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Arab Artists Organize Touring Exhibition in 3 Continents

The exhibition guide.
The exhibition guide.
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Arab Artists Organize Touring Exhibition in 3 Continents

The exhibition guide.
The exhibition guide.

In a first-of-its-kind event, the Jordanian capital is hosting a touring exhibition organized by three Arab artists: Salman Al Malik (Qatar), Mohammed Jaloos (Jordan), and Qasim al-Saadi (Iraq – The Netherlands).

The opening is scheduled for February 9. The exhibition is set to land in three other locations: the Cairo Amman Bank (CAB), Qatar’s Al-Markhiya Gallery, and The Netherlands’ Frank Welkenhuysen Gallery, in addition to two other countries in north and south Africa, according to the exhibition’s guide.

The three artists live and work thousands of kilometers apart, but this “didn’t prevent them from holding long talks, especially during a symposium organized by CAB Gallery two years ago, before the outbreak of the virus,” says the guide.

The three artists are looking forward to reconnecting and defying the isolation caused by the pandemic because they “believe art has an unlimited power, and beauty has courage as much as hope to face the hardships and challenges of the present,” writes CAB’s announcement of the exhibition. “Those artists stood to face loneliness with bravery and contributed to alleviate the impact of isolation and confinement on others,” said Al-Markhiya Gallery in its announcement of the exhibition.

“Art is an international language, a language with no boundaries. It’s filled with imagination and fineness. It’s the language of progress, society, cooperation, and friendship between cultures and people. It’s indeed the language of dream, astonishment, connection, and beauty…a language that is farther than any distance,” writes the announcement of Frank Welkenhuysen Gallery.

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Japan's Popular Princess Aiko Turns 23 with Future as a Royal in Doubt

FILE - Japan's Princess Aiko greets the guests during a spring garden party at the Akasaka Palace imperial garden in Tokyo, on April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
FILE - Japan's Princess Aiko greets the guests during a spring garden party at the Akasaka Palace imperial garden in Tokyo, on April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
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Japan's Popular Princess Aiko Turns 23 with Future as a Royal in Doubt

FILE - Japan's Princess Aiko greets the guests during a spring garden party at the Akasaka Palace imperial garden in Tokyo, on April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
FILE - Japan's Princess Aiko greets the guests during a spring garden party at the Akasaka Palace imperial garden in Tokyo, on April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

Japan’s popular Princess Aiko turned 23 on Sunday, as she takes on more official duties even while her future in the imperial family remains in doubt, The Associated Press reported.
Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, graduated from university earlier this year and has since been participating in official duties and palace rituals while working at the Red Cross Society, according to the Imperial Household Agency.
But Japanese law requires her to renounce her royal status and leave the family if she marries outside the imperial family.
The vast majority of Japan’s public supports changing the law to allow her to remain a royal and become emperor, but conservatives in the governing party insist on keeping male-only succession. Japan’s rapidly dwindling imperial family has only 16 members, including four men.
Aiko was to mark her birthday with her parents at the imperial palace in Tokyo. The IHA also released several photos of Aiko, including one of her standing by a persimmon tree at a palace garden. Another showed her holding pieces of traditional hand-crafted washi paper that she made at a workshop during her first solo official trip in October to the National Sports Festival in Japan’s southwestern prefecture of Saga.
The 1947 Imperial House Law, which largely preserves conservative prewar family values, allows only males to take the throne and forces female royals who marry outside the family to give up their status. With only one young male member, that puts the survival of the 2,000-year-old monarchy in jeopardy.
The youngest male member of the imperial family, Prince Hisahito — Aiko's 18-year-old cousin — is currently the last heir apparent, posing a major problem for the system.
The government is looking for a way to keep the succession stable without relying on women, such as allowing the family to adopt new male members from former noble families that lost their status after World War II.
Aiko's own views on the topic are unknown. She's only had one full news conference, when she reached adulthood.
Last month, the United Nations women’s rights committee in Geneva issued a report that called for the Japanese government to allow a female emperor, among other issues hindering gender equality in the country.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi dismissed the report “regrettable” and “inappropriate.” He said the imperial succession is a matter of fundamental national identity and that it is not covered by constitutional basic rights.
Crown Prince Akishino, Aiko's uncle, was asked about the succession debate at a news conference marking his 59th birthday Saturday, and replied that members of the royal family are “living humans” and that the palace officials who support their daily lives should know how it affects them.
At her work at the Japanese Red Cross Society, Aiko is assigned to volunteer training program, the IHA said. On weekends, it said, the princess enjoys taking walks with her parents and playing volleyball, tennis and badminton with palace officials.