Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

#Susamam has had more than 25 million clicks on YouTube. The musicians' message to their fellow citizens: "Don't remain silent!" The ruling AKP party in Turkey feels provoked; the Turkish press has even admonished Deutsche WelleMore

"Karin" is a musical dialogue between two virtuosos seeking to reconcile the souls of their home countries through their instruments. Marian Brehmer listened to the second album of Armenian duduk virtuoso Vardan Hovanissian and Turkish baglama master Emre GultekinMore

Amir Hassan Cheheltan has not published a novel in Iran in 15 years. The 62-year-old author does intend to refrain from writing either about politics or eroticism, as censorship in Iran prescribes. In Europe, meanwhile, his works are enjoying increasing popularity. Eight books by Cheheltan have already been published in German. Interview by Nasrin BassiriMore

Timbuktu, the ancient desert city in Mali, has always been shrouded in myths. Charlie English’s "The book smugglers of Timbuktu" proves that the city has not lost its magic. By Dagmar WolfMore

In their field journal “The Crack” photographer Carlos Spottorno and journalist Guillermo Abril report the unfolding of Europeʹs migrant crisis from Africa to the Arctic over the course of three years. Their aim? To identify the causes and consequences of Europeʹs identity crisis. Interview by Naima MorelliMore

Percussionist Habib Meftah has made an international name for himself with clubbable, acoustically altered folk music. But he also works with dancers and musicians from other genres. His versatility is based on the traditional musical culture of his southern Iranian origins. Interview by Bernd G. SchmitzMore

The idea of taking a group of US citizens from Trump's America on a free cultural exchange trip to Cairo, Egypt, sounds like either a lunatic plan or somebody's idea of a bad practical joke. Yet this is just what Tarek Mounib did. The film "Free Trip To Egypt" documents how he came up with the idea and implemented it. By Richard MarcusMore

On 20 November 1979, Islamic militants took over the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam. Hundreds were killed in the ensuing two-week siege. This pivotal event in modern Islamic history changed Saudi Arabia. It provides the backdrop for Raja Alem's new novel "Sarab", an extraordinary story of love, faith, violence and gender. By Marcia Lynx QualeyMore

In her fifth novel, French author Alice Zeniter addresses some very thorny and painful issues in the history of Franco-Algerian relations. Demonstrating a profound knowledge of the subject matter, Zeniter's novel highlights the lot of the Harkis, Algerian Muslims who fought on the side of the French in the Algerian War of Independence. Claudia Kramatschek read the bookMore