Culture

Algerian musician Abderrahmane Abdelli (photo: private; source: ARC Music)

Abderrahmane Abdelli's "Songs of Exile"

Yearning for home

As current events continue to remind us, people all over the world are constantly being forced into exile. "Songs of Exile", created by Algerian Berber exile Abderrahmane Abdelli, captures the plight of these people and expresses some of their hopes and fears through music. By Richard MarcusMore

Album review: Tartitʹs "Amankor/The Exile": Lapping at your consciousness Album review: Anansy Cisse's "Anoura": A joyful tonic for the pandemic-weary Boubacar "Badian" Diabate's "Mande Guitar: African Guitar Series Vol 1": Acoustic guitar played with passion and joy

Graffiti artist Shamsia Hassani

Giving voice to Afghanistan's oppressed

Afghanistan's first female street artist depicts Afghan women as they face renewed Taliban threats. Despite the danger, she pursues her work of resistance. By Cristina BurackMore

Last stand for Afghanistan's art scene? Afghan artists react to the Taliban takeover "Their lives are in danger": Afghanistan’s female athletes sound alarm after Taliban takeover Qantara photo essay: Afghanistan's youth – what future with the Taliban?

A female artist at work in Afghanistan (photo: Shah Maral/AFP/Getty Images)

Last stand for Afghanistan's art scene?

Afghan artists react to the Taliban takeover

Particularly threatened by the Taliban, some artists are trying to destroy all proof of their work. Others are creating last pieces as a form of resistance. Manasi Gopalakrishnan reportsMore

Afghan female artists in Berlin: Straightening the pictures Portrait: Massoud Hossaini: The photographer from Kabul Afghan director Salim Shaheen: Master of dreams Islamic art: Iconoclasm: the counter-narrative Qantara photo essay: "Talibanned": From kite-running to breakdancing – not again!

Shida Bazyar (photo: Verlag Kiepenheuer und Witsch/Tabea Treichel)

Book review: Shida Bazyar's novel "Drei Kameradinnen"

Words like fire

Shida Bazyar's new novel is the literary surprise of the year. It tackles the pressing issues of our time, and yet it is timeless. This is a story of friendship, marginalisation and society's blindness to its own deep-seated problems. Gerrit Wustmann read the book for Qantara.deMore

Young Iranian women writers in Germany: Patchwork identities Qantara dossier: Integration in Germany Obituary: Iranian-German poet SAID Book review: Raihana Raha's "My Mother's Tales"

Raihana Raha (photo: Asghar Nour Mohammadi)

Book review: Raihana Raha's "My Mother's Tales"

Fairy tales depicting independent Afghan women

Raihana Raha's debut book, a collection of Afghan tales, offers a timely perspective on the history of Afghanistan, its patriarchal society and social morality, as the Taliban makes rapid territorial gains. By Changiz M. VarziMore

"The Pearl of Dari" by Zuzanna Olszewska: Treasuring their common Persian heritage The Afghan author Taqi Akhlaqi: The not-so-universal art of writing Interview with Atiq Rahimi: Unable to move forward

Boubacar "Badian" Diabate's "Mande Guitar: African Guitar Series Vol 1"

Acoustic guitar played with passion and joy

"Mande Guitar: African Guitar Series Vol 1" by Boubacar "Badian" Diabate is the first release on the Lion Songs Records label just established by esteemed music journalist Banning Eyre. Primarily an album of solo guitar tracks, each song on the album is a different exploration of Diabate's virtuosity. By Richard MarcusMore

Anansy Cisse's "Anoura" – A joyful tonic for the pandemic-weary Album review: "Jamal" by Alkibar Jr. – Mali's musical resistance Album: ″Lost in Mali″ – Celebrating a musical landscape

Salim Dau (left) and Hiam Abbass in a still from the film "Gaza mon amour" (photo: Alamode Film)

Film review: "Gaza mon amour"

Palestinian world cinema by the Nasser brothers

With "Gaza mon amour", the Nasser brothers have made a film in a genre that doesn't actually exist: regular Palestinian arthouse cinema. By Bert RebhandlMore

Film review: Elia Suleiman's "It Must Be Heaven"Berlinale 2018: "What Walaa wants" – Against all the odds Raed Andoni's "Ghost Hunting" at the Berlinale: The ghosts that lurk Film review: "The 90 Minute War" – A level playing field

The Giza pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo (photo: Getty Images/K. Desouki)

Archaeology in Egypt

Ancient Pharaonic boat taken to Egypt's grand new museum

In Ancient Egypt, the pharaohs had "solar boats" built to take them into the afterlife. One of these boats was discovered in 1954. It has now been moved to the Grand Egyptian MuseumMore

Tutankhamun – his grave and his treasures: Replicas that dazzle and impress Treasures of the Ancient Middle East: Deciphering the first written language German archaeologist and explorer Max von Oppenheim: Enchanted by the Myth of the Orient

30.05.2017., Zagreb, Croatia - The European Short Story Festival - Reading and FESS Short Story Award Ceremony. Hassan Blasim (photo: Tomislav Miletic/PIXSELL)

Book review: Hassan Blasim's "God 99"

A different sort of sacred

Reading Hassan Blasim's God 99 is an immersive experience of grief and exaltation, anger and disgust, writes Marcia Lynx Qualey. We join the Iraqi narrator as he sits around in seedy Finnish bars and plays slot machines; as he meets refugees and listens to their stories; as he exchanges letters with a dying friend; and as he crosses a kaleidoscopic series of bordersMore

Trauma in contemporary Arab literature: Translating oblivion Previously unpublished work: Naguib Mahfouz' "The Quarter"Book review: Hassan Blasim's "The Corpse Exhibition"

Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan during a speech on an earlier anniversary of the coup attempt in Turkey in 2016 (photo: Reuters/Turkish Presidency)

Turkey five years after the attempted coup

"Witch hunt" focuses on Turkish artists and intellectuals

Artists and intellectuals in Turkey are coming under massive pressure. Since the attempted coup against Erdogan by parts of the military in 2016, the government has intensified its crackdown on critical voices. Now the coronavirus pandemic is proving the final nail in the coffin. Ceyda Nurtsch reportsMore

Third anniversary of the attempted coup in Turkey: "A gift from Allah" for Erdogan Creeping authoritarianism: Turkeyʹs one man band The restructuring of Turkey: Filling the gap left by Gulen Culture in Turkey: Is Erdogan purging Turkish state theatre?

Beizar Aradini's work "To and From Home", thread on tulle, 2021 (courtesy of the artist)

Berlin: "bê welat – the unexpected storytellers" exhibition

Taking a tender look at life through the Kurdish lens

How can the various realities of Kurdish life, shaped by depression, resistance and war, be depicted in art? This is the question addressed by the “bê welat – the unexpected storytellers” exhibition in Berlin. Ceyda Nurtsch reports for Qantara.deMore

Turkey's Syria offensive: Burying the Kurdish autonomy project The future of a people: Good Kurd, bad Kurd Album review: Aynur Dogan’s "Hedur": Finding solace in the sounds of home

Film poster "Invisible" (source: YouTube screenshot)

Film review: Marianna Kakaounaki’s "Invisible"

Turkish refugees in Greece – out of sight, out of mind

Turkish refugees are for the most part invisible in Greece. In her film debut, the Greek journalist and filmmaker Marianna Kakaounaki portrays the fate of Turkish followers of the preacher Fethullah Gulen forced to flee their country after the coup attempt against Erdogan in 2016. Rene Wildangel caught a screening at the Thessaloniki Documentary FestivalMore

After the fire in Moria: For many migrants, the dream of freedom ends in Lesbos Greece and the asylum-seekers: How do you solve a problem like Moria?Exiled Turks in Greece: Bridge-building in 'enemy country'Escalation or mediation in the Eastern Med? Turkey and Greece at loggerheads over maritime sovereignty

French-Moroccan author Leila Slimani (photo: Getty images/AFP/J.Saget)

Leila Slimani's "The Country of Others"

Dreams in times of crisis

Bestselling author Leila Slimani's latest novel tells the story of her grandmother’s arduous life in rural Morocco during the immediate post-war period. Married to a Moroccan officer, the French woman struggles with the differences between their cultures, while both encounter growing hostility from the French settlers, and from the nationalists agitating for Moroccan independence. Volker Kaminski read the bookMore

Interview with Franco-Moroccan author Leila Slimani: "Treat right-wing extremists like children" Social media fosters creative writing in the Maghreb: Published by Facebook Qantara dossier: Moroccan literature Moroccan writer Abdellah Taia: Disenchantment and a hint of nostalgia

Israeli percussionist Ben Aylon (photo: Ben Aylon)

Album review: Ben Aylon's "Xalam"

More than a one man tribe

Ben Aylon’s debut international album sees him elevate the traditional music and instruments of Senegal and Mali into a fresh contemporary setting. Seven years in the making, "Xalam" features the late, great Malian diva Khaira Arby and sabar drumming legend Doudou Ndiaye Rose. By Richard MarcusMore

Album review: ″Lost in Mali″: Celebrating a musical landscape Album review: Diali Cissokho and Kaira Baʹs "Routes": Marrying music and culture Groupe RTD: Energy and rhythm from Djibouti to the world

Scene from "Fatma's Revenge" (source: YouTube screenshot)

Hit streaming series "Fatma's Revenge"

Netflix takes on the Turkish macho

Since the end of April, a Netflix series has been broadcast in Turkey about the cleaner Fatma, who searches for her missing husband in six episodes and ends up in a murderous odyssey. The series celebrates the woman as a hero who defends herself against humiliation, threats and sexual harassment, writes Jochen MenzelMore

Istanbul Convention: How a European treaty against women's violence became politicised Turkey's femicide problem: "It was suicide!" – a state-sanctioned cover-up?The Istanbul Convention and women's protection: Bombing the heart of the family in Turkey?Islamic popular culture: A match for Bollywood – the rise of Turkey's dizis Turkey's handle on soft power: Hit TV series from Turkey conquer the Arab world

Cover of Nasser Kanani's "The Love Poetry of Hafez through the Lens of German Literature: Hafez and his German Devotees" (published in German by Königshausen & Neumann)

Iranian literature in Germany

Roses from Shiraz: German devotees of Hafez

For centuries, the great classical Persian author Hafez has inspired German writers. Translations, adaptions and homages have been created in his wake, and the process continues today. Nasser Kanani has published an expansive book on Hafez’ German devotees. By Gerrit WustmannMore

Professor Nasser Kanani on the Persian poet Hafez: "The joyful audacity of his spirit, the melody of his poetry"Caught between tradition and modernity: Will ancient poet Hafez win the "soft war" in Iran?Contemporary Iranian literature: Reading outside the box

Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2021 (photo: YouTube screenshot)

Literary power politics

Spotlight on the UAE's 30th Abu Dhabi Book Fair

They’ve already got the Louvre; they’ll soon have a Guggenheim Museum as well – and now the Emirates have added literature to their quest for cultural supremacy in the Arab world. Stefan Weidner reports from Abu Dhabi, from the first book fair of this year to take place in personMore

Habermas, the Sheikh Zayed Award and Arab reactions: Habermas and the contradictions of the Arab intellectual A triumph for discourse: Juergen Habermas' rejection of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award German angst and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award: Habermas, philosopher of communication, rejects dialogue Qantara dossier: Arabic literature

UNESCO World Heritage Site: the Old City of Sana'a in Yemen (photo: picture-alliance/epa/Y. Arhab)

Book review: Threa Almontaser's "The Wild Fox of Yemen"

An emotional landscape of subtle complexity

"The Wild Fox of Yemen" by Threa Almontaser is an anthology of poetry that gathers readers up and into itself and immerses them in the poet's world – the world of a first-generation American/Yemeni trying to find her way in a country while her familial roots are far across oceans in Yemen. By Richard MarcusMore

A Muslim Poetry Slam: The Five Pillars of i,Slam Poetry anthology: Fady Joudah's "Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance"Mahmoud Darwish: Building bridges with Arabic poetry

The Iranian-German poet SAID in 2006 (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/dpa-zentralbild/M. Schulte)

Obituary: Iranian-German poet SAID

Shout your names

Among the authors writing in German who are not native speakers of the language, SAID, who was born in 1947, was among the most successful and the most unconventional. Highly politically engaged, he remained true to his position between cultures. He died on 15 May. By Stefan WeidnerMore

Interview with the Poet SAID: "I have defended my piety against the Islamic Republic"Professor Nasser Kanani on the Persian poet Hafez: "The joyful audacity of his spirit, the melody of his poetry"Contemporary Iranian literature: Reading outside the box Iran′s image in the West: Sheer incredulity

Kamancheh virtuoso Misagh Joolaee (YouTube screenshot)

Album review: Misagh Joolaee's "Unknown Nearness"

Silent yearnings

Produced during the coronavirus pandemic, Misagh Joolaee's latest album returns to the most concentrated expression of the kamancheh – solo performance. Plumbing spiritual depths whilst exploring new virtuoso techniques, "Unknown Nearness" traces an arc between Persian tradition and enigmatic echoes of Western music. By Stefan FranzenMore

Album review: Misagh Joolaee's "Ferne": Expanding the horizons of the kamancheh Persian singer Mamak Khadem: Open to new influences Portrait of Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor: Cultural emissary and grand master of the kamancheh

Young Senegalese author Mohamed Mbougar Sarr wins Prix Goncourt

Mohamed Mbougar, 2021 winner of France's prestigious Prix Goncourt for Literature (photo: Joel Saget/AFP)

A young Senegalese writer unknown to the general public was on Wednesday awarded the Prix Goncourt, France's leading literature prize, with a novel exploring the destiny of a cursed African author.More

Elias Khoury: "Lebanon has always rebelled against political repression"

Lebanese writer Elias Khoury (photo: imago/ZUMA Press)

What’s the difference between an assassination and an execution? This is the headache of a question facing Lebanese; it existed before Lokman Slim was killed, and it looks likely to preoccupy people for a long while to come. The question goes to the heart of the cultural scene and the intellectuals in Lebanon, Egypt and the Arab Levant.More

"Two Gods" studies the life of a Muslim casket maker

An intensely cinematic portrait of male friendship and mentorhood. In Newark, NJ a Muslim casket maker and ritual body washer brings two young men under his wing to teach them how to live better lives.More

Lughatuna: The Living Arabic Project

The Living Arabic Project, created by Hossam Abouzahr, is home to the first online, multi-dialect Arabic dictionary – app or desktop version – that focuses on practical usage and can be searched in Arabic and English.More

New Lines Magazine: How the eggplant conquered Arab cuisine

From feared culinary outcast to omnipresent ingredient, this misunderstood fruit has come a long way since the 9th century.More

Treats and tradition in Tehran's oldest, tiniest teahouse

Owner Kazem Mabhutian, 63, serves tea at the smallest and oldest teahouse tucked away in an alleyway of the Grand Bazaar in the Iranian capital Tehran on 20 September 2021 (photo: ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Tea is a mainstay of popular culture across the Middle East, from Morocco to Qatar. Tucked away in Tehran's Grand Bazaar is arguably the world's tiniest tea shop. The owner's signature brew – "the tea of kndness" – is just one of the many treats awaiting discoveryMore

"Iberian Moorings" compares Muslim and Jewish golden ages

Casa de Sefarad, Cordoba (photo: Zarateman, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Known to Jews, Muslims, and Christians by three different names – Sefarad, al-Andalus, and Hispania, respectively – the Iberian Peninsula has been a centre of fertile intellectual, cultural and spiritual production for multiple religious traditions.More

New York Times: What a tiny masterpiece reveals about power and beauty

Rosette bearing the names and titles of Shah Jahan; folio from the Shah Jahan album (photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Four centuries ago, mighty crosscurrents of religion and culture flowed into a new Indian art. It was courtly and refined, but also eye-poppingly luxuriant.More

Eight Arab architects who shaped the world

New Gourna, Egypt, designed by Hassan Fathy (source: Mille)

For centuries, Arab and Islamic architecture has given birth to traditional styles and world heritage sites, which are studied across the world today for their level of detail and craftsmanship. It is a rich architectural heritage that has paved the way for modern Arab architects. We take a look at eight Arab architects who have shaped the region’s architectural scene over the past fifty years.More

BBC: How the Arab Spring changed cinema

Still from Tamer El Said's "In the Last Days of the City"

A decade after the revolutions, Joseph Fahim looks at how filmmakers reacted to the seismic events – and asks whether the real story of the uprisings is yet to be told.More