The Reed Flute

February 5, 2015 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Morocco was not a place that would give you the luxury of forgetting it; it seeped, slowly but surely, into your bones, and burned its image between your eyes’

Finding Fateh

January 26, 2015 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘He didn’t want to work until the end of his life; he wanted to work until the end of life itself’ - searching for the soul of Syria’s late, great Fateh Moudarres

Poet of Persia

January 12, 2015 | Joobin Bekhrad

Ahead of his first US museum solo exhibition, Joobin Bekhrad recalls a meeting in Tehran with Parviz Tanavoli, the father of modern Iranian sculpture

Room Full of Mirrors

January 5, 2015 | Nicola Baird

With her work being celebrated in a 40-year museum retrospective in Portugal, Nicola Baird looks at the life and legacy of Iran’s Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian

Iraqi Odyssey

December 15, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Straddling a telling of his family’s history and that of Iraq from Ottoman times to the present, Samir’s aptly named film is nothing short of epic

Tales Within Tales

December 8, 2014 | Sabrina Guerrieri

Sabrina Guerrieri on the postmodernism of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1974 classic, The Flower of the Thousand and One Nights and questions of originality in art

The Man from Oran

December 1, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Welcome to Algiers, baby’ - Lyes Salem blends fact and fiction in his stirring film about the aftermath of the Algerian War of Independence

Persian Letters

November 24, 2014 | Kevin Schwartz

Kevin Schwartz looks at the allure of Persian nasta’liq calligraphy in the ateliers and courts of the Persianate world, as well as to a new generation of Iranian artists

Syriously Surreal

November 18, 2014 | Leo Kroonen

‘When you limit yourself, you are actually more free’ - a chat with Beirut-based Syrian artist and musician Samer Saem Eldahr - a.k.a. Hello Psychaleppo! - about his latest album, HA!

Sex, Drugs, and Gol-o-Bolbol

November 10, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

Before David Bowie, ZZ Top, the Sex Pistols, and Johnny Thunders, there were the Qajars. Joobin Bekhrad looks at the dynasty’s influence on Iranian artists, designers, and musicians today

Oud Dude

November 3, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

Iraqi-British musician Khyam Allami talks to Joobin Bekhrad about the oud, classical Arabic music, rock and roll, and his new artist-friendly record label, Nawa Recordings

Island Fervour

October 27, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

A taste of things to come at the sixth edition of Abu Dhabi Art, which runs between the 5th and 8th of November 2014 on the city’s idyllic Saadiyat Island

Whirl’d Music

October 20, 2014 | Simon Broughton

Songlines’ Editor-in-Chief, Simon Broughton, on the sights and sounds of the 11th edition of the Mystic Music Festival in Konya, Turkey, held in honour of Rumi

Syrian Blues

October 13, 2014 | Ian Nagoski

Ian Nagoski delves into the musical history of New York City’s Middle Eastern community in the early 20th century and the story of one of its all-but-forgotten virtuosos

Mr. Violet

October 6, 2014 | Samannaz Kourang Pishdadi

Music, magic, and moustaches - Samannaz Kourang Pishdadi talks to Rouzbeh Esfandarmaz about the many colours of Iran’s Pallett

The Narrow Frame of Midnight

October 1, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

With references to Walter Benjamin and Paul Klee, among others, Iraqi-Moroccan director Tala Hadid tells tales of hope and hopelessness in her feature-fiction debut film

Young Turks

September 23, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad talks to Dyala Nusseibeh about the forthcoming sights and spectacles of the second edition of Turkey’s newest art fair, ArtInternational

Whose Gaze is it Anyway?

September 22, 2014 | Ashitha Nagesh

Ashitha Nagesh explores a small, yet telling exhibition at the ICA in London revolving around colourful episodes in the history of popular Arab cinema

Iran: Unedited History

September 16, 2014 | Natasha Morris

Natasha Morris on an ambitious exhibition of contemporary Iranian art at Paris’ Musée d’Art Moderne spanning over 50 years and featuring over 200 works by over 20 artists

Wind, Sand, and Stars

September 9, 2014 | Zakaria Wakrim

A photo essay by Zakaria Wakrim featuring surreal images of the Atlas Mountains, the Sahara Desert, and the proverbial North African djellaba

A Thousand Years of the Persian Book

September 2, 2014 | Kevin Schwartz

Kevin Schwartz on an exhibition at Washington, DC’s Library of Congress celebrating a millennium of Persian textual production from Iran and beyond

My Grandfather’s Room

August 25, 2014 | Afsoon

‘His house was full of welcoming mysteries, except for one room on the top floor called “the salon”. It was rarely open, and only used for “important” visitors …’

Here and Elsewhere

August 18, 2014 | Sarah Hassan

Sarah Hassan’s reflections on a ‘long-overdue’ exhibition of contemporary art from the Arab world on display at New York City’s New Museum

Rumour Has It

August 11, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad talks to Lebanese artists Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige about their work and their latest exhibition, I Must First Apologise …, currently on display at France’s Villa Arson

When the Levee Breaks

July 21, 2014 | Ivana Peric

‘Rapping about women’s rights is just as important as rapping about the occupation’ - Suhell Nafar of Palestinian hip-hop group DAM speaks out

The Aesthetics of Exile

July 14, 2014 | Abdellatif R. Abdeljawad

A look at the use of the Nakba and the resistance as subjects in contemporary Palestinian art, as well as thoughts on the aesthetics of Palestinian ‘liberation art’

Sin City

July 7, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad on the rise and fall of Iran’s iconic Qajar monarch, Nasereddin Shah, with a focus on the recent work of artist Siamak Filizadeh

All Mother Tongues are Difficult

June 30, 2014 | Nada Zanhour

Nada Zanhour’s reflections on Lebanese artist Mounira Al Solh’s latest solo exhibition in Beirut revolving around themes of love, language, and war

Voices of Marrakech

June 23, 2014 | Chitra Kalyani

After sojourns in Alexandria and Beirut, German audiophiles Julia Tieke and Berit Schuck turned their ears towards the historic Medina of Marrakech

Echoes of the Past

June 16, 2014 | Priyanka Sacheti

A chat with Omani artist and curator Hassan Meer about his artistic career, his newly-opened art space, and the state of Oman’s contemporary art scene

Rebel Yell

June 9, 2014 | William Gourlay

Despite having been deemed subversive, and outlawed and threatened by the state, Turkey’s Kurdish dengbêj musical tradition is still going strong

Soul of the South

June 2, 2014 | Kamal Zargar

A visual journey across the vibrant and culturally diverse cities of Abadan, Ahvaz, Shush, and Shushtar in Iran’s southern Khuzestan province

Traces and Revelations

April 28, 2014 | Sarah Zakzouk

Sarah Zakzouk on the work of Palestinian artists Hazem Harb and Mohammed Joha, whose art is currently on display at Durham University

Hold Back

April 21, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘There is no black and white – only a slew of murky grey areas, the red, white, and blue of the Tricolore, and the hushed hues of Paris at dusk’

Palestinian Idol

April 14, 2014 | Inaya Hodeib

Inaya Hodeib talks to Palestinian artist, curator, and critic Khaled Hourani about his first-ever retrospective at Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts

Negotiating Cultural Territories

April 7, 2014 | Mohamed Belmaaza

A review of Mizrahi music in Israel and its current role in the struggle for the recognition and legitimacy of Arabo-Jewish heritage and identity therein

In Search of Lost Time

March 31, 2014 | James Mayer

Ara Güler’s photographs of Anatolia not only challenge distinctions between photojournalism and art, but also notions of Turkish history and identity

Rebel Rebel

March 24, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

Moroccan-German artist Tasnim Baghdadi on the celebration of her identity, influences, roots, spirituality, style, and ‘inbetweenness’

Violet Alley

March 19, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Yet, for all my melancholy sentiments, this rather uncharacteristic backstreet holds a bittersweet beauty I can’t quite fathom …’

Slavs, Tatars, Others

March 17, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad talks to artist collective Slavs and Tatars about their curation of art from Central Asia and the Caucasus at this year’s Art Dubai

Punk Rock au Maroc

March 10, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Think Siouxsie Sioux and Johnny Thunders, guitars in tow, meet Hindi Zahra in the burned-out basement of a seedy Moroccan haunt …’

Bed of Broken Mirrors

March 3, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

A chat with Iranian-American artist Asad Faulwell about his Les Femmes d’Alger series and the role played by women in the Algerian War of Independence

The Masked Man of Morocco

February 24, 2014 | Sarah Quinn

Sarah Quinn on the works of Moroccan artist Yassine Balbzioui, who will be performing at this year’s edition of the Marrakech Biennale

Cheikh, Rattle and Roll

February 17, 2014 | John Wisniewski

A chat with record producer and audiophile Dave Murray about a recent compilation of ‘raw’ tracks from the ‘Golden Age’ of the Moroccan record industry

Murals, Morals, Muhawwils

February 9, 2014 | Amira Haroun

Amira Haroun explores the various religious and sociocultural elements of Monira Al Qadiri’s Muhawwil installation and her brand of ‘Wahhabi Cubism’

The Strange Fruits of a Fascination

February 3, 2014 | Natasha Morris

A review of the recent Sehnsucht Persien exhibition in Switzerland, which explored the longstanding mutual fascination between Iran and Europe through art

Farsi Funk, Bosphorus Beats

January 27, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘The freakier, the funkier, the more far-out, and the fuzzier, the better …’ - examining the recent surge of interest in the sound of 60s & 70s Iran and Turkey

Reflections of Persia

January 20, 2014 | Aria Fani

‘Riccardo’s Iran, discovered and rediscovered … becomes a mirror in which the world and its distant lands appear before one’s eyes’

Do You Remember?

January 13, 2014 | Pendar Nabipour

Pendar Nabipour on the post-Revolution generation of Iran, its collective memories, and the celebration of the popular culture of the 80s and early 90s

Tales of 1,001 Chairs

January 6, 2014 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Chairs have always been symbols of power in Egypt’ - a chat with Manar Moursi and David Puig about the phenomenon of Cairo’s street chairs

Iranian Woman

December 9, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Though it has been stifled, suppressed, and outlawed, the voice of the Iranian woman still resonates as boldly and beautifully as ever’

Strange Vibes from the Levant

December 2, 2013 | Asma Ghanem

Asma Ghanem talks to six musicians from the Levant and Egypt about their work, their influences, and the state of experimental music in the Arab world

Notes from Underground

November 25, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

Tehran-based electronic musician Moslem Rasouli on his work, his passion for folk music, and the underground music scene in Iran

May Allah Forgive Me

November 18, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad talks to Moroccan artist Zakaria Ramhani about identity, Islam, and his first US solo exhibition at New York City’s Julie Meneret Gallery

In Search of Sonic Translation

November 11, 2013 | Mohamed Belmaaza

Mohamed Belmaaza on the legacy of Judaeo-Arabic music, the Moroccan matrouz tradition, and otherwordly musical experiences in Essaouira

Memento Mori

November 4, 2013 | Ashitha Nagesh

A conversation with Alia Al-Senussi and Abdullah Al-Turki, two curators of the ICA’s inaugural ‘Cinema on the Steps’ film festival in London

Welcome to the Jungle

October 28, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

A look at the use of simian symbolism in ‘Omar’ by Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, and ‘Bastardo’ by Tunisian director Nejib Belkadhi

Fear and Loathing in Sana’a

October 21, 2013 | Ibi Ibrahim

‘The talented artists have all left, or if they exhibit, they show their best works abroad. No one cares here, and those who do are trapped indoors. Go figure’

Taking it to the Streets

October 7, 2013 | Rashed Aqrabawi

‘You know, you can do whatever you want in Beirut … and no one so much as bats an eyelash’ - Rashed Aqrabawi in conversation with graffiti artist Aya Tarek

My Love Awaits Me by the Sea

September 23, 2013 | Sabah Haider

‘Mais’ film takes one on a journey to her Palestine, to a Jaffa devoid of oranges … and a Jerusalem where beauty thrives beyond walls’

A Letter to Salehi

September 19, 2013 | Mania Akbari

‘You’re the only one who knows me this much, even better than myself. You’ve seen my fear, you know all about my nightmares … where could I go?’

Without Words

September 16, 2013 | Ashitha Nagesh

Ashitha Nagesh talks to renowned Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat about his work, the power of caricatures, and the Syrian revolution

Culture Club

September 9, 2013 | Raphael Cormack

‘What are the salons of this age, and will they be remembered in the same way?’ - the story of Mayy Ziaydah and her legendary literary salon in Cairo

Revolution and Desire

September 1, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

A conversation with Beirut-based art & film curator Rasha Salti about the Middle Eastern highlights of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival

Waiting for the Sun

August 26, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Day and night I tore myself to shreds so the sun would come …’ - a reflection on Hamed Nikpay’s performance at the Tirgan Iranian Festival

An Epic Remix

August 19, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad talks to US-based multimedia artist Hamid Rahmanian about his modern visual retelling of Ferdowsi’s epic Persian masterpiece

Two Metres of this Land

August 12, 2013 | Sophie Chamas

‘… Palestine will continue to develop and mature, despite its shrinking corporeal form; it will insist on its existence, refusing to be forgotten’

A World Not Ours

August 5, 2013 | Sarah Irving

Mahdi Fleifel’s documentary revolving around the everyday life of a Palestinian family in Southern Lebanon’s Ein El-Hilweh refugee camp

Filming on the Fringe

July 29, 2013 | Natalie Shooter

‘Cinema is a tough place to be’ - an interview with Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s first female filmmakers, Haifaa Al Mansour & Khadija Al-Salami

Jerusalem In My Heart

July 22, 2013 | Natalie Shooter

Natalie Shooter talks to Lebanese-Canadian musician Radwan Ghazi Moumneh about the Jerusalem in My Heart project and his band’s latest album

Points of Departure

July 15, 2013 | Rima Chahrour

‘Palestine … is a possibility, a potentiality constantly on the threshold of physical reality’ - Rima Chahrour on the ‘Points of Departure’ exhibition at the ICA

The Fruit of Our Labour

July 8, 2013 | Aggie Ebrahimi Bazaz

‘This is a new Afghanistan – one in which the camera’s gaze is not a metaphor for power inequities, but a tool through which power and politics can be debated’

Down and Out in Kuwait City

July 3, 2013 | Mashaael Basheer

Mashaeel Basheer talks to artists Mohammed Al Kouh and Mohammad Sharaf about their work, the Kuwaiti art scene, and the difficulty of obtaining local support

Vive Rachid!

June 24, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Taha’s got a brand new bag’ - Joobin Bekhrad’s reflections on Algerian rocker Rachid Taha and his latest studio album, ‘Zoom’

The Attack

June 24, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

Acclaimed Lebanese filmmaker Ziad Doueiri talks to Joobin Bekhrad about his controversial new film, ‘The Attack’, currently banned across the Arab world

In the Shadow of a Man

June 17, 2013 | Sarah Zakzouk

A look at Egyptian director Hanan Abdalla’s prize-winning documentary highlighting the condition and everyday lives of women in Cairo

Open Sesame

June 10, 2013 | Mona Kareem

Mona Kareem’s reflections on Ola El-Khalidi’s ‘Open Sesame’ exhibition, which told the story of Kuwait’s Palestinian exiles through objects

War of Words

June 3, 2013 | Sayantan Mukhopadhay

‘The invocation of literature in art is the bond bringing Neshat and Essaydi together in their struggle to recontextualise views of the region’

Peace Out

May 27, 2013 | Sarah Zakzouk

Peace, love, and baklava - Sarah Zakzouk on the recent ‘Peace, from the Bottom of My Art’ exhibition of contemporary Iranian artists in London

Resilience and Light

May 13, 2013 | Michelle Davis

‘Zurob’s works explore the way in which exile renders certain modes of travel irrelevant and eliminates the possibility of certain shared spaces’

Sleepless Nights

April 29, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Your conscience is buried while mine is still alive … What shall I do today, Mr. Assaad Shaftari? I don’t want a statue, I want nothing, just a bone from my son …’

Lebanese Rocket Society

April 22, 2013 | Rima Chahrour

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige investigate the humble origins, glory days, and sudden end of Lebanon’s all but forgotten ‘Rocket Society’

Journey to the East

April 8, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

A conversation with renowned Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli about ‘Safar’, a major upcoming exhibition of contemporary Middle Eastern art in Canada

I Am Nasrine

April 1, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘On that bright, sunny day in the middle of the sweltering month of Mordad, I saw the ends of your loose, red hejab fluttering gaily behind you …’

Impossible Homelands

March 24, 2013 | Arie Amaya-Akkermans

‘How is it possible to call Bahrain “home”, or at least belong there? Zakharia’s images are rich with traces of impossibilities …’

A Journey of Belonging

March 13, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad talks to acclaimed Saudi artist Manal Al Dowayan about the works in her retrospective exhibition at Jeddah’s Athr Gallery

Jeddah Art Week

March 10, 2013 | Mario El Khoury

Mario El Khoury on the sights and sounds of the exhibitions, symposiums, and cultural events of February’s groundbreaking Jeddah Art Week

Just Like Googoosh

March 7, 2013 | Ava Homa

‘Her eyes were shut, her cheeks wet … The hair was falling on his knee and on the white sheet. His hands were trembling. “Just like Googoosh”, he whispered’

Anatolia Dreamin’

March 3, 2013 | Rima Chahrour

‘Nonetheless, the coffee is poured once again, conjuring memories of unachievable dreams and desires ever destined to be effaced’

They Won’t Miss Me this Afternoon

February 26, 2013 | Hedy Habra

‘The kids stare at me with empty eyes. They put their planks aside and approach me carefully, pointing their long sticks like machine guns’

Null: A Persian Tale

February 22, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘… That lonely one turned his head to the vernal moon above, whispering softly, ‘My silent city – where art the soul of thine springs?’

Who Draws the Line?

February 20, 2013 | Arie Amaya-Akkermans

‘Her work becomes a passing reminder that the past is not history yet, but merely the debris of the present’ - Arie Akkermans on the art of Devrim Kadirbeyoğlu

Call to Arms

February 18, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

A conversation with Mona Shomali and Haleh Jamali, two artists exploring female Iranian identity in a collaborative exhibition at the Asian Arts Initiative

A Bag of Flour

February 13, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

Belgian-Moroccan director Kadija Leclere’s debut film, which examines the role of women in traditional Moroccan society

Last of the Dictionary Men

February 11, 2013 | Sarah Zakzouk

A multimedia exhibition on display at London’s Mosaic Rooms highlighting the little-known story of the Yemeni sailors of South Shields

Shooting the Cloud

February 6, 2013 | Rima Chahrour

‘Karam’s figures are sublime, mentally, ideologically, and physically transcending the socio-historical pressures of Lebanon’

A View from Afar

January 30, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘My family is here. I’m hanging here, torn between these two countries, these two realities. I belong to both these countries without being totally part of them’

Vaults of Memory

January 28, 2013 | Arie Amaya-Akkermans

A look at the sonic career of Yasmine Hamdan, from her iconoclastic Soap Kills days to her present status as the femme fatale of alternative Arabic music

Witness from Baghdad

January 23, 2013 | Sarah Zakzouk

‘In this life I was stripped of my humanity, but I have retrieved what is more sublime, more noble, through my dreams’ - Halim Al Karim

When I Saw You

January 21, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Some people follow the masses. Others follow the sun’ - Annemarie Jacir’s bittersweet film about the Palestinian struggle, and one boy’s quest for freedom

Ordinary Lives

January 14, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘… This is what the people of Lebanon do. They keep going, rebuilding and restarting, no matter what keeps coming’

Casablanca Mon Amour

January 9, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

A powerful documentary and critique of the relationship between Hollywood and the Arab world, which follows two boys on a road trip throughout Morocco

Pop Goes the East

January 7, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

Iranian-American artist Eric Parnes on his artistic journey, the 15th Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, and the influence of Western pop culture in the Middle East

A Soul Aflame

January 2, 2013 | Joobin Bekhrad

A review of Sashar Zarif and Alim Qasimov’s bold new take on the art of Mugham, with a look at the history and culture of Azerbaijan

Beirut, I Love You

December 19, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘Lebanon was, and always will be schizophrenic’ - A review of Zena El Khalil’s memoir, ‘Beirut, I Love You’, now available in North America

Berlin Telegram

December 17, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Leila Albayaty’s film of love, loss, and music in Berlin, which recently screened at this year’s Dubai International Film Festival

Iraq is the Bomb

December 12, 2012 | Megan Beneat-Donald

‘It is our time as Arabs. Arab will be the new cool’ - Megan Bénéat-Donald in conversation with Iraqi-Canadian musician The Narcicyst

Beyond Consciousness

December 10, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘I leave Fayez Barakat’s gallery on Brook Street with a feeling I can’t quite fathom … Then again, my head is reeling with the choicest of wines’

Shifting Sands

December 5, 2012 | Sara Zia Ebrahimi

‘The difference now is that I feel whatever I do actually matters … Cairo is very vibrant now. It’s an amazing place to be an artist’

Mémoire d’Éléphant

December 3, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad on memory, martyrdom, and mourning in Iran, with reference to Sayeh Sarfaraz’s latest solo exhibition in Montréal

All Dolled Up

November 28, 2012 | Rima Chahrour

Rima Chahrour of Lebanese artist collective The Freaks looks at the use of dolls in the works of Zena El Khalil and Mohammad Rawas

Redefining the Rock Star

November 20, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

‘This is a being unshaken by the ravages of time, defying practice, medium, and creed … The rock star is dead. Long live the rock star’

See the Light

November 19, 2012 | Sophie Kazan

Sophie Kazan talks to the V&A’s Curator of Photographs, Marta Weiss about the groundbreaking ‘Light from the Middle East’ photography exhibition

Viva La Evolucion

November 14, 2012 | Mario El Khoury

While some would consider talking about a sort of revolution, others would prefer to look at the artistic happenings in Saudi Arabia as an evolution

Picture This

November 12, 2012 | Megan Beneat-Donald

Iraqi-Canadian photographer Tamara Abdul Hadi shines a light on the misunderstood men of the Middle East in her photographic series, ‘Picture an Arab Man’

Postcards from the Edge

November 7, 2012 | Safa Samiezade-Yazd

A discussion of art from the ‘periphery’, with a focus on the Lebanese and Moroccan works on display at the San Francisco MoMA’s ‘Six Lines of Flight’ exhibition

Honour

November 5, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

A reflection on the often-controversial Middle Eastern notion of honour, in the context of Turkish author Elif Shafak’s latest novel of the same name

Impossible Possibilities

October 31, 2012 | Arie Amaya-Akkermans

Is the future of Arab art as terrifying as Lebanese artist and art historian Gregory Buchakjian makes it seem in his book, ‘War and Other [Impossible] Possibilities’?

Zabana!

October 29, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Said Ould-Khalifa’s stirring portrayal of the origins of the Algerian War of Independence and its founding father, Ahmed Zabana

Be Here Now

October 24, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

With a burgeoning art scene and myriad institutions blossoming around the country, there’s never been a better time to be an artist in Saudi Arabia

East Meets West

October 22, 2012 | Tara Aghdashloo

Tara Aghdashloo’s take on the Middle Eastern art and attractions at this year’s edition of the Frieze Art Fair in London

Magical Mystery Tour

October 17, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

When he showed up at Iranian artist Afsoon’s West London atelier one rainy day, Joobin Bekhrad was in for a colourful surprise

Reclaiming the Sea

October 15, 2012 | Arie Amaya-Akkermans

Find out how Bahraini filmmaker Mohammed Rashed Bu Ali is making waves in his island’s burgeoning cinema industry

The Patience Stone

October 10, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

French-Afghan novelist and director Atiq Rahimi’s haunting, metaphorical tale of love, war, and liberation in modern-day Afghanistan

Faded Postcards

October 8, 2012 | Arie Amaya-Akkermans

Marc Codsi, Beirut’s sonic postman on his album, Faded Postcards, the extremities of Lebanese society, and the pacifying power of music

From Bushehr with Love

October 3, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

What do you get when you mix the thundering, pulsating rhythms of Southern Iranian folk music and jazz? Pure bliss, according to Joobin Bekhrad

Beirut, Remixed

October 1, 2012 | Sophie Kazan

A look at the life and works of iconic Lebanese photographer-cum-renaissance man Joe Kesrouani, Beirut’s man of magic

The Forgotten Queen of Yemen

September 26, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Arab-American artist Ibi Ibrahim is on a mission to rebel against censorship, battle taboos, and revive the glory of the Yemeni woman of old

After the Battle

September 24, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Yousry Nasrallah’s gripping tale of love, politics, and chivalry in the turbulent days after the Egyptian revolution in Cairo

The Unmentioned

September 17, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Syrian self-taught photographer Khaled Akil is a storyteller caught between a rock and a hard place, armed to the teeth

Rhino Season

September 13, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi’s surreal and tragic love story of a Kurdish poet, starring the legendary Behrouz Vossoughi

Heart Beguiling Araby

September 12, 2012 | William Dobson

Lured by the coquettish glances of an Eastern princess, William Dobson fell in love with the Orient and found his calling

Seeds of Change

September 6, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad talks to Tunisia’s undisputed ‘master’ of Calligraffiti about art, religion, and the power of spray paint

Imagining Syria

September 4, 2012 | Mohamed Chakmakchi

‘Some hearts never return. Once they are removed, they are gone forever. Others leave echoes. Ask the children of Hama, of Homs, of Deir ez-Zhor’

Savushun

August 28, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

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

Sounds from the Golden Age

August 23, 2012 | Arie Amaya-Akkermans

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

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

August 21, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

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

Mamnou!

August 9, 2012 | Tarek Joseph Chemaly

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

The Age of the Neo-Orientalists

August 7, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

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

After Two Months

July 26, 2012 | Arie Amaya-Akkermans

‘How many times have we heard and repeated the phrase, “after two months all will be well?”‘ - Mouna Bassili Sehnaoui on painting the Lebanese Civil War

Back from the Brink

July 17, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Two recent compilations from Sublime Frequencies and Now Again Records breathe new life into the works of two seminal Iranian and Turkish rockers

Goodbye

July 10, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

As Mohammad Rasoulof’s recent film shows, sometimes it’s better to be a stranger in exile than in your own country

It’s a Man’s World

July 3, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad speaks with the renowned - and controversial - Kuwaiti artist about the recent fiasco caused by her exhibition, It’s a Man’s World

Mossadegh

June 27, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

A review of Roozbeh Dadvand’s short film about the last days of the legendary Iranian Prime Minister, Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh

Sumud

June 26, 2012 | Joobin Bekhrad

Azam Ali & Co. are back with a heady blend of Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, and Arabic grooves for their third studio album, Sumud