Jehane Noujaim’s documentary about a Jordanian woman who receives formal education and returns to her village to make a difference

A look at the enduring relevance of Simin Daneshvar’s Persian literary masterpiece, published over 40 years ago

A heady, eclectic blend of sounds come together for a musical journey back to Beirut’s long lost ‘Golden Age’ in Safar Barlik’s EP

What determines whether a work of art is admired at galleries and fairs, or simply sold in commercial outlets?

Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s dark film set in the Anatolian countryside is about far more than just a murder

Egyptian-American writer Yahia Lababidi discusses poetry, dreams, and the desert in his latest book, The Artist as Mystic

A discussion with the organisers of a unique exhibition in Tehran which aimed to foster artistic dialogue between Iranian and British artists

A review of the recent rise in censorship in Lebanon, its implications for artists, and – interestingly enough – its positive aspects

A look at the Orientalist movement, and the allure of the ‘exotic’ East among contemporary Middle Eastern artists