United Productions Foundation welcomes the Philadelphia premiere of its documentary, Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World to the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Perelman Theater, Broad and Locust Streets) on Thursday, June 21 at 6:00pm. The creators of pointed Islamic films as Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet and Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain collaborate once more with Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World. Directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Gardner, and narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon, the film takes audiences on a global voyage to present the stories behind the masterworks of Islamic Art and Architecture. The premiere is free and open to the public. Reserve tickets via Kimmel Center Box Office at 215.893.1999 or visit the Kimmel’s website.
Documentary film from Executive Producers Michael Wolfe and Alex Kronemer, Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World explores themes such as Word, Space, Ornament, Color, and Water while journeying across nine countries and over 1,400 years of history. The ninety-minute film showcases the richness of Islamic art in objects big and small, from great ornamented palaces and the play of light in monumental mosques, to the exquisite beauty of ceramics, carved boxes, paintings and metal work. It revels in the use of color and finds commonalities in a shared artistic heritage with the West and East. The film also examines the unique ways in which Islamic art turns calligraphy and the written word into masterpieces and develops water into an expressive, useful art form.
Accompanied by Susan Sarandon’s narration, this dazzling documentary reveals the variety and diversity of Islamic art. Islamic art, like all art, carries with it the fundamental values and perspectives of the artists who created it as well as those who commissioned and paid for it. It incorporates the basic themes of transcendent beauty common to all creative endeavors. Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World provides a window into Islamic culture and brings broad insights to the enduring themes that have propelled human history and fueled the rise of world civilization over the centuries.
The film premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. PBS will air the documentary later this year.
