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India’s Architecture Fans Guard Mumbai’s Art Deco Past

In this photograph taken on October 19, 2024, vehicles ride past the Soona Mahal, a UNESCO-designated Art Deco apartment building along the Marine Drive seafront in Mumbai. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on October 19, 2024, vehicles ride past the Soona Mahal, a UNESCO-designated Art Deco apartment building along the Marine Drive seafront in Mumbai. (AFP)
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India’s Architecture Fans Guard Mumbai’s Art Deco Past

In this photograph taken on October 19, 2024, vehicles ride past the Soona Mahal, a UNESCO-designated Art Deco apartment building along the Marine Drive seafront in Mumbai. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on October 19, 2024, vehicles ride past the Soona Mahal, a UNESCO-designated Art Deco apartment building along the Marine Drive seafront in Mumbai. (AFP)

A towering cinema with a roofline like an ocean liner stands out in India's financial capital Mumbai, part of a remarkable Art Deco architectural heritage that campaigners say needs protection.

A short walk away is a state-run insurance office with giant Egyptian-style carvings, and a palm-lined seafront promenade with pastel-colored apartments with porthole windows, curved balconies and exotic motifs.

Architecture aficionados may go crazy over Miami's South Beach, but the coastal Indian megacity is home to what experts believe is one of the world's largest collections of Art Deco buildings.

Decades of neglect, however, have led to buildings being demolished or compromised through slapdash modern renovation.

Lovers of the dramatic architecture fear that will only increase as Mumbai undergoes a rapid $30 billion infrastructure makeover including major road, rail and bridge projects.

A sweep of some Art Deco buildings -- including offices, colleges and residential complexes -- was listed on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2018, alongside the city's Victorian Gothic architecture for its "unique style" described as "Indo-Deco".

Today, the city's breakneck pace of development has left a small but dedicated group of building owners, architects and heritage lovers trying to conserve the city's Art Deco character.

The job requires "constant vigilance", said Nayana Kathpalia, who lives in an Art Deco building that was recently restored -- but crucially in a manner that maintained its original character.

- 'Modern, open, friendly' -

Many apartment building owners are eager to cash in and redevelop their old dwellings, making them part of a cookie-cutter modern skyline.

"If too many buildings get done in a totally different style, the World Heritage Site committee will say 'what the hell is happening?'," Kathpalia said.

"We are very, very clear that we have to protect that."

Losing it could strip the city of its history and character, campaigners say.

Art Deco took the West by storm after emerging as a new wave of design in France before the First World War.

Architects used geometric patterns and streamlined structures to evoke the popular technologies of the time, including airplanes and ocean liners.

As a style, Art Deco can appear as an odd hodgepodge, borrowing everything from ancient Mayan to Japanese culture.

But the first generation of homegrown Indian architects who visited Europe in the 1920s and 1930s were inspired.

After returning home, they started designing Art Deco style buildings for rich Indian business families that had profited off the economic boom in the port city, said Atul Kumar, founder of a non-profit that seeks to conserve the heritage.

Art Deco "enabled a certain cosmopolitanism" and contributed to making Mumbai a "modern, open, friendly" city, Kumar added.

- 'Bombay style' -

While Kumar's Art Deco Mumbai organization has spent years painstakingly documenting buildings, it has also more recently started offering "repair and restoration" help.

"We go out, pro bono, and reach out to people," he said, having supported the sensitive restoration of around nine buildings, including a couple in the core World Heritage area.

However, there are challenges, including stringent rent control laws which impose financial constraints on landlords.

Kumar also admits that residents in newer and northern parts of the city have less of a "desire" to conserve their buildings in their original Art Deco style.

A large part of this is due to a lack of awareness.

Many of the city's inhabitants walk past the vivid tropical imagery, elongated turrets and jazzy typography without giving them a second glance.

Pranati Mehta, a 46-year-old school teacher, says most Indians only look at "temples as architecture", as they "feel that is special".

Some Mumbai residents don't realize they "live amongst art", she said.

But Mehta, who was on a weekend walking tour to learn more about the architectural style, quickly adds that Art Deco isn't foreign to Indian sensibilities.

"We recognize it as a Bombay style," she said. "We think Art Deco is also an Indian brand".

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Culture

WAMY: Saudi Pavilion at Cairo International Book Fair 2026 Reflects Saudi Cultural Leadership

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
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WAMY: Saudi Pavilion at Cairo International Book Fair 2026 Reflects Saudi Cultural Leadership

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT

The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) praised the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s distinguished participation in the 57th Cairo International Book Fair, held in January 2026, affirming that it reflects a balanced civilizational model that combines the authenticity of cultural heritage with a forward-looking vision of knowledge for future generations, SPA reported.

WAMY noted that this participation contributed to strengthening the Kingdom’s standing as an influential cultural force at the regional and international levels.

WAMY also commended the diversity of the content presented, which ranged from the latest scientific and literary publications to a rich cultural program that included seminars and poetry evenings.

These activities enhance cultural dialogue and promote the values of moderation, underscoring the Kingdom’s commitment to supporting the publishing industry, empowering youth through knowledge, and raising awareness.

Culture

Fragmentary Sculptures from the Umayyad Palace of Qasr al-Mshatta

Five sculptures from Qasr al-Mshatta are preserved in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin, while a sixth sculpture is preserved in the Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman.
Five sculptures from Qasr al-Mshatta are preserved in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin, while a sixth sculpture is preserved in the Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman.
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Fragmentary Sculptures from the Umayyad Palace of Qasr al-Mshatta

Five sculptures from Qasr al-Mshatta are preserved in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin, while a sixth sculpture is preserved in the Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman.
Five sculptures from Qasr al-Mshatta are preserved in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin, while a sixth sculpture is preserved in the Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman.

by Mahmoud Zibawi

The Jordanian desert contains a series of Umayyad palaces, the largest of which is Qasr al-Mshatta, located in the Jiza District. Western Orientalist scholars first drew attention to this site in the late nineteenth century, and a German mission succeeded in transporting its massive southern facade to Berlin at the beginning of the twentieth century, after Sultan Abdulhamid II presented it as a gift to his ally, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia.

The facade entered the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in 1903 and was later transferred to the Museum of Islamic Art in 1932. This museum is regarded as the oldest and largest institution dedicated exclusively to Islamic art in Europe and North America. The facade of Qasr al-Mshatta occupies the largest portion of this European complex, alongside a small, independent group of damaged sculptures that originally formed part of the palace’s furnishings. This group bears witness to a distinct Umayyad sculptural tradition, whose artistic identity became clearly defined through comparable assemblages discovered in other Umayyad palaces excavated during the 1930s.

The sculptures from Qasr al-Mshatta are displayed on white rectangular plinths in a corner of the gallery dedicated to the palace’s monumental facade at the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin. At first glance, they resemble fragmented stone blocks positioned at the margins of this facade, which is adorned with limestone relief carvings that have largely preserved their original features. In this corner, one piece stands out for having retained most of its original form: a carved and polished block of limestone depicting a lion crouching on a white base, measuring 72 centimeters in length and 122 centimeters in width.

The lion appears firmly grounded on its folded hind legs atop a thin rectangular base devoid of ornament, with its front legs extended forward. Despite the loss of most of the head and the extremities of the forelegs, the sculptural composition remains clear and legible. The facial features have largely disappeared, making them difficult to reconstruct; however, the posture suggests an upright head pressed close to the chest, encircled by a dense mane composed of compact, parallel locks of hair that extend to include the beard, together forming a collar encircling the oval mass of the chin.

The body is elongated and smooth, with limbs clearly articulated in a manner that approaches naturalistic realism, as evidenced by the precise modeling of the joints. This approach is especially apparent in the treatment of the hind legs and is further emphasized by the pronounced protrusion of the claws marking their extremities. It is worth noting the existence of a small carved fragment originating from Qasr al-Mshatta in which these claws appear in a similar manner. It remains unclear whether this fragment originally belonged to the same sculpture or to a companion piece that formed a paired composition, in keeping with an artistic convention prevalent in the provinces of the Sasanian Empire. Although this empire came to an end with the Islamic conquest of Persia, its cultural legacy remained vibrant and left a profound imprint on Umayyad artistic production; the lion of Qasr al-Mshatta stands as compelling evidence of this cultural synthesis.

Facing this lion are several damaged sculptural fragments, each representing a small portion of a female figure whose original configuration is now difficult to reconstruct. One fragment preserves a head, retaining the wide eye sockets, the lower portion of the nose, and lips closed in a subtle smile. The cheeks are broad, suggesting that this youthful face belonged to a woman crowned by a voluminous mass of thick hair, whose upper surface is approximately twice the area of the face itself. By contrast, two additional fragments reveal a full and fleshy female torso.

A third fragment preserves the thighs of two closely set legs, which share the same robust character. This piece has retained its polished surface and is of medium scale, measuring 70 centimeters in height and 50 centimeters in width, indicating that it belonged to a statue conceived on a near life-size scale. This three-dimensional form preserves fine details of its execution, revealing a thin garment slipping away from the buttocks, with its edge still visible at the upper part of the left thigh. On this thigh appear traces of an inscription carved in Kufic script, running from top to bottom. Unfortunately, specialists have been unable to decipher the text, though one hypothetical reading suggests that it records the name of the woman represented by the statue.

The Jordan Archaeological Museum houses a comparable fragment uncovered during restoration and cleaning campaigns conducted by the Department of Antiquities in 1962 at Qasr al-Mshatta. This piece, likewise executed at near life size, measures 75 centimeters in height and 52 centimeters in width and represents the pelvis and upper portions of the legs. Here, the garment drapes over the right thigh, revealing the left thigh beneath, with sharply defined folds executed in accordance with the classical Greek style. The statue has lost its arms; however, the remaining lower portions indicate hands that once held objects whose identities can no longer be determined.

These sculptures attest to an Umayyad female sculptural ideal, whose formal characteristics first emerged through the study of the murals at an Umayyad desert site known as Qusayr ʿAmra, documented by the Czech scholar Alois Musil in a major two-volume publication issued in 1907. These characteristics were subsequently confirmed in the medium of sculpture through the discovery of similar female figures from an Umayyad palace located at Khirbat al-Mafjar, north of Jericho, during excavations conducted by a mission affiliated with the British Department of Antiquities in the mid-1930s.

This ideal is distinguished by a full, fleshy body inclined toward corpulence, as well as facial features that mirror this physical quality. The type recurs in multiple sculptural variants, and their study reveals the use of diverse hairstyles and ornamental schemes, forming a visual vocabulary that parallels the literary lexicon for which this remarkably productive period is renowned.

Culture

Olympic Visitors to Milan Get a Rare Chance to Glimpse Restoration of a Long-Hidden Leonardo Gem

Marina Vece works on restoring the Sala delle Asse, part of the newly created Leonardo da Vinci itineraries inside Milan's Sforza Castle, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP)
Marina Vece works on restoring the Sala delle Asse, part of the newly created Leonardo da Vinci itineraries inside Milan's Sforza Castle, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP)
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Olympic Visitors to Milan Get a Rare Chance to Glimpse Restoration of a Long-Hidden Leonardo Gem

Marina Vece works on restoring the Sala delle Asse, part of the newly created Leonardo da Vinci itineraries inside Milan's Sforza Castle, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP)
Marina Vece works on restoring the Sala delle Asse, part of the newly created Leonardo da Vinci itineraries inside Milan's Sforza Castle, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP)

In honor of the Milan Cortina Olympics, Milan cultural officials are for a brief time only allowing visitors access to a long-hidden wall and ceiling painting by Leonardo da Vinci while restoration work is underway.

The vast painting of a pergola covered with intertwined flowering branches inside Milan’s Sforza Castle is concealed behind a six-meter (nearly 20-foot) towering scaffolding in the Sala delle Asse. Letters establish that Leonardo started the work, but it's one he left unfinished.

“In 1498, he had to flee because the French arrived in Milan, and after that date it was covered over, hidden,” said Luca Tosi, heritage curator at Milan’s landmark Sforza Castle, which is in the same Sempione Park where the Olympic flame will burn during the Feb. 6-22 Winter Games.

In another sign of Leonardo's impact on Milan, the Olympic cauldron itself is inspired by the Renaissance genius' geometric studies, officials announced this week.

Under the French, the castle became a military barracks and the painting, which covers the ceiling and part of the wall, was covered with plaster. The work was only rediscovered early last century, when restorers removed the plaster and filled in color to match Leonardo’s work.

“As a result, Leonardo scholars no longer recognized them as a true Leonardo, but rather as a repainted Leonardo, somewhat a fake, to use a popular term,” Tosi added.

Visitors will be able to climb up the scaffolding and view the restorers at work during a brief window from Feb. 7-March 14, after which it will be closed to the public again for another 18 months to complete the work.

Restorers are using Japanese rice paper with demineralized water to remove salts that have seeped into the walls, gradually cleaning the surface of the painting.

“The hardest part is that Leonardo’s painting is very delicate, there are some liftings, there are more fragile parts and therefore the work must be done centimeter by centimeter, with the utmost attention and care,” Tosi said.

The painting is a study of leaves and plant species that provides yet more evidence of Leonardo’s infamous scientific inquiry, said Tomasso Sacchi, Milan’s top culture official.

“It’s a thrill to know another Leonardo and to experience this extraordinary dedication to various forms of knowledge by this fundamental figure in our history,” Sacchi said.