Past Programs
Other Religions - 2008
A Living Idea - the Goddess of the Broom and other Stories
12/10/2008
A Goddess descends to a hawker market in Delhi, a woman dialogues with chiefs in Vanuatu, another woman creates kits of clothes for children taken into care, the Mother of Jesus is compared to the air we breathe. Women around the world - as deities or mortals - make a difference to the human spirit, the environment, the economy and to how we exchange values with one another.
Shadowlands
29/06/2008
Islam and the art of wayang kulit, or shadow puppetry, have co-existed in Malaysia for centuries but in 1990 a new generation of political Islamists, influenced by the theology of Wahhabism, outlawed the tradition in its home state of Kelantan. Encounter travels to Kelantan to watch an illegal ritual performance of wayang kulit and to explore how the pluralist history of Islam in the region, embodied in this art form, has been challenged by global developments. But do the results of Malysia's recent elections suggest the influence of Wahhabism is now on the wane? And, paradoxically, could the successes of the Islamic Party, PAS, be a good sign for democracy and religious freedom in the country?
