In Pursuit of Transcendence,
through the Arts
Khalid Casado
Nihad Dukhan
Our mission is carried out through the hosting of events, workshops, lectures, performances, and galleries.
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Threading the Legacy of the Past into the Tapestry of Contemporary Art, Illuminating Pathways to the Future
Workshops
Reed Society regularly organize sacred art and music workshops in the Washington DC area, and are highly experienced in organizing throughout the United States. We connect you to trained educators who are masters in a variety of sacred traditions. Try your hand at the art of illumination, Arabic calligraphy, sacred geometry, devotional poetry or explore music modes from a different musical tradition such as Qawwali or Khayal. We work with museums, universities, private schools, youth groups, even law firms and consulting firms.
Retreats
Throughout the year, Reed Society offer retreats for in-depth study of sacred art. These are two or three day events which bring aspirants from all across the United States to our nation's capital. In addition, we host an annual retreat in the majestic landscape of New Mexico with our partners The West African Calligraphy Institute and Dar al Islam. This is open to seekers of beauty from all backgrounds and all levels.
Performances
Reed Society organize concerts throughout the United States with our network of musicians. We work with a wide range of musical traditions including folk singers from India, various Qawwali artists, Munshidin (vocal reciters) from Morocco, traditional Takht or classical eastern music ensemble, and an Andulsian group. Reed Society has amplified the sacred sounds of these musicians onto stages such as Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, SXSW, the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art and United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
Our Initiatives
Music for
the
Eyes Retreat
the Reed Society for the Sacred Arts and the West African Calligraphy Institute invite you to discover the diversity of the calligraphic form, to learn from practitioners, both of traditional schools and those at the frontiers of Islam, and to join a growing community of people who seek to increase human understanding and compassion through artistic expression. If, in the words of the American calligrapher, Mohamed Zakariya,“calligraphy is music for the eyes,” then we invite you to join us this October in Abiquiu, New Mexico for a beautiful symphony.
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National Sufi Ensemble
The Reed Society for the Sacred Arts presents ”Dhruv Sangari and the National Sufi Ensemble.” Ustad Dhruv Sangari “Bilal Chisty,” savant and maestro of qawwali, brings this 700 year transcendent music form to the world with his US based National Sufi Ensemble. The music grounded in traditional studied Sufi practice transports the listener to the third space of no space, a place beyond place and time where the listener can experience the Divine.
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Art of Aleppo:
Preserving Syrian Art and Music
Nine years after the war broke out in Syria, millions of Syrians have been displaced throughout the world. Through the talent of Amar Chebib, Jason Hamacher, and Samir Ali, Reed Society for the Sacred Arts aims to spread awareness of Syria’s spiritual and cultural riches and shed light on the perseverance of the Syrian people in wake of one of the greatest humanitarian crisies of the twenty-first century.
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© 2024 Reed Society for the Sacred Arts