Topic: Dialogue of Cultures | Intercultural Dialogue

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Syrian artist Hamid Sulaiman (Getty Images/AFP/P. Lopez)

Syrian author Hamid Sulaiman

″The hospital is the true hero″

Defiance in the face of the adversity is the main theme of Hamid Sulaiman′s comic novel ″Freedom Hospital″. In interview with Stefan Dege the author talks about the confounding situation in Syria, about torture, destruction and death – yet also about hopeMore

Seeing war through the eyes of a childFighting Islamic State with satire and black humour: Terribly funny Syrian literature in times of turmoil: An author on standby
″Street Punk! Banda Aceh″ (source: mariabakkalapulo.com)

″Street Punk! Banda Aceh″ – a film documentary

Stage-diving from Mecca′s verandah

The acclaimed documentary ″Street Punk! Banda Aceh″ is the work of film-maker and journalist Maria Bakkalapulo and her producer partner Niall Macaulay. This heart-breaking yet empowering film reveals how young people are striving to hold on to their identities and fight for freedom in the face of religious stricture and fierce opposition. Interview by Richard MarcusMore

Radical Islam in Indonesia: Pluralism as provocationTeaching religious tolerance: Indonesia's "multicultural laboratories"Islam in Indonesia: Democratisation from below
Arabic cultural cafe Naqsh (photo: Hakim Khatib/MPC Journal)

″Naqsh″ – the Arabic cultural cafe

Amman's bridge builders

Cultural cafes like Naqsh in the centre of Amman are prime examples of innovative grassroots projects that help promote cultural dialogue between east and west. Hakim Khatib visited the Jordanian cultural cafe and spoke to its initiatorsMore

Art and Design in Jordan: A facelift for Amman's artisanal businessesThe Hakawati bookshop for children and young people in Amman: Huge appetite for exciting storiesAmjad Nasser on the role of Arab writers in Arab society: Speaking out in societies without words
Amena Ragess reads stories in German and Arabic to children in a refugee home (photo: Jasmin Zikry)

German-Arabic children′s books

″Einfach Lesen!″ – Just read!

Friendly trams and wandering frogs: the Goethe-Institut is using children′s books in German and Arabic to make it easier for young refugees and their parents to come into contact with the new language and country. A visit to a refugee shelter in Berlin shows how well the “Einfach lesen!” project is being received. By Patrick WildermannMore

Goethe-Institut website: Migration and integrationPicture books explore the fate of refugees: A gentle yet honest approach″Songs and Stories for Syrians″: Bridging the cultural gap
Delegates at the New German Media Makers National Congress (source: http://www.neuemedienmacher.de)

The New German Media Makers

″Give everyone a voice″

″Bring more diversity into the media″ is the motto of the New German Media Makers. In interview with Monika Stefanek, their deputy chairman, Chadi Bahouth, explains why the perspective of immigrants gets the short end of the stick in media coverage and how the association aims to change thisMore

The ''New German Media Makers'' initiative: Seeking greater diversity in German mediaMedia and integration: Politics as a corrective of the Fourth EstateGermany′s Islam debate: For all our freedoms!
Michael Buthe's "Sun Room" installation, 1976. Musee du Echnaton (source:: VG Bild-Kunst)

German artist Michael Buthe

″My inner Marrakesh″

Arabian prince, magician, master of ceremonies and traveller between worlds: Michael Buthe (1944–1994) was one of the most vivid personalities of the German art scene, dividing his time between Cologne and Marrakesh during the 1970s. A portrait by Natalie GoltenbothMore

Edward Said's "Orientalism" in Arab discourse: Instrumentalised on all sidesInterview with Leila Alaoui: Morocco's art scene: a coin with two facesThe Marrakesh Art Fair: Morocco's art market awakensMoroccan artists' collective "La Source du Lion": The art of orange juice
Iranian author Abbas Maroufi (photo: Volker Kaminski)

Interview with the Iranian writer Abbas Maroufi

″Self-censorship is the worst″

Abbas Maroufi, born in Tehran in 1957, was one of Iran's most respected writers when he was sentenced to prison and a flogging for 'offending the fundamental principles of Islam'. It was only thanks to the intervention of the German PEN Center and the intercession of Gunter Grass that he was able to leave Iran in 1996. He has lived in Germany ever since. Interview by Volker KaminskiMore

Mahmud Doulatabadi's "The Colonel": Bitter reckoning with Iran's pastAmir Hassan Cheheltan's ''Tehran, Skyless City'': Reflecting the dark side of Iran's capitalInterview with the Iranian author Fariba Vafi: "Cliches have no place in writing″
Visitors to the German stand at the International Book Fair in Istanbul (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

Germany at the Istanbul Book Fair

Solidarity with readers

Germany was this year′s guest of honour at the Istanbul International Book Fair. This could not have happened at a better time – despite or perhaps because of the political dissonance. By Karen KrugerMore

Interview with Turkish author Elif Shafak: Democracy in a downward spiralThe #siirsokakta movement in Turkey: The poem is on the streetArabic bookshop in Istanbul: "We want to be a cultural centre"
Iranian singer Mamak Khadem (photo: Afshin Javadi/mamak-khadem.com)

Persian singer Mamak Khadem

Open to new influences

Since the 1990s, the exiled Iranian singer Mamak Khadem has been combining Persian classical music with world music. For her new album, "The Road," she has discovered unusual Eastern European soundscapes. Marian Brehmer talked to the musician and listened to her latest CDMore

The Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat: "Every place can be my stage"Film review: "No Land's Song": One woman's quest to make Iranian women's voices heardInterview with the Iranian Virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor: For the love of improvisation
Discussion following a film screening in Cairo′s Jesuit Cinema Club (source: Jesuit Cinema Club)

″Cinema Clubs″ in Egypt

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Rediscovering the silver screen

Since the revolution of 25 January 2011, Egypt has seen a resurgence of its cinema clubs: places where fans of the "seventh art" (Alain/Schelling) meet, mostly in cultural centres, to watch films together and discuss them afterwards. Islam Anwar reports from CairoMore

Egyptian Cinema: Enormous creative energyDina Hamza′s documentary film "Gaye El Zaman": A daughter's tributeAhmad Abdalla′s film ″Decor″: Let the audience decide what′s real
Cigdem Aslan (photo: Alex Harvey Brown)

Album review: Cigdem Aslan's ″A Thousand Cranes″

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Tugging at your heartstrings

Cigdem Aslan's newest release, ″A Thousand Cranes″ on the Asphalt Tango Records label, harks back to a period when music and cultures came together in a celebration of life. By Richard MarcusMore

Album review: Trygve Seim′s ″Rumi Songs″: Musical wanderlustAlbum review: ″Sandaraa″ by Sandaraa: Fusion in the truest senseNew music from Pakistan: A captivating mix of sounds
Syrian musician Raed Jazbeh (photo: Samih Amiri)

Refugees and music

Finding common ground

Streams of migration are a challenge. On the move along with individual people are whole cultures, languages and habits that are sometimes not understood outside their homelands. Music, as a non-verbal phenomenon bound up with strong feelings, could operate as a medium for bridging the consequent perplexity. By Hans-Jurgen LinkeMore

Interview with the pianist Aeham Ahmad: Bittersweet memories of SyriaArab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra in Berlin: Playing for peaceInterview with Kinan Azmeh and Dima Orsho: "All we can do is sing and play our hearts out"
French author and translator Mathias Enard (photo: AFP)

Book review: Mathias Enard′s ″Boussole″

In love with the Orient

Mathias Enard has written a magnificent novel about Europe’s fascination with the Orient. Awarded France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt, the multi-layered and astounding book is the story of a great unfulfilled love, but above all a plea for cultural dialogue. Ulrich von Schwerin read the bookMore

Gertrude Bell: Queen of the desertGoethe and the Orient: Why did the poet's mind wander to far-off climes?Historical travelogues by women: Lugging a piano to KhartoumQantara dossier: Travel

Interview with Israeli author Etgar Keret

Why the world is under threat

Acclaimed author Etgar Keret is often viewed as a traitor due to his outspoken criticism of the Israeli government. Etgar spoke to Sabine Peschel about why he finds Berlin so tolerant and why he'd propose a three-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflictMore

Israeli military offensive in Gaza: Israel cannot winEtgar Keret and Samir El-Youssef: The incursion of politics into the private sphereInterivew: Etgar Keret: The ambivalence of the wall
Scene from Anis Hamdoun′s ″The Trip″ (photo: Theater Osnabruck)

Refugee performers and their projects

No more tales of woe

Often refugees on the German stage refugees are still merely authentic narrators of their fate, directed by established German directors. Can they produce their own material and make their own artistic voices heard? By Dorothea MarcusMore

Arab theatre at the Zurich Theaterspektakel: Between coma and protest"Queens of Syria" film and theatre project: ″I shall leave as my city turns to dust″Interview with Firas Alshater: ″Being a refugee is not my dream job″
Arab tourists in Baku, Azerbaijan (photo: azvision.az)

Azerbaijan′s enlightenment

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A nation at odds with itself

As the first Muslim country to grant women the vote in 1919, Azerbaijan is rightly proud of its enlightened heritage. Yet increasingly, tensions are arising between an evolving 21st century ″anything goes″ interpretation of religious tolerance and the secular legacy of its literary founding fathers. An essay by Nermin KamalMore

Muslims and Jews in Azerbaijan: Intercultural dialogue in the South CaucasusVeit Helmer's Absurdistan: Lysistrata in AzerbaijanPolitics and oil in Azerbaijan: The magic of numbers

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