold for now)
We finished late (borak2 with Hijjas over tea) but I wanted to go to listen to Rumi music at ISTAC.Had to pick Z dulu (tuition).Then rushed to ISTAC.What an evening!Nik's away.Itulah pasal terkejar2 like this.
Prof Zikrgoo gave us a treat: an ensemble from Tehran playing Rumi pieces, followed by an inspiring talk on Rumi by himself, more Rumi poems/songs and more music. Zikrgoo said people fall in love instead of walking into love (if in control). I love that difference.Fall vs walk.Walking into love is like with your eyes open, yah? Falling means your eyes are close and you are so 'ngok' to fall. :))
Mathnavi and the couplets we know in our Renaissance sonnets mcm similar je...
We had Hijjas Kasturi as a guest speaker for KAED students. A bit kecoh as Dr. J was away and we found out things were not really in order.Hijjas came early.We were not late, just him being early to set up his stuffs at KAED.I had to miss out Mahmud's talk (which I had looked fwd to) but Hijjas is a guest.Luckily Dr. Aldila was around to mc the event.What a relief! And Hijjas is such a humble person..dia tak kisah pun takda orang sambut dia when he arrived.He said he's familiar with the place having been an Adjunct Prof at KAED before.
He told the crowd his humble beginnings.Born in Spore in 1936 (that's before the 2nd world war, OK?) and how out of 80 applicants, he was one of three to win a Colombo scholarship to study in Adelaide. Came back to turbulent Spore and when Spore was separated from Msia, Tun Razak plucked him out of the island (paid his bond) to bring him back to KL and get him to set up the first Architecture school for MARA.He combined art and architecture but some clowns later on separated the two schools hence ending imagination/creativity via exposure to culture, literature, music and performances, etc.An architect needs all these to understand his/her surroundings before he/she can create anything.
I learned a lot today.And hey, the Tabung Haji building was his creation, OK? Often I'm told a NZ architect designed it.Not true.NZ engineer helped out, yes, but not a NZ architect.The building was done based on Islamic concepts (er..not qualified to go into details except to mention the 5 pillars, the colour white to symbolise purity and the word Allah on top of the building as something Islamic that I can relate to).
Why no Sultan awards Hijjas any Datukship or Tan Sriship? This man has contributed a lot to our architectural landscape.I'm glad he's gone global (his architectural pieces have won awards in Saudi, Pakistan, etc.Had it not been for the econ slow down, Saudi would have its Saudi Jewel which is taller than KLCC.That project is put on hold for now)
We finished late (borak2 with Hijjas over tea) but I wanted to go to listen to Rumi music at ISTAC.Had to pick Z dulu (tuition).Then rushed to ISTAC.What an evening!Nik's away.Itulah pasal terkejar2 like this.
Prof Zikrgoo gave us a treat: an ensemble from Tehran playing Rumi pieces, followed by an inspiring talk on Rumi by himself, more Rumi poems/songs and more music. Zikrgoo said people fall in love instead of walking into love (if in control). I love that difference.Fall vs walk.Walking into love is like with your eyes open, yah? Falling means your eyes are close and you are so 'ngok' to fall. :))
Mathnavi and the couplets we know in our Renaissance sonnets mcm similar je...
4 comments:
Salam Dr,
Wow! Tehran ensemble playing Rumi!
I have Coleman Bark CD reading Rumi with music and another tape by Sayed Hossein Nasr (reading in persian and english with the accompaniment of ney flutist)
I used to read Rumi with our Kosova friend in UIA back in 2001 :)
Memang mesmerising! A real treat. Tak paham pun rasa macam nak nangis.Begitu puitis!(the sound of a language and Tehran music)
Kita ni ada apa je? Gusi and gigi!I'm glad you and geng are doing your bit with lagu2 tradisi Melayu.I hope you guys are also writing your own.
encik hijjas is a strict boss and very nice person.. I worked as one of the assistant architect with hijjas kasturi association for 1 year and a half.. it was a great experience and working with the team for kampung baru project and jewel of saudi arabia was the best experience i ever had...
i heard he was awarded with the datukship but he prefers to be called as mr.hijjas instead...yup, a very humble person he is..
was bloghopping and found your blog!..very interesting indeed.. :D
Really ms.d? Hijjas got datukship but didn't want to flaunt it? One day when he's gone, we are all gonna cry cos' we don't know much of him (esp. the new generation)
And you so lucky to have had that experience to work with him.On Saudi Jewel too! May you be the female Hijjas in the years to come!
Thanks for dropping by.
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