Culture

Symbolic image of refugees (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo)

Beyond the hackneyed Syrian refugee trope

Engage with our work, not our biographies

Since 2015 there has been a surge of interest in Syrian writing in German translation. In this series of interviews, writers, poets, publishers, and artists in Berlin talk about their experience with the publishing industry in Germany and beyond. By Mari OdoyMore

Syrian literature in times of turmoil: An author on standby Syrian author and poet Ra′id Wahsh: Who ate the sky?The Syrian poet Hala Mohammad: "They are stealing the soul from our revolution"

Screenshot from a video by Laxmi Dubey (source: YouTube/Laxmi Dubey/Screenshot)

Hindu nationalism in India

India's hate-filled "saffron pop"

In India, ultra-nationalist musicians are providing a soundtrack for Hindu extremists with songs that glorify violence. The goal is to make the secular and pluralistic country a Hindu nation. By Till FähndersMore

Cultural politics in India: India's celebrities confront Hindu nationalism Narendra Modi: The rape of India's soul Coronavirus in India: Muslims as scapegoats India's Muslims under Narendra Modi: Gandhi bows out

Israeli actress and singer Liraz Charhi (photo: Shai Franco)

Crossing cultural and political boundaries

Singer Liraz Charhi's secret collaboration with Iranians

In an act of subversive diplomacy, Israeli singer and actress Liraz Charhi has recorded her latest album in secret collaboration with Iranian artists. By Carl HolmMore

Pop video sparks political scandal: Iran's hardliners are losing the youth Music and power in Iran: An instrument of propaganda and control Qantara dossier: Musical worlds

Still from the film "Identity Limits", in which a mother struggles against the general perception in her Mosul neighbourhood that her husband was a "Daeshi," a member of IS (photo: elbarlament)

Iraqi women filmmakers

The power of stories and moving images

The four short films produced as part of the "Women Make Film" project are well worth seeing. They grapple with the ghosts that haunt Iraq: the horrors of IS rule, outdated gender roles and the aftermath of dictatorship. Christopher Resch spoke to the filmmakersMore

Showcasing the writing of Iraqi women: Close to the wounds, but even closer to hope Women's liberation in the Gulf: Arab women – fighting for their rights for 60 years The icon of Tahrir Square in Baghdad and Cairo: Arab Spring and October Revolution Civil society held hostage by corruption and murder: Libya's peace process doomed to failure without its women

Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri (photo: THE PR FACTORY)

Interview with Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri

"We are lucky to be alive today"

In August 1978, four men set fire to the Cinema Rex in the Iranian city of Abadan, killing more than four hundred people inside. The event is said to have started the Iranian Revolution to overthrow the Shah's regime. Forty years later, "Careless Crime" by Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri depicts four men planning to burn down a cinema in a contemporary Iran where ghosts of the past haunt the current society. Interview by Schayan RiazMore

Interview with the Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof: "Devils donʹt exist"Winner of the Berlinale 2020: "Sheytan Vojud Nadarad": There is no evil, unless it's perpetrated Iran's 37th Fajr Film Festival: Politics collide with the big screen in Tehran

Syrian music band from Ottoman Aleppo, mid 18th century, by Alex. Russel, M.D. 1794. The Chamber Music drawn from life, as described by Russel, "the first is a Turk of lower class, he beats the Diff [Daff]. The person next to him is an ordinary Christian and plays the Tanboor. The middle figure is a Dervish, he is playing the Naie [Nay]. The fourth is a Christian of middle rank, he plays the Kamangi. The last man, he beats the Nakara with his fingers in order to soften the the sound for the voice, but the drum sticks appear from under his vest" (source: Wikipedia.org: Public Domain)

Music in the Middle East

Attuned to a different classical

Many in the West equate Middle Eastern music with the folklore of "A Thousand and One Nights". Tayfun Guttstadt demonstrates just how erroneous this isMore

Album review: Kudsi Erguner's “La Melancolie Royale”: Ney music with a mission First Congress of Arab Music in 1932: A richly diverse palette of rhythm and timbre Musica Sequenza and Burak Ozdemir: "Rameau a la Turque": Orientalising Orientalism

Illustration from Samad Behrangi's "Little Black Fish", by Farshid Mesghali (screenshot: YouTube)

Modern Persian literature

Five Farsi novels and their impact on Iranian pop culture

Thinking of novels about Iran, the first titles that spring to mind might be "Persepolis", "Reading Lolita in Tehran" or "Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America". Internationally acclaimed books they may be, yet few will have heard of them inside the Islamic Republic. Changiz M. Varzi selects some seminal modern works penned in FarsiMore

Interview with the Iranian author Fariba Vafi: "Cliches have no place in writing″Iran and its authors: The perils of writing Contemporary Iranian literature: Reading outside the box

Exhibition flyer for “Berlin, capital of exiles? – Be/coming/home” (photo: dis:orient)

Exhibition: "Be/coming/home – Berlin, capital of exiles?"

Monument to diversity in the "Capital of Exiles"

"Be/coming/home" by the Berlin dis:orient collective – which runs until 22 December – showcases work by six artists in exile in the capital. The multimedia presentation, in the form of a COVID-secure urban walk through Kreuzburg and Neukolln, shows how they experience and influence Berlin as a city of exile. Hannah El-Hitami went to see the exhibition for Qantara.de.More

dis:orient exhibition: "Be/coming/home – Berlin, capital of exiles?"Human Rights Film Festival Berlin: Lives in limbo Birthing a literature of refuge: A question of mutual interest Syrians in Germany: The need to find a voice

e Lebanese artist Hayat Nazer has erected a statue made of broken glass, pieces of metal and debris opposite the explosion site at the harbour. The clock shows the time of the explosion: 6.08 pm (photo: Andrea Backhaus)

Explosion in Lebanon

The soul of the city – Beirut's cultural decline

The explosion in Beirut was a shock for Mary Cochrane, a member of one of Lebanon’s most prominent aristocratic families. Sursock Palace, where the family lives, was severely damaged in the blast, but there‘s no money to save itMore

Lebanon after the explosion Beirut's aftermath – shattering as 15 years of civil war Lebanese author Elias Khoury in interview: Beirut's ruling class – "The stupidest mafia there is"

Symbolic image: Iranian schoolbooks (photo: DW)

Control and censorship in the Islamic Republic

Iran’s doctored schoolbooks and the disappearing girls

Since the beginning of the Islamic Republic, the guardians of the country’s religion have been battling to get the correct image of society and history into young people’s heads. But the battle seems to be an increasingly hopeless one. By Shabnam von HeinMore

Contemporary Iranian literature: Reading outside the box Child trafficking in Iran: The agony of the destitute Iran′s image in the West: Sheer incredulity Photo gallery: Unwelcome images of life in Tehran

Still from Aminatou Echard's "Jamilia" (source: en.unifrance.org)

Aminatou Echard's "Jamilia" documentary

Recording the struggle for women's rights in Kyrgyzstan

Aminatou Echard's poetic documentary takes the 1958 novel "Jamilia" by Chingiz Aitmatov as the starting point for conversations with Kyrgyz women of all generations. Inspired by the novel’s eponymous heroine, the protagonists open up about their experiences, desires, and views on women’s rights. By Adela LovricMore

Fighting forced marriage in Kyrgyzstan: Bride abduction is not cool Bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan: A fateful tradition Interview with Halis Cicek: "Forced marriage is a contemporary form of slavery"

Excerpt from "The Prophet: A Graphic Novel", adapted and illustrated by Pete Katz (published by Canterbury Classics)

Pete Katz and "The Prophet: A Graphic Novel"

Romantic ideals for a new generation

Often disdained by intellectuals, Kahlil Gibran’s "The Prophet" has remained immensely popular for nearly a century since its publication in 1923. Now one of the most translated books in history has undergone another translation – into the visual sphere – by Pete Katz, who both adapted and illustrated the new volume. By Nahrain Al-MousawiMore

Book review of Najjar's Khalil Gibran biography: The Prophet and his flamboyant creator Muhammad Iqbal: A spiritual bridge between East and West Cyminology: A finely woven fabric of mysticism and music

Kurdish singer Aynur Dogan performing live on stage in Cologne, Germany, June 2014 (photo: Raimond Spekking/ CC BY-Sa 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons))

Album review: Aynur Dogan’s "Hedur"

Finding solace in the sounds of home

For years, singer Aynur Dogan has preserved and expanded the possibilities of traditional Kurdish music, lending a voice to her people. She has just released her seventh studio album. By Marian BrehmerMore

Interview with Kurdish singer Aynur Dogan: Resisting the wind The Kurdish people: Nishtiman music project: Transcending what divides Kurdish art rock band Adir Jan: Rainbow's hope in hell

Lebanese singer Fairuz

The "grande dame" of Arab music turns 85

Revered as "Mother of the Lebanese Nation" and "Harp of the Orient", Fairuz is a legend all over the Arab World. Now she is celebrating her 85th birthday. By Suzanne CordsMore

New drive against dissidents: The Greek tragedy that is Syria Qantara dossier: Arab music Legendary oud player and singer Sheikh Imam: Egypt's musical rebel

Sudanese author Leila Aboulela (photo: Judy Laing)

Interview with Sudanese-Egyptian writer Leila Aboulela

The challenge of identity in a non-monochrome world

Recently translated into German, "Minaret" tells the story of a young Sudanese woman exiled in London who finds refuge in Islam. Award-winning author Leila Aboulela talks to Anna-Theresa Bachmann about her work, Muslim immigrants in the UK and the recent Sudanese revolutionMore

Book review: Leila Aboulela's "Bird Summons": The arc of self-discovery Book review: "The Kindness of Enemies" by Leila Aboulela: Crises of identity and loyalty from Scotland to the Caucasus Horn of Africa: Give Sudan's fledgling democracy the support it deserves!

47Soul live on stage: the Shamstep party can begin (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/Esteban Martinena Guerrero)

Shamstep, dabke and the Palestinian cause

47Soul – a band without borders

While Palestinian political concerns are largely ignored these days, Palestinian band of the moment 47Soul is taking the Middle East's music scene by storm. By Daniel BaxMore

Album review: Reem Kelani′s ″Live at the Tabernacle″: Cultivating fusion Interview with Hamed Sinno, frontman of Mashrou’ Leila: Flouting Arab pop convention DAM – Palestinian Hip Hop: "We Are the Sugar Hill Gang of Palestine!"Qantara dossier: Musical worlds

Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi (photo: Ebru Yildiz)

Album review: Emel Mathlouthi's "The Tunis Diaries"

Beauty born of lockdown

The coronavirus lockdown has hit performing artists especially hard, with the cancellation of live concerts denying them their major source of income and promotional opportunities. Emel Mathlouthi was one artist who took to recording a solo project. By Richard MarcusMore

Album review: ″Ensen″ by Emel Mathlouthi: Princess melancholy The Tunisian protest singer Emel Mathlouthi: ''We are prepared to return to the streets''Qantara dossier: Musical worlds

On their reading tour through Germany, Iraqi authors Rola Buraq, Azhar Ali Hussein und Amal Ibrahim (left to right) spoke about their work and current developments in Iraq. Birgit Svensson (right) is the initiator of the Inanna network; in the background translator Günther Orth (photo: Christopher Resch)

Showcasing the writing of Iraqi women

Close to the wounds, but even closer to hope

The second volume of “Mit den Augen von Inana” (Through the Eyes of Inanna) is an impressive collection of purely female perspectives on modern Iraq, from the Saddam era through to the contemporary Tahrir Revolution. Christopher Resch spoke to three of the authorsMore

Women writers in Iraq: Writing to stay alive International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2014: "Frankenstein in Baghdad": Beyond good and evil

Still of main character Hoda taken from Farah Shaer's short film "Shakwa" (photo: Farah Shaer)

Gender inequality in the Middle East

Gritty Lebanese film challenges marital rape impunity in Arab world

In a short film set in Lebanon, where marital rape is not a crime, filmmaker Farah Shaer tackles one of Arab society's biggest taboos and highlights the difficulties women face when reporting domestic and sexual violence. Ban Barkawi has the detailsMore

Women's rights in Lebanon: Campaign exposes "victim-blaming" attitudes to rape Domestic violence against women in Lebanon: Protection, yes, but not enough Women′s rights in the Arab world: No house room for criminals

Musician and ney virtuoso Kudsi Erguner (source: YouTube)

Album review: Kudsi Erguner's “La Melancolie Royale”

Ney music with a mission

“La Melancolie Royale” is an hour-long Sufi meditation on the reed flute by the great Turkish virtuoso Kudsi Erguner. Marian Brehmer on a Sufi musician with a missionMore

Mercan Dede's album "Dunya": Earth as an acoustic notebook Sufism and Bollywood: A glittering antidote Album review: Trygve Seim′s ″Rumi Songs″: Musical wanderlust

The people who shaped Islamic civilisation

A reproduction of Muhammad al-Idrisi’s world map in the Book of Roger (1154)

Chase Robinson's new book "Islamic Civilisation in Thirty Lives" is an elegant digest of the many colourful, creative and technologically innovative manifestations that the Prophet Muhammad inspired from his seventh-century oases in the Arabian peninsula, reminding us that Islam is less a nihilistic creed than a global civilisation.More

Bahrain translation project: 50 key texts now available in Arabic

Titles chosen for translation during the six-year project include important reference works in the social sciences and the arts (photo: courtesy of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities)

The Knowledge Transfer Project sponsored by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities is winding down after contributing 50 new titles – including important reference works such as The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy and E.H. Gombrich’s The Story of Art – to the store of knowledge translated from English, French and Italian into Arabic.More

Barjeel Art Foundation announces winners of inaugural poetry prize

Image: Abdelhadi-El-Gazzar, Two people in space outfits, one of the 20 artworks from which poets could choose

The Sharjah-based Barjeel Art Foundation has announced the winners and runners-up of its first ever poetry prize. The poets are both adults and teens, writing in Arabic and English, from around the world, including poets in Nigeria, Gaza, and Russia. This new prize, awarded for the first time in 2020, recognises poems written in English and Arabic that respond to one of 20 works of twentieth-century Arab art.More

Women writing in Arabic: 10 poets to read now

There is very little Arabic poetry by women translated into English; for Women in Translation Month (#WiTMonth), we offer a brief look at ten poets.More

Minority off-screen, minority on-screen: The missing Muslim voice in "Indian Matchmaking"

Netflix hit series "Indian Matchmaking", starring Sima Taparia (photo: Netflix)

Despite a deluge of angry tweets and incensed opinion editorials calling Indian Matchmaking "outdated", "orientalist fantasy", "harmful", "cringeworthy", it is astonishing that few have managed to call the show out for its non-inclusiveness. Not one Muslim features in the line-up of this hit Netflix India series.More

UAE author Ahmed Mansoor made honorary member of PEN

UAE author Ahmed Mansoor (photo: Martin Ennals Foundation)

Germany's PEN has appointed blogger, poet and human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates since March 2017, as an honorary member and is demanding his unconditional and immediate release. Mansoor is one of the few independent voices to have publicly denounced human rights violations in the country.More

Johnny Farraj and Sami Abu Shumays: Inside Arab music

"Inside Arabic Music" is a landmark piece of literature for countless students of Arabic music and anyone wishing to learn more about its unique vibe.More

Syrian Heritage Archive Project

Khusruwiyah Mosque in Aleppo (photo: Aga Khan Trust for Culture/Michel Ecochard)

The Syrian Heritage Archive Project was launched in 2013 in response to Syria's enormous loss of material heritage following the outbreak of hostilities in 2011. Teams at the Museum of Islamic Art and the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin are working to digitise and archive photo collections and research data on Syria.More

Nabil Saleh takes a walk through Baghdad

On a recent sunny afternoon, I took advantage of the partial lifting of the curfew imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus and decided to drive to central Baghdad, where I enjoy long walks through its aching streets.More

"Quarantine Kitchen": An Iranian artist documents people's routines during lockdown

From the Quarantine Kitchen series by Golrokh Nafisi (source: scenearabia.com)

Iranian artist Golrokh Nafisi has started a series of sketches, "Quarantine Kitchen", documenting the daily scenes and stories of Iranians' newfound time in the kitchen during quarantine.More

Dissident Iranian filmmaker wins top prize at Berlinale

The prestigious Golden and Silver Bears have been handed out at the Berlin Film Festival. Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was awarded the Berlinale’s top prize, the Golden Bear, for his film 'There Is No Evil'.More

Female Arab directors: 11 films that you need to see

Still from Algerian director Narimani Mari's "Bloody Beans" (screengrab)

Western critics too often overlook the contribution of Arab women behind the camera. The following 11 titles – in no particular order – are an introduction to the vast pool of Arab women directors whose films are estimated to constitute half of all independent films produced in the region today.More

CNN's Amanpour interviews 2019 Man Booker International prizewinner Jokha Alharthi

"Celestial Bodies" is the first Arabic novel to win the Man Booker International Prize. Amanpour speaks with Omani author Jokha Alharthi and translator Marilyn Booth.More

Arabic literature to be published in translation in 2020

In recent years, the number of Arabic books – both fiction and non-fiction – available in translation has been on the rise. The ArabLit team has put together a list of titles scheduled for publication in 2020.More

The rise and fall of Egyptian Arabic

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi delivers a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2018 in New York City (photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images); Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser addresses the Egyptian people on 31 March 1968 (photo: STF/AFP/Getty Images)

Once the lingua franca of the Arab world, Egypt's dialect is in decline along with the country's cultural and political leadership, says The EconomistMore

Arab music down the decades

Iranian-Saudi acappella artist Alaa Wardi and Anghami have combined 42 of the most popular Arabic songs, dating back to the 1900s, in a video that gives a whole new meaning to music in the digital age.More

Mirna Bamieh delves into Palestinian cuisine

Mirna Bamieh, artist and cook, is fighting the appropriation and disappearance of Palestinian cuisine by reviving old food practices and forgotten dishes.More

Kurdish artist Shanaz Jamalʹs robe for religious co-existence

Iraqi Kurdish artist Shanaz Jamal, 40, embroiders a robe decorated with religious symbols of communities of Iraq's multi-ethnic north, in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region, on 27 March 2019 (photo: Getty Images/AFP/S. Hamed)

On the long white fabric of Shanaz Jamalʹs lovingly embroidered religious robe, the cross faces the crescent and the three-branched wing of the Zoroastrians to the nine-pointed star of the Bahais: with her embroidery, Jamal aims to reconcile the multi-ethnic north of Iraq recently ravaged by jihadistsMore

Harvard Law School's "Words of Justice" include Koran Sura

Included in Harvard Law School's Words of Justice exhibition, Verse 135 of Sura Al Nisa adorns the entrance hall: “O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both".More

Arabic literature and the African other

Poster advertising the second Annual Arabic Novel Conference hosted by La Maison du Roman in Tunisia, its focus "Black-skin issues" (source: La Maison du Roman)

Racist, anti-black stereotypes persist in Arabic literature. It reveals a racial anxiety and othering of Africa among celebrated Arab authors, writes Mona Kareem.More

A photographic tour of Europe's mosques

Prayer hall of the Pasha Cammii, in Tetovo, Macedonia (photo: Ahmed Krausen)

Mosques have been part of the European landscape for centuries, as this photo essay by Ahmed Krausen demonstratesMore

Albukhary Gallery of the Islamic World: "A soaring miracle of art"

It goes without saying that The British Museum's 4-million piece collection of historical objects is one of the most unparalleled in the world. But for the last four years, the museum has been working hard on one project in particular: a brand new gallery dedicated exclusively to the Islamic world.More

Modern art and antiques on show at Lebanon cube museum

Lebanon's Nabu Museum (source: nabumuseum.com)

Named after the Mesopotamian god of wisdom, the Nabu Museum opened in late September to showcase the cultural wealth of an ancient region devastated by conflict.More

New publication: ArabLit Quarterly

Cover of the first edition of ArabLit Quarterly (published by ArabLit.org)

The ArabLit Quarterly officially made its debut on 15 November 2018. This latest publication is the work of the award-winning literary website ArabLit.org., founded and edited by regular Qantara reviewer Marcia Lynx Qualey.More

Archaeological discovery sheds light on Islam's Early Golden Age

DCT Abu Dhabi's archaeologists recently discovered the UAE's oldest mosque in Al Ain. The excavation of the 1000-year old mosque along with a network of falaj dating back to the Abbasid Caliphate, is expected to shed new light on UAE’s history at the dawn of Islam.More

A.B. Shawky's "Yommedine": a coming-of-age comedic road trip

A Coptic leper and his orphaned apprentice leave the confines of the leper colony for the first time and embark on a journey across Egypt to search for what is left of their families.More

Pre-Islamic "ruin poetry" has a message for today

Imruʹ al-Qais, an exiled poet-king, is credited as the originator of the "ruin poetry" form – one of his poems is said to hang in the Kaaba at Mecca (source: The British Library)

The ruins that inspired pre-Islamic poets hold new meaning for today’s Arabic writers, writes Paul CooperMore

William C. Chittick lectures on Ibn Arabi

"It is He who is revealed in every face, sought in every sign, gazed upon by every eye, worshipped in every object of worship, and pursued in the unseen and the visible. Not a single one of His creatures can fail to find Him in its primordial and original nature" - Ibn Arabi, Futuhat al-MakkiyyaMore