Latest news with #Sema
Morocco World
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Morocco World
Whirling Mysticism: Istanbul's Sufi Ensemble Enchants Fez's Bab Makina
Fez – On the evening of Sunday, May 18, the majestic Bab Makina in Fez opened its gates to a spiritual immersion unlike any other. The Istanbul Sufi Ceremonies Ensemble (Istanbul Meydan Meşkleri Topluluğu) brought the ancient ritual of the Mevlevi Sema to life, as part of the 28th edition of the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music. Under moonlit skies and centuries-old stone, the audience sat hushed as the first soft notes of the ney flute stirred the air. In flowing white robes and tall felt hats, the dervishes stepped into the circle, not to perform, but to pray. Also in attendance was the Turkish Ambassador to Morocco, Mustafa İlker Kılıç, whose presence noted the deepening cultural and diplomatic ties between the two countries. His presence at such a spiritually grandiose performance is none other than a symbolic gesture of Turkey's support for interfaith dialogue and cultural exchange. The shared Sufi heritage between Morocco and Turkey, two huge homes to rich mystical traditions, offered a moment of unity, in music and in values of tolerance, introspection, and the pursuit of the divine. Meanwhile, Dervish Mehmet Mithat Özçakıl, a third-generation Mevlevi whirling dervish, pointed to the importance of preserving the spiritual and cultural legacy of Rumi and the Sufi tradition. Speaking to Morocco World News (MWN), Özçakıl explained, 'We need Rumi's opinion. We need it because Sema tells unity. Rumi tells about unity and brotherhood.' Özçakıl, who performs as part of an ensemble from Istanbul and is also the director of Istanbul Sufi ceremonies ensemble, noted that the international gathering of artists and audiences at the festival reflects the very ideals Rumi preached. 'Many people are coming here. And it also makes us a unity. So this festival is very important for us,' he said. 'It looks like very similarity with the Rumi's Sufi thoughts.' His ensemble, he added, is composed of highly trained individuals dedicated to maintaining the authenticity of Sufi spiritual practice. 'In our ensemble, we have very special people. We have masters. And they follow the Sufi tradition spiritually,' Özçakıl said. As a representative of a lineage that spans three generations, Özçakıl takes pride in continuing his family's spiritual mission. 'I am a whirling dervish. I am a third generation, me, my brother, and me the third one,' he explained. 'Our father was our teacher. And his father, my grandfather, was my father's teacher. We are trying to preserve this tradition.' Despite the passage of time and changes in musical interpretation, Özçakıl stressed the importance of staying true to the roots of Sema, the whirling ceremony that symbolizes spiritual ascent and unity with the divine. 'The Sema changed a lot. Unfortunately, the music changed a lot. But we are trying to do the authentic form, the original form of Sema with the full part,' he said. For the evening's performance, Özçakıl prepared to present a deeply traditional rendition of the Sema. 'Tonight, our Sema music is nearly 100 years old. And this Sema is Mevlevi Sufi order's Sema, and it's almost 400 years old,' he explained. The spirit of Rumi in motion 'All paths lead to God. I have chosen the one of dance and music.' These words, attributed to Jalal ad-Din Rumi, echoed in the very air of Bab Makina. The dervishes embodied this devotion, their slow, steady revolutions mirrored the movements of celestial bodies, from the orbits of planets to the spin of atoms. Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet and mystic, saw the universe as a constant dance of love. He taught that music and movement could dissolve the self, allowing the soul to reach toward the divine. This philosophy found expression in the Mevlevi Sema, a ritual of whirling, music, poetry, and silence. No mention of Rumi is complete without Shams ed Dîn Tabrîzî, the wandering dervish whose meeting with Rumi sparked a spiritual transformation that would change Islamic mysticism forever. More than a friend, Chams became the mirror through which Rumi saw divine beauty. The Mevlevi path, shaped after Chams' disappearance, carries the scent of that encounter. The whirling dervishes do not spin to entertain; they turn to vanish, to become empty vessels for the love that once passed between a poet and his beloved teacher. Sacred music, shared humanity This year's festival theme, 'Renaissances', found deep resonance in the ensemble's offering. Turkish makam music rose and fell in deliberate modes, guiding the dervishes in their spiritual ascent. The voices of the singers reached for the divine, even as their tones remained grounded in centuries of Anatolian tradition. There were no flashing lights or grand finales. The power of the performance came from its quiet dignity. the way the Sema invited reflection, not spectacle. Sufism speaks in a language that goes beyond religion. Its metaphors are not bound to creed. A circle of dancers, a reed flute, a poem of longing, these belong to anyone who has ever searched for something greater than the self. As the final notes faded into the Fez night and the dervishes stilled their spinning, the crowd remained seated, caught in a moment of reverent silence. Here, in this meeting of East and West, past and present, a shared stillness unfolded; not just the end of a performance, but perhaps the beginning of a prayer. Fez Festival of World Sacred Music continues through May 24, with performances spanning sacred traditions from around the globe.
The National
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Abu Dhabi presents thought-provoking showcase of contemporary South Korean art
The mid-20th century was a time of seismic change in Korea. After its liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, the peninsula was divided into North and South, setting the stage for the Korean War, a devastating conflict that took place between 1950 and 1953, ending not in peace, but ceasefire. South Korea came out in shambles, soon entering a period of military dictatorship, industrialisation and strict censorship. It was in this politically charged, socially repressive environment that a generation of avant-garde artists emerged. Their work rejected traditional aesthetics and state-sanctioned art, embracing experimentation, performance and provocation. The exhibition at Manarat Al Saadiyat, titled Layered Medium: We are in Open Circuits, kicks off from this period, showcasing the beginnings of the avant-garde contemporary art movement in South Korea and charts its development to the present. It is the first major showcase of Korean contemporary art in the Gulf region and comes as the inaugural project of a three-year collaboration between the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (Admaf) and the Seoul Museum of Art (Sema). It has been co-curated by Maya El Khalil and Kyung-hwan Yeo. 'We thought about how we could genuinely work together, rather than simply transfer,' El Khalil says. 'This is not an exhibition that is travelling. That's not the idea at all. It was inspired by an exhibition that Kyung-hwan curated at Sema, but we worked together to completely reconfigure the exhibition [for the local context].' Layered Medium brings together works by more than two dozen South Korean artists, from pioneers including Nam June Paik and Park Hyunki to renowned contemporary figures such as Lee Bul, Haegue Yang and Moka Lee. While the exhibition doesn't claim to be a comprehensive survey of contemporary South Korean art, it still presents a healthy breadth of works that show the diversity of practices that have shaped the country's avant-garde scene. 'We wanted to capture the flow and the main core of Korean contemporary art for the audience in Abu Dhabi,' Kyung-hwan says. Aware that Layered Medium is, for many in the UAE capital, a first encounter with the country's contemporary art scene, the curators set the stage with a historical overview spanning from the mid-20th century to today. This introduction underscores a central premise: contemporary South Korean art has developed in tandem with both political transformation and technological innovation. Paik's Self-Portrait Dharma Wheel opens Layered Medium and stands out as a major work from the artist's later career. It features five CRT screens arranged on wheels within a sculptural installation. The dizzying set of images that touch upon Buddhist motifs reflects on themes of spirituality and transformation. The 1998 work was created after Paik suffered a stroke, and has an added undertone. It was important to begin with Paik's work, Kyung-hwan says, because of the artist's towering legacy on the avant-garde contemporary art scene. His influence was not limited to the borders of South Korea, as Paik is widely considered to be a forerunner of the video art movement as a whole. On the other side of the exhibition wall is a work by another pioneering video artist. Park's 1979 Video Inclining Water is a key example of how he reflected on technology with natural elements and physical interventions. The work was performed initially at the 15th Bienal de Sao Paulo before being exhibited in South Korea as a series of colour photographs, which are being displayed in Layered Medium. The performance features Park tilting a CRT television, giving the impression that the water on the screen was shifting. Along with Kim Kulim's seminal 1969 work Space Structure 69 – which features vinyl tubes filled with water and oil and lit by coloured fluorescent lights – as well as Paik's 1996 work Moon is the Oldest TV, which presents magnets within a set CRT televisions to create lunar phases, the exhibition showcases early examples of how South Korean artists explored how technology tested the nature of human perception. The assembly of opening works also makes clear from the beginning that the curators were not interested in simply presenting the 48 works in the exhibition chronologically. Rather, they coaxed out thematic threads between, elegantly segmenting the exhibition across three layers: body as a medium, society as a medium and space as a medium. 'The medium has two main meanings here,' El Khalil says. 'It's how we experience and relate to the world. Artists also tackle fundamental questions of media with the works, showing how media does not only refer to its technical meaning, but also thematic lenses through which to look at society, policies and history.' While the opening segment considers perception as one aspect of the body, other artists examine a broader range of physical and bodily experiences. A 2007 acrylic work from Lee Kun-Young's The Method of Drawing explores traces of bodily movements. Hyejoo Jun draws comparisons between our studies of nature and our pursuit of survival in The Birth of a New Flower (2023-2024). Hong Seung-Hye reflects on death and mourning through digital avatars in Ghost (2016), whereas Min Oh highlights the human voice as a musical instrument that can prompt transformation in Etude for Etude (2018). Another highlight is a 2006 work by Lee Bul. Untitled (Crystal Figure) presents an outline of a woman's head and body manifested by transparent beads. An overhead light casts mesmerising, glittering patterns on the floor below. The work takes cues from the illustrations of 16th-century Flemish anatomist Andreas Vesalius and is less interested in a clinical rendering of the female form than a spiritual and even spectral one, drawing a statement to the systemic overlooking of women's contribution and influence in history. Society as a medium is the second layer that the exhibition examines. The section opens vividly with a pair of cotton-embroidered works by Young in Hong. Still Life Parade (2015) is based on a children's parade from 1970. Her use of embroidery as opposed to a photographic medium is an attempt, as the exhibition explains, 'to fossilise history' and prompt new ways of thinking about memory and material beyond direct experience. Under the Sky of Happiness (2013), meanwhile, takes inspiration from the 1974 film Under the Sky of Sakhalin, examining its premise about Korean labourers strander after Second World War from a feminist point of view, replacing the male protagonists with pioneering Korean women such as the poet, journalist and painter Na Hye-sok. Three video pieces by Sojung Jun, meanwhile, reflect on Korea's divided present while also presenting music as a mode of dialogue and reconciliation. Hayoun Kwon, on the other hand, presents 1920s colonial-era Seoul through VR. Finally, the exhibition presents the concept of space as a medium in itself. Three works bare the section's theme. Minouk Lim's video performance S. O. S-Adoptive Dissensus (2009), featuring staged scenes across Seoul's urban landscape, juxtaposed with Haegue Yang's Yes-I-Know-Screen (2007), a set of ten traditional South Korean doors fashioned as folding screens, and two works from Ram Han's vibrant digital painting series Room (2018) that shows hotel spaces in a bold and dreamlike palette of colours. The trio of works smartly underscores demarcations between the public and the private spheres, and how built environments are shaped by social relations as well as economic and political factors. This section also has the most innovative application of technology within art. In Forest of Subtle Truth 2 (2018), Byungjun Kwon employs a Local Position System (LPS) that plays recordings through headphones depending on where the viewer is within a space. The sounds are of various songs sung by Yemeni refugees, who escaped the war to seek shelter in South Korea. Kwon also presents another technologically interesting work at the tail end of the exhibition. Dancing Ladders features foldable ladders – symbols of ascent – that have been affixed to robotic technology and tracks. However, by using 3D printing technology to make the works, as well as open-source software, to make a statement about the democratisation and accessibility of art and technology. Overall, Layered Medium offers a thought-provoking entry point into the avant-garde landscape of contemporary art from South Korea. It exhibits a breadth of approach and subject, as well as a ceaseless desire for innovation and material reflection. The exhibition also implicitly underscores a thoughtful way of curating cross-cultural exhibitions – to show how research and mindfulness is essential in making the most of these exchanges. 'I wanted to show our collection, this avant-garde contemporaneity but in a global context,' Kyung-hwan, who is a curator at Sema, says. 'We struggled with the notion that, how can we escape typical notions of cultural exchange. We had to approach it differently with research trips, artist residencies and collection researches. This is, after all, a three-year-long project, a long-term institutional collaboration.' Layered Medium: We are in Open Circuits runs until June 30 at Manarat Al Saadiyat
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Dr Reddy's Laboratories: JM Financial maintains Buy on Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, lowers target price to Rs 1418
ADVERTISEMENT JM Financial has maintained Buy call on Dr. Reddy's Laboratories with a revised target price of Rs 1,418 (Earlier Rs 1,723). The current market price of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. is Rs 1234.95 Time period given by analyst is year when Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, the price can reach defined target. Dr. Reddy's, incorporated in 1984, is a Large Cap company with a market cap of Rs 103430.74 crore, operating in Pharmaceuticals Reddy's key products/revenue segments include Pharmaceuticals, Licence Fees, Spent Chemicals, Scrap, Service Income and Other Operating Revenue for the year ending the quarter ended 31-03-2025, the company has reported a Consolidated Total Income of Rs 9050.50 crore, up 6.08% from last quarter Total Income of Rs 8531.40 crore and up 23.79% from last year same quarter Total Income of Rs 7311.30 crore. The company has reported net profit after tax of Rs 1581.20 crore in the latest company's top management includes Mr.K Satish Reddy, Wan, Dr.K P Krishnan, M Kumar, Mehta, Sharma, Puri, Morparia, Albrecht, Mr.G V Prasad, Seth. Company has S R Batliboi & Associates LLP as its auditors. As on 31-03-2025, the company has a total of 83 crore shares Financial expects the FY26 topline to grow at 23% with EBITDA margins to remain at similar levels as FY25. They have revised the FY26E topline upwards by 8% on account of expected Revlimid sales being greater than those earlier anticipated. Beyond FY26, Semaglutide and Biosimilars (including Abatacept) are expected to drive business performance. DRRD plans to be present in all Semaglutide markets losing exclusivity in CY26, while Abatacept is scheduled for launch in CY27. The brokerage believes the Street is underestimating the Semaglutide opportunity for Dr. Reddy's. While it may not fully replace Revlimid sales, it could substantially mitigate the earnings decline in FY27. Though Canada, Brazil, India and China are the key Sema markets losing protection in CY26, a number of Emerging Market countries too are going off patent and thus JM Financial has increased its FY27E sales by 5% leading to a 6% increase in FY27E EBITDA. Further, the Indian Pharma companies are entering lower earning growth phase post FY26, thus we have reduced the 1 year forward P/E multiple by 19% to 21x. At an 21x PE Dr Reddys Laboratories on FY27 EPS, the stock remains attractive compared to peers. The brokerage maintains a BUY rating with a target price of Rs 1, held 26.64 per cent stake in the company as of 31-Mar-2025, while FIIs owned 25.75 per cent, DIIs 25.45 per cent.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
JM Financial maintains Buy on Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, lowers target price to Rs 1418
JM Financial has maintained Buy call on Dr. Reddy's Laboratories with a revised target price of Rs 1,418 (Earlier Rs 1,723). The current market price of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. is Rs 1234.95 Time period given by analyst is year when Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, the price can reach defined target. Dr. Reddy's, incorporated in 1984, is a Large Cap company with a market cap of Rs 103430.74 crore, operating in Pharmaceuticals sector. Dr. Reddy's key products/revenue segments include Pharmaceuticals, Licence Fees, Spent Chemicals, Scrap, Service Income and Other Operating Revenue for the year ending 31-Mar-2024. Financials For the quarter ended 31-03-2025, the company has reported a Consolidated Total Income of Rs 9050.50 crore, up 6.08% from last quarter Total Income of Rs 8531.40 crore and up 23.79% from last year same quarter Total Income of Rs 7311.30 crore. The company has reported net profit after tax of Rs 1581.20 crore in the latest quarter. The company's top management includes Mr.K Satish Reddy, Wan, Dr.K P Krishnan, M Kumar, Mehta, Sharma, Puri, Morparia, Albrecht, Mr.G V Prasad, Seth. Company has S R Batliboi & Associates LLP as its auditors. As on 31-03-2025, the company has a total of 83 crore shares outstanding. Investment Rationale JM Financial expects the FY26 topline to grow at 23% with EBITDA margins to remain at similar levels as FY25. They have revised the FY26E topline upwards by 8% on account of expected Revlimid sales being greater than those earlier anticipated. Beyond FY26, Semaglutide and Biosimilars (including Abatacept) are expected to drive business performance. DRRD plans to be present in all Semaglutide markets losing exclusivity in CY26, while Abatacept is scheduled for launch in CY27. The brokerage believes the Street is underestimating the Semaglutide opportunity for Dr. Reddy's. While it may not fully replace Revlimid sales, it could substantially mitigate the earnings decline in FY27. Though Canada, Brazil, India and China are the key Sema markets losing protection in CY26, a number of Emerging Market countries too are going off patent and thus JM Financial has increased its FY27E sales by 5% leading to a 6% increase in FY27E EBITDA. Further, the Indian Pharma companies are entering lower earning growth phase post FY26, thus we have reduced the 1 year forward P/E multiple by 19% to 21x. At an 21x PE Dr Reddys Laboratories on FY27 EPS, the stock remains attractive compared to peers. The brokerage maintains a BUY rating with a target price of Rs 1,418. Promoter/FII Holdings Promoters held 26.64 per cent stake in the company as of 31-Mar-2025, while FIIs owned 25.75 per cent, DIIs 25.45 per cent.
Economic Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
JM Financial maintains Buy on Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, lowers target price to Rs 1418
JM Financial has maintained Buy call on Dr. Reddy's Laboratories with a revised target price of Rs 1,418 (Earlier Rs 1,723). The current market price of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. is Rs 1234.95 Time period given by analyst is year when Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, the price can reach defined target. Dr. Reddy's, incorporated in 1984, is a Large Cap company with a market cap of Rs 103430.74 crore, operating in Pharmaceuticals sector. ADVERTISEMENT Dr. Reddy's key products/revenue segments include Pharmaceuticals, Licence Fees, Spent Chemicals, Scrap, Service Income and Other Operating Revenue for the year ending 31-Mar-2024. Financials For the quarter ended 31-03-2025, the company has reported a Consolidated Total Income of Rs 9050.50 crore, up 6.08% from last quarter Total Income of Rs 8531.40 crore and up 23.79% from last year same quarter Total Income of Rs 7311.30 crore. The company has reported net profit after tax of Rs 1581.20 crore in the latest quarter. The company's top management includes Mr.K Satish Reddy, Wan, Dr.K P Krishnan, M Kumar, Mehta, Sharma, Puri, Morparia, Albrecht, Mr.G V Prasad, Seth. Company has S R Batliboi & Associates LLP as its auditors. As on 31-03-2025, the company has a total of 83 crore shares outstanding. Investment Rationale ADVERTISEMENT JM Financial expects the FY26 topline to grow at 23% with EBITDA margins to remain at similar levels as FY25. They have revised the FY26E topline upwards by 8% on account of expected Revlimid sales being greater than those earlier anticipated. Beyond FY26, Semaglutide and Biosimilars (including Abatacept) are expected to drive business performance. DRRD plans to be present in all Semaglutide markets losing exclusivity in CY26, while Abatacept is scheduled for launch in CY27. The brokerage believes the Street is underestimating the Semaglutide opportunity for Dr. Reddy's. While it may not fully replace Revlimid sales, it could substantially mitigate the earnings decline in FY27. Though Canada, Brazil, India and China are the key Sema markets losing protection in CY26, a number of Emerging Market countries too are going off patent and thus JM Financial has increased its FY27E sales by 5% leading to a 6% increase in FY27E EBITDA. Further, the Indian Pharma companies are entering lower earning growth phase post FY26, thus we have reduced the 1 year forward P/E multiple by 19% to 21x. At an 21x PE Dr Reddys Laboratories on FY27 EPS, the stock remains attractive compared to peers. The brokerage maintains a BUY rating with a target price of Rs 1, Holdings Promoters held 26.64 per cent stake in the company as of 31-Mar-2025, while FIIs owned 25.75 per cent, DIIs 25.45 per cent. (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel) Disclaimer: Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts' own and do not represent those of Please consult your financial adviser before taking any position in the stock/s mentioned.
