Culture

Still featuring Mohammad Seddighimehr and Baran Rasoulof; Mohammad Rasoulof's "Sheytan vojud nadarad" - There is no evil (source: Berlinale)

Winner of the Berlinale 2020: "Sheytan Vojud Nadarad"

There is no evil, unless it's perpetrated

Mohammad Rasoulof’s film "Sheytan Vojud Nadarad" (There is No Evil) won the Berlinale, perpetuating the robust presence of Iranian cinema at the festival during the post-Kosslick era. The Golden Bear went to a powerful episodic film addressing the issue of difficult decisions and their consequences. In Iran, and everywhere else. By Rene WildangelMore

Mohammed Rasoulof's ''Manuscripts don't burn'': Iranian agents as killers Berlinale 2019: "Born in Evin": Confronting a very personal trauma Film review: Jafar Panahi's "Three Faces": Road movie against patriarchy

British-Sudanese author Leila Aboulela (photo: picture-alliance/EdinburghEliteMedia/Ger Harley)

Book review: Leila Aboulela's "Bird Summons"

The arc of self-discovery

Interweaving the real with the fantastical, Leila Aboulela's latest book is a lovingly drawn portrait of evolving friendships. Practically co-dependent at the outset, three women embark on a joint pilgrimage, discovering not only that they like each other, but that they also like themselves. Richard Marcus read the bookMore

Book review: "The Kindness of Enemies" by Leila Aboulela: Crises of identity and loyalty from Scotland to the Caucasus Arabic Europe: The writers fated to "represent"Oriental cliches in literary publishing: A Dalek in a burka

Kurdish director Selim Yildiz (photo: Umay Isik)

Interview with Kurdish director Selim Yildiz

When one dies, the next goes up into the mountains

In his film “Dialogue“, Selim Yildiz addresses a social taboo which is a reality for many Kurds in Turkey: young men suddenly disappear and joined armed groups in the mountains. Interview by Semiran KayaMore

Kurdish film-maker Ali Kemal Cinar: The power of tenacity Hiner Saleem's "Dol": Artistic freedom in Iraqi Kurdistan James Joyce′ "Ulysses" in Kurdish: Across snotgrean seas

Sama standing on ruins in Aleppo in 2016. She holds a placard which says "This is Aleppo. What's justice?" (source: "For Sama"/Waad al-Kateab)

Documentary film: "For Sama"

The girl from a country in ruins

"For Sama", the film by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts that was crowned best European documentary at the last European Film Awards, gives us a very personal view of the war in Syria and the suffering of the civilian population. By Schayan RiazMore

At the Oscars, 'The Cave' aims to provide hope to Syria Syria’s White Helmets: Stigmatising saviours Fighting for democracy and a free Syria: "Ideas cannot be killed with weapons" – remembering Raed Fares

Fajrina Razak references the Kaaba: her cube of batik cloth was surrounded by a neon circle, thereby representing the artist's spiritual quest. "This was simply me trying to find my inner self, my individuality. The batik alludes to my Javanese ancestry" (photo: Naima Morelli)

2020 Singapore Art Week

Of spirituality in a contemporary age

How to talk about spiritual matters in a highly secularised, hyper-pragmatic society? This was the question artists exhibiting at the Stamford Art Centre in Singapore grappled with during the 2020 Singapore Art Week. By Naima MorelliMore

Interview with Malaysian artist Nadiah Bamadhaj: Freeing the body from conservatism 4th Qalandiya International art exhibition: Showing for Palestinian solidarity Exhibition: Political art and resistance in Turkey: The art of remembering

Iranian bookshop owner Bijan Khalili from Los Angeles (photo: DW/Gero Schliess)

Contemporary Iranian literature

Reading outside the box

Mullahs, dictatorship, nuclear conflict – Iran could be reduced to these keywords if one were to rely only on the articles in the daily press. But to really understand a country better, you have to study its literature. And Iranian literature is just as diverse as the country itself. By Gerrit WustmannMore

Iran′s image in the West: Sheer incredulity Book review: Fariba Vafi′s "Der Traum von Tibet": Women suffering in silence Book review: Amir Hassan Cheheltanʹs "Der standhafte Papagei": History of a revolution

The artist Elia, played by director Elia Suleiman, in "It Must Be Heaven" (distributed by Le Pacte)

Film review: Elia Suleiman's "It Must Be Heaven"

"Open the door, you ass"

Palestine is disappearing. From the international agenda, from the map, as a concept. The filmmaker Elia Suleiman from Nazareth reacts in the only possible way: using the language of the absurd, says Stefan Buchen in his reviewMore

Interview with film director Samuel Maoz: Israeli "Foxtrot" pulls no punches Film review: "Dancing Arabs" by Eran Riklis: Dancing at two weddings Berlinale 2018: "What Walaa wants": Against all the odds

Egyptian author Mansoura Ez-Eldin (source: Facebook)

Book review: Mansoura Ez Eldin's novel "Shadow Spectres"

The fantasy of wholeness

Marija M. Bulatovic shares her impressions of "Shadow Spectres" by Mansoura Ez Eldin – recently translated into Serbian by Dragana Dordevic as "Priviđenja iz senke"More

Interview with the Egyptian author Mansoura Ez-Eldin: "The current situation is untenable"Mansoura ez-Eldin's ''Beyond Paradise'': Dark family secrets on the Nile Women's rights in post-revolutionary Egypt: A second revolt for Sheherazade's daughters

Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor (photo: namaya.ir)

Portrait of Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor

Cultural emissary and grand master of the kamancheh

These days you might be forgiven for wondering whether international relations would be better served by artists than politicians. Iranian Kayhan Kalhor, a bridge builder from the world of music, holds both the 2019 WOMEX Artist Award and the 2018 Isaak Stern Human Spirit Award. By Bernd G. SchmitzMore

Interview with the Iranian virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor: For the love of improvisation The Silk Road Ensemble: "The Music of Strangers" – A quest for perfect harmony Mohammad-Reza Shajarian: The master rebel

37th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's 37th Fajr Film Festival

Politics collide with the big screen in Tehran

With prominent film makers cancelling their attendance, the organisers of Iran's flagship cultural event are under pressure. The Fajr film festival in Tehran shows how culture can be used to make a political point. By Philipp JedickeMore

Qantara dossier: Iranian cinema Award-winning Iranian film director Asghar Farhadi: Watching the foundations crumble Silent and moving images from Abbas Kiarostami

Still from"Tlamess" by Tunisian director Ala Eddine Slim (source: unifrance.org)

Film review: "Tlamess" by Ala Eddine Slim

Enchantment at the end of the world

"Tlamess", a visually striking experimental feature by Tunisian director Ala Eddine Slim, brings two drop-outs together in a weird, wild cohabitation in the woods: a desperate army deserter and a pregnant woman who walked away from her seemingly perfect life. By Adela LovricMore

A new age dawns for Tunisian cinema: Press reboot!Film review: Nouri Bouzidʹs ʺThe Scarecrowsʺ: Making amends is one path to healing Tunisian film "Dachra": Horror meets black magic

Istanbul State Theatre (photo: DW/Pelin Unker)

Culture in Turkey

Is Erdogan purging Turkish state theatre?

At least 150 theatre professionals were recently fired without reason in Turkey, just days before they were expecting to receive permanent contracts. Creatives accuse the government of a politically motivated purge. By Pelin UnkerMore

Flouting freedoms in Turkey: Self-censorship thriving Interview with jailed Turkish human rights activist Osman Kavala: "Nonsensical accusations"Restoring Istanbulʹs Ataturk Cultural Centre: More than merely prestige?

Iranian author Shokoofeh Azar (source: wilddingopress.com.au)

Book review: Shokoofeh Azar's "The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree"

Straight to the heart

With "The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree", Shokoofeh Azar has created a beautiful, sad fable set in a horrible reality. While there are moments of hope to be found in the past and in the realms of magic, they are fiercely trammelled underfoot by the cruelty and harsh realities of the world. Richard Marcus read the bookMore

Book review: Eka Kurniawan′s ″Beauty is a wound″: A hidden literary gem Mahmud Doulatabadi's "The Colonel": Bitter reckoning with Iran's past Book review: Mehrnousch Zaeri-Esfahani's "33 Arches and a Teahouse": A million butterflies in my head

Excerpt from an Iraqi maqama manuscript dating from 1237 (source: University of Victoria/Fine Arts)

The maqamas of Ibn Naqiya in German translation

The picaresque poet from Baghdad

The "maqama", a classical Arabic form of prose-poetry, is still almost unknown in Germany – as is the name of the 11th-century Baghdad poet Ibn Naqiya. A new translation has the potential to change all that. By Gerrit WustmannMore

Book review: Stefan Weidner's ʺ1001 Books. The Literatures of the Orientʺ: The Middle East – a rich vein of world literature The Book of Exposition: An archaeology of erotica Arabic-to-English literary translation: Raising the profile

Iranian author Pajand Soleymani (photo: private)

Book review: Pajand Soleymani's "Immer mit Zucker"

Bittersweet life

In her novel "Immer mit Zucker" Pajand Soleymani creates a surreal world of cinematic images, intellectual discussion and dreamlike transformation. An unusual reading experience distantly reminiscent of the stories of "One Thousand and One Nights". Volker Kaminski read the bookMore

Book review: Fariba Vafi′s "Der Traum von Tibet": Women suffering in silence Interview with Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar: Bridging the gap between outrage and fear Book review: "I'm Probably Lost" by Sara Salar: Silent rebellion

Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Book review: Tawfiq al-Hakim’s "Return of the Spirit"

Awaiting the day of resurrection

In 2019, the long-running Penguin Classics series released its first novel translated from Arabic: Tawfiq al-Hakim’s "Return of the Spirit", conveyed into English by William Hutchins. Al-Hakim wrote his popular novel in Paris in 1927 and published it in Cairo six years later, in 1933. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the bookMore

Book review: Tawfiq al-Hakim's "The Revolt of the Young": A revolutionary manual for older generations Interview with Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji: When writing becomes a crime Interview with the Egyptian author Youssef Rakha: "Taken together, these things would make up home..."

Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum (photo: Imago Images/ZUMA/S. Chung)

An Arab reading of the Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum

Tea with the bogeyman

Contemporary artist Mona Hatoum is one of those figures whose presence in western capitals stimulates much attention and critical writing, while her exhibitions in Arab cities like Amman or Doha don’t seem to generate more than a few lines in the culture and entertainment sections. Yazan Loujami explores why this is soMore

Traditional Palestinian "tatreez": Sewing with a message Photo essay: Embroidering for emancipation in Palestine Interview with Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour: Covert war

Mosul Light Orchestra gives a recital in Erbil (photo: Goethe-Institut/Samyan Shaboy)

Overcoming cultural divisions

"Iraq is full of inspiring stories"

At the end of November, a squad of young cultural creatives from all over Iraq met in Erbil, in the country’s north. Their work spans the fault lines that run through Iraqi society, and draws parallels to the revolution in Baghdad and in the country as a whole. Christopher Resch reports from ErbilMore

Women′s writing workshop in Basra, Iraq: Writing to survive Caricaturists in Iraq: Walking a satirical tightrope Iraq post-IS: Mosulʹs cultural comeback

Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith (source: Bella Union)

Album review: Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith – "Mummer Love"

Harar awakening

What do New York City poet and musician Patti Smith, the late French poet Arthur Rimbaud, composer Philip Glass, Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke and the Sufi Group of Sheikh Ibrahim have in common? After listening to the album "Mummer Love" from Soundwalk Collective, you may begin to find the connection. Review by Richard MarcusMore

Simin Tander and Tord Gustavsen: The harmony of mysticism Album review: ″Ensen″ by Emel Mathlouthi: Princess melancholy Album review: "The Paris Session" by The Touré-Raichel Collective: Expanding each other's musical horizons

Turkish-German writer Dogan Akhanli (photo: picture-alliance)

Interview with author Dogan Akhanli

"The tradition of looking the other way"

Published in German, Dogan Akhanli's novel "Madonna's Last Dream" pays homage to Sabahattin Ali’s classic "Madonna in a Fur Coat" – as well as being a narration of the crimes of the 20th century from the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust through to the refugee stories of our time. Gerrit Wustmann spoke to the Cologne-based authorMore

The case of Dogan Akhanli: Without mercy Imprisoned Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: Literature is more powerful than tyranny Interview with Sanem Altan, daughter of Turkish detainee Ahmet Altan: ″The rule of law is disappearing″

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