Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

Berlin-based Israeli artist Adi Liraz works the history and stories of the women in her family into her fabric artworks, re-telling them for posterity. In the process, she challenges existing narratives about home, femininity and identity. By Ceyda NurtschMore

Shortlisted for the 2017 German Book Prize with her debut novel "Ausser Sich", playwright and novelist Sasha-Marianna Salzmann discusses the sense of flux – in language, gender and in nations – that dominates contemporary existence and how the past continues to live on. Interview by Noha AbdelrassoulMore

In "Capernaum", Nadine Labaki tells the dismal story of Zain, a boy living on the streets of Beirut. She calls the system behind it "modern slavery". Paul Katzenberger spoke to the Lebanese directorMore

Threatened with death by the Taliban, director Hassan Fazili fled to Europe with his family, filming their odyssey on his mobile phone. Itʹs not the first time that the refugee trek to Europe has been documented, yet the result is a film that not only serves as a political chronicle of our time, but is also a work of art. By Rene WildangelMore

When Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in Iran in 1979, he persecuted his opponents with severity. Maryam Zaree was born in a prison for political prisoners. With her film "Born in Evin" she breaks her silence. By Laura DoingMore

As a prelude to the album she's currently working on, "This Land is Your Land", Reem Kelani has just released the four track EP "Why Do I Love Her" – recorded live at the Tabernacle in London. By Richard MarcusMore

In her award-winning historical novel, French author Cecile Oumhani depicts the life story of a young Tunisian, who dreams of airship travel and a free and autonomous life, until his odyssey takes him via New York to the battlefields of the First World War. By Volker KaminskiMore

Since 9/11, Beirut-born Lebanese-American artist Helen Zughaib has used her art to project positive images of Arabs and the Middle East to a mostly American audience. Based in politically charged Washington D.C., her goal is not to take sides, but highlight the consequences of life-changing situations. By Yasmine SalamMore

Mbarek Ould Beyroukʹs "The Desert and the Drum" centres on a young womanʹs coming-to-political-consciousness in contemporary Mauritania. Winner of an English PEN Award, this translation, from the French by Rachael McGill, is being touted as the first-ever Mauritanian novel to be published in English. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the bookMore