Linden Prize Application

As additional authentication of Al Andalus in Second Life we'd like you to see this draft machinima created by resident Draxtor Despres when filming for resident Eureka Dejavu's project, understanding Islam. This film was not used in the Understanding Islam project.

Movie

I'll be adding a list of links to outside the blogs and publications featuring Al Andalus.


Here is a nice blog about Delia's preservation project in Al Andalus:
Stumbling Along, I found this

and
pictures

I've been asked to post the project summary as submitted. It appears below.

Thanks.

Second life provides a unique opportunity for individuals from the virtual world to participate in discussions on the topics that traditionally have divided the physical world, led to lack of understanding and in the worst cases, violence. The goal of the Al Andalus project is to give people a chance to discuss those topics in a safe place where all voices count.

Al Andalus originally anticipated a democracy guided by the basic principals of authentic Islamic law, including political participation, separation of powers and justice. In thirteenth century Al Andalus, Muslim, Christian and Jewish people not only co –existed peacefully, but thrived in their contributions to science, art, literature and philosophy. By mirroring that time and place architecturally, we hoped that a diverse, vibrant, creative community of individuals from different cultures and religions would develop, and it has.

Another goal was to highlight the principles of Islam as a form of government without the taint of terrorism or fundamentalist sects so often presented by western media. As both Christianity and Judaism had historically violent periods in their past, our goal was to focus on the basic commonalities in governmental systems of different cultures rather than differences. For this reason, we've left the details of what government will look like to the citizens. What has developed is a direct democracy that has no specific religious focus, but very strong expectations of tolerance, understanding, service and respect for the rights of all individuals.

Beginning as two sims with an artistic interpretation of Al Alhambra, we've added 4 homestead sims to the project to expand the scope. Each of the homesteads has its own focus: Albaycin focuses on sustainable land and water use, and is coordinated by Delia Lake who has developed the space to resemble the ecosystem of the Basque region, Almunecar, which hosts the film studio of Second Life Journalist Draxtor Despres. Sacromonte hosts the workshop of one of our major architects, Marino Nuvolari, who built the Alhambra palaces and the Christian chapel, the Jewish Temple, and the Mosque, patterned beautifully after the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Our current project adds a library of architecture, art, literature, tolerance and historical works of the era. The Al Garnata homestead is dedicated to the library project.

Collaborations of First and Second life organizations are critical. We've had presentations on water conservation, health care, Sufism, the Metaverse Republic, and more. We've hosted lectures on Tolerance, The Future of Religions/Religions of the Future, (with the Extropia Sims,) and a peace conference, "the Global Handshake Fair." The sim features a magic carpet guided tour, available in English, Spanish and German, and over eighty notecard info points.

We celebrated the 2008 winter holidays with an Arabian Nights party, an open house at the offices of MuslimServ, a non-profit organization devoted to ending hunger, and the grand opening of the Convivencia Institute, professionals devoted to creating trustworthy space. We often feature traditional music, including Sephardic, gypsy and flamenco and hope to develop an institute to support world music in Second Life. We host hundreds of visitors each week.

So far, this can only happen in a virtual world. With continued awareness, exploration and communication, we believe that peaceful co-existence in the physical world can be achieved as well. Winning the Linden Prize would secure the future of the project for many years, as all prize money would be used to sustain the sims. We respectfully ask for your serious consideration, and thank you for the opportunity to tell you about Al Andalus in Second Life.

Summer Palace, Home of the Convivencia Institute

The Convivencia Institute has decided to use space in Generalife instead of the open space sim so that they are free to have as many people in their presentations as the sim allows. The Jewesh Quarter has been remodeled to give them a place to commune, and they have taken over the Summer Palace as program headquarters. On January 6, Convivencia hosted a grand opening of their new space, with music from residents Cindy Ecksol and Naftali Torok. Atheene Dodonpa brought her gorgeous early music as well.

Convivencia embraces the spirit of what Al Andalus is about, and we are very excited that they will be taking an active role in our community.

Here is a picture of the Real Life Summer Palace. (Rose's photo from April 2008) Kudos to builder Satir DeCuir for capturing the spirit of this lovely building and gardens for us in Al Andalus.

Stop by and see Micael, Conley, Cristobal and the rest of the Convivencia gang... you won't find nicer or more interesting people anywhere in SL.

Library Report

Notes from the Al Adalus Libraries Committee
Saturday, December 6, 2008, 7-8 a.m. (SLT)
Present: Andreu Donat and Micael Khandr
After discussion, the following ideas surfaced:
1.) Al Andalus Library might be located in an existing public building, e.g., the Palace Hall.

2.) The AA Library could be a cooperative venture among interested groups, e.g., Alliance of Civilizations, Convivencia Institute, others, etc..

3.) We might have the collection of resources in the Palace Hall, and schedule discussions on topics related to the collection at the Alliance for Civilization center in the Muslim Quarter, the Convivencia Institute, or other places on Al Andalus.

4.) the collection would be include topics such as: understanding the historical Al Andalus: literature, art, architecture, music, government, etc; contemporary influences of Al Andalus in those same general areas, including an emphasis on community, tolerance, and dialogue.

5.) Ptactical "to do" list:
a.) Ask Rose if would be possible to create a workshop for this project, perhaps a space which matches the area of the Palace Hall in the form of a “skybox” available only to those working on the library.
b.) Ask Rose if Satir and/or Marino could design furniture for the Palace Hall that would be used to exhibit resources

c.) Andreu, Micael, (and Ali) would visit libraries throughout SL to bring back ideas for presentation and organization of resources.

Notes collected and summarized by Micael Khandr.

AA Meeting summary 11/29/08

AA Meeting summary 11/29/08

1. Convivencia Institute is moving to Summer Palace and bringing new citizens. Look for Opening Celebration on January 6, 2008 (epiphany)

2. Ali Zerbino announced that December 8 is Eid al Adha, a major holiday in the muslim community. Discussions about ways to learn about and honor the holiday concluded with a desire by the community to support the Non Profit Muslim Serv through an event. The parties agreed that the sacrifice theme of Eid is present in the other faiths represented in AA as well. Event to occur the weekend of December 6 and profits will be donated to Muslim Serv for their food bank.

3. 1001 nights party goals almost reached. Dec 12 reserved for a party in AA. Arab costume party, just for fun and thank you for the support of the community. Watch for notices.. both EU and NA time zones will be included.

4. Lengthy discussion of the Library projects. Andreu Donat to chair committee with Micael Khandr and Ali Zerbino working on specific areas. Non resident escipio Ceriano also volunteered. They will meet and possibly report to the community instead of citizen meetings next week (12.3.08) as Rose is out of town then.

5. Wasp Thor volunteered to take on some of the Events Coordinator jobs, and muhammedyussif Wikinger will continue as a greeter. We still need more greeters, and events assistants.

6. Brief update on governmental organization. Rose has provided information to CDS executive to see if there is interest in pursuing a merger. We had some discussion about what fits and doesn't fit between the communities. We will continue discussions and citizens are encouraged to attend CDS events and get to know the people. We will invite CDS to AA events as well.

7. Open space sim update requested and Rose informed the group that three of the sims are in use. Delia Lake will be putting together information regarding the sustainable land project in Albaycin. Draxtor continues to operate his studio from Almunecar and Marino is developing Sacromonte. Garnata is empty at this time, so we will move some light recreational activities there including fishing and horses. for now. Request to add the open spaces to the non profit still pending.

Thanks to everyone for supporting the Grand Tour Event... we had a lot of new people and compliments for the sims. Rose also did two interviews as a direct result of our participation.

Citizens Meeting Summary, 11/26/08

AA Meeting summary

1. Convivencia Institute is moving to Summer Palace and bringing new citizens. Look for Opening Celebration on January 6, 2008 (epiphany)

2. Ali Zerbino announced that December 8 is Eid al Adha, a major holiday in the muslim community. Discussions about ways to learn about and honor the holiday concluded with a desire by the community to support the Non Profit Muslim Serv through an event. The parties agreed that the sacrifice theme of Eid is present in the other faiths represented in AA as well. Event to occur the weekend of December 6 and profits will be donated to Muslim Serv for their food bank.

3. 1001 nights party goals almost reached. Dec 12 reserved for a party in AA. Arab costume party, just for fun and thank you for the support of the community. Watch for notices.. both EU and NA time zones will be included.

4. Lengthy discussion of the Library projects. Andreu Donat to chair committee with Micael Khandr and Ali Zerbino working on specific areas. Non resident escipio Ceriano also volunteered. They will meet and possibly report to the community instead of citizen meetings next week (12.3.08) as Rose is out of town then.

5. Wasp Thor volunteered to take on some of the Events Coordinator jobs, and muhammedyussif Wikinger will continue as a greeter. We still need more greeters, and events assistants.

6. Brief update on governmental organization. Rose has provided information to CDS executive to see if there is interest in pursuing a merger. Discussion about what fits and doesn't fit. We will continue discussions and citizens are encouraged to attend CDS events and get to know the people. We will invite CDS to AA events as well.

7. Open space sim update requested and Rose informed the group that three of the sims are in use. Delia Lake will be putting together information regarding the sustainable land project in Albaycin. Draxtor continues to operate his studio from Almunecar and Marino is developing Sacromonte. Garnata is empty at this time, so we will move some light recreational activities there including fishing and horses. for now. Request to add the open spaces to the non profit still pending.

Thanks to everyone for supporting the Grand Tour Event... we had a lot of new people and compliments for the sims. Rose also did two interviews as a direct result of our participation.

Al Andalus, part of the Grand Tour

Al Andalus was proud to host an early morning concert given by our friend Joaquin Gustav as part of the Grand Tour.