One of a Kind

An Unlikely Hero: Noor Inayat Khan WWII uniform at the Spy Museum in Washington DC  

I was surprised to read about and see the uniform of Noor Inayat Khan at the Spy Museum in DC. which we visited with our grand daughters.  Its a treasure trove of history and innovations and surprises like Noor Inayat Khan. I learned that she was a musician, author, princess, and a secret agent for the British during World War II. 

Wanting to know more about her, I followed up later : "Perhaps best-known by her Resistance code name ‘Madeleine’, the story of Noor Inayat Khan is unfamiliar to many today, but contains so many extraordinary elements that it’s incredible she isn’t more widely recognized. A staunch pacifist regarded by her captors as a fierce and dangerously uncooperative spy, an outspoken supporter of Indian independence who gave her life fighting for the British, a children’s author, musician and princess (descended from Tipu Sultan of Mysore), Noor is also the first - and so far only – Muslim woman to be honoured with a statue in Britain." And her service as a spy was very impressive:  "In the early hours of 17 June 1943, Noor became the first woman agent to be parachuted behind enemy lines in France (previous women had been sent as couriers). Her task was to maintain radio contact between Britain and the Resistance in Paris. This was an unbelievably dangerous job – radio equipment was bulky and hard to conceal, and staying on air for more than 20 minutes at a time risked detection by the enemy. The average lifespan of a field agent was just 6 weeks. Noor evaded capture for three months, as the Paris Resistance network – which had been infiltrated by double agents more deeply than anyone had realised – began to disintegrate during the summer of 1943. In October, she was arrested at her Paris flat and taken to German security headquarters.  Noor made two immediate escape attempts (and refused to sign an agreement with her captors ruling out a third). Regarded as a particularly dangerous prisoner, she was kept in solitary confinement in Pforzheim prison for 10 months. Finally, Noor was transported to Dachau concentration camp, where she was executed in September 1944. Her last reported word was ‘Liberté’."

It was her uniform that was on display at the Spy Museum (I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area!). 

The image on the Smithsonian Engagement Calendar 2022 for that week is a Kimono c1955 japan, Cotton with shibori tied resist patterning indigo dyed from the collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Shibori is "a complex technique which selected areas are bound with with thread to resist the penetration of dye. The medium blue areas are composed of hundreds of small white circles created with kanoko shibori or tied resist while the petal like forms are nuo shibori or stitched resist. "

This page spread is dedicated to 'one of a kind' :) 

Smithsonian Engagement Calendar 2022 week 10 Feb 27-March 5

Bald Eagle Silhouetted on Pine Tree

There is a bald eagle family in our area and the birds regularly visit our yard. They sit on the branch and eat the fish caught from the river or just take a break. That tree is in east/south east section of our yard and from my kitchen window I always see the birds in the mornings as silhouettes. The painting on the opposite page for the week in the Smithsonian Engagement Calendar 2021 prompted me to paint the scene with black brush pen. That hanging scroll, ink on paper painting is by Tomioka Tessai (1836-1924)  Su Dongpo in a borrowed hat 1912, Meiji era.

Smithsonian Engagement Calendar 2021 week 10 Feb 28-March 6