New Art/New Music at ‘Intersections’

This fall, the New Art/New Music partnership between the Shepherd School of Music and Rice Gallery presents a program of music to complement the powerful installation “Intersections” by Pakistani-American artist Anila Agha. Her work, an intricately laser-cut box of wood suspended from the ceiling of Rice University Art Gallery, permeates the space with its cast shadows from a light inside the box. The utterly beautiful designs cut in the box are reflective of geometric patterns and ornamentation found in Islamic art and mosques. Her interactive work, inherently religious in inspiration, provides a space open to all to reflect on the all-encompassing power of beauty and spirituality.

The New Art/New Music program echoes the spirituality and inclusivity of the art. The attached video is from a rehearsal for the program and features a string quartet performing “The Named Angels” by Arab-American composer Mohammed Fairouz, whose work is also influenced by Islam as well as by Middle-Eastern folklore.