Culture

Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif (photo: Catherina Hess/A1 Verlag)

Interview with Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif

Life in a war zone

It is his third novel – and the darkest one to date: in "Red Birds", Mohammed Hanif, the well-known Pakistani novelist and author, makes us re-think our Western notions about everyday life in a conflict setting. Interview by Claudia KramatschekMore

Mohammed Hanif: My country, caving to the Taliban Mohammed Hanif's "A Case of Exploding Mangoes": A tangled tale Interview with Mohammed Hanif: "People did not want the Taliban"

French-Moroccan film director Nabil Ayouch (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Nabil Ayouchʹs "Razzia"

Soaked in sorrow

With his new film "Razzia", the French-Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch has once again turned to social criticism. Yet, his multi-perspective narrative about five misfortunate Moroccans never really takes off. By Schayan RiazMore

Nabil Ayouch's film "Much Loved": Sinner or saint?Nabil Ayouch's film ''God's Horses'': Ostracised and forgotten Arab auteur film art: An authentic image of the Arab youth

Afghan-Lebanese-American filmmaker Mariam Ghani (source: YouTube)

Interview with filmmaker Mariam Ghani

The power of propaganda

In "What We Left Unfinished", Afghan-Lebanese-American filmmaker Mariam Ghani discusses the forgotten era of Afghan Communism and its ties to arts, culture and propaganda. Interview by Emran FerozMore

Ahmad Shah Massoud: Afghanistan's Cold War hero Interview with Farhad Darya: "Life is beautiful! Don't ruin it!"Afghan cinema: "We were lacking just about everything"Massoud Hossaini: The photographer from Kabul

German-Iraqi author Abbas Khider (photo: Jens Schlueter/Getty Images)

Book review: Abbas Khiderʹs "Deutsch fuer alle"

Simply making German simpler

The German language should be simplified and made more accessible to all. Then integration would also work, says Abbas Khider. His proposals sound strange at first, but they are not. A book for grammar lovers. By Swantje SchutzMore

Interview with the Iraqi author Abbas Khider: "German is my new language"Qantara dossier: "German-Arab Literature Exchange"Arabic literature as a cultural asset: Uncharted waters

DJs Rafi Gazani and Uros Petkovic at Arab Beats (photo: Sergej Kreso)

Balkan DJs initiate anti-racism parties

Berlin's Arab Beats

The creator of Berlin's legendary Balkan Beats nights, Robert Soko, has now launched Arab Beats, an event that invites Syrian refugees and German party-goers to come together – and snub the country's racist movements. By Robert RigneyMore

Balkan Beats: ARABBEATS Interview with the Egyptian DJ Mohammed Safi: Voice of the people Electro Festival "Les Dunes Electroniques" in Tunisia: Beats and bass in the desert Refugees and music: Finding common ground

Photomontage of director Abdelhamid Bouchnak and the "Dachra" film poster (source: YouTube)

Tunisian film "Dachra"

Horror meets black magic

Long queues outside the cinemas and tickets like gold dust. Tunisiaʹs first horror film "Dachra" is currently smashing box-office records across the country. By Sarah MerschMore

A new age dawns for Tunisian cinema: Press reboot!Iranian film "Khook": When heads roll Qantara dossier: "Arab cinema"

Maverick and enfant terrible of the Arab film scene: Youssef Chahine (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Egyptian film-maker Youssef Chahine

The great visionary of Arab cinema

Obsessive, argumentative, yet well ahead his time artistically and in terms of the subject matter his films addressed: 11 years after his death director Youssef Chahine remains a lodestar for the emerging Arab independent film scene. Christopher Resch explains whyMore

Youssef Chahine: "Chaos": Sympathy with the upright citizens of Egypt Interview with Youssef Chahine: "Tenderness has disappeared"Obituary: Youssef Chahine: A cosmopolitan envoy of freedom

Isabelle Eberhardt

Writer, nomad and feminist

Rather than perpetuate the romanticised image of the Orient commonplace in 19th century literature, writer and nomad Isabelle Eberhardt traversed and explored the Maghreb with a critical eye. She not only condemned French colonialism, but also the established gender roles of her era. By Melanie Christina MohrMore

Pierre Loti: Dreams of the Orient Qantara dossier: "Travels in the Orient"Gertrude Bell: Queen of the desert

Artist Nil Yalter in "Walls"; acrylic on offset print, Vietorstrasse, Cologne-Kalk. Exhibition "Exile Is a Hard Job". Museum Ludwig 9 March - 2 June 2019 (photo: Nil Yalter/H. Krause)

Interview with Turkish-French artist Nil Yalter

"Female immigrants are doubly imprisoned"

"Exile Is a Hard Job" is a spot-on title for the retrospective of Turkish artist Nil Yalter's oeuvre at Museum Ludwig in Cologne. For over 40 years, she has been exploring the situation of migrant workers. By Sabine OelzeMore

Egyptian photographer Heba Khalifa in interview: "A space for confronting our fears"Suspended Territories exhibition: Beyond the veil Portrait of the Israeli performance artist Adi Liraz: Provocation as a search for identity

Man passing a mural on Si Tir Street in Tehran, a famous boulevard in the Iranian capital (photo: Tasnim)

Christian Welzbacherʹs "Iran, Ordibehescht 1396"

Freeloading in Iran

"Iran, Ordibehescht 1396" is the title of a new book about Iran. According to the publisher, the "travelogue" by Christian Welzbacher is "a call for dialogue with the supposed enemy". For reviewer Fahimeh Farsaie, it feels more like a catalogue of tired cliches about the Middle EastMore

Iran′s image in the West: Sheer incredulity Book review: Peter Heineʹs "The Culinary Crescent": Pepper... a universally-used condiment The German board game 'Istanbul': Good clean Oriental fun?

Israeli artist Adi Liraz (photo: Ceyda Nurtsch)

Portrait of the Israeli performance artist Adi Liraz

Provocation as a search for identity

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

Traditional Palestinian "tatreez": Sewing with a message Interview with the Israeli artist Guy Briller: The Jerulin process Book review: Uri Shani's "Nemashim" theatre project: Creating a level playing field

Libyan author Ibrahim al-Koni (source: YouTube)

Book review: Ibrahim al-Koniʹs "The Fetishists"

Intricate patterns of the mind

Imagine a book of more than 500 pages where plot and character donʹt matter, a giant multi-room museum piece that asks to be read in stages and puzzled over. Ibrahim al-Koniʹs epic novel "Al-Majus" – newly available in English translation as "The Fetishists" – is just such a read. By Marcia Lynx QualeyMore

Book review: ″The New Waw: Saharan Oasis″ by Ibrahim al-Koni: Cultivating the strange Libyan writer Ibrahim al-Koni: "The true trade is life""Translating Libya": Non-political stories of love and hardship

Author and playright Sasha Marianna Salzmann (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Dedert)

Interview with playwright and novelist Sasha Marianna Salzmann

The trap of the century

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

German-Turkish author Emine Sevgi Ozdamar: A literary maverick The integration game: A German-Syrianʹs trip to the hairdresser Transgender rights: Pakistan's Hijra hold their heads high

Moroccan writer Fatima al-Zahraaʹ Al-Riyadh (photo: Imane Bouziane)

Social media fosters creative writing in the Maghreb

Published by Facebook

Social media has democratised literary publishing, paving the way for young Moroccan writers to publish works which previously would not have enjoyed publication through traditional outlets. By Ismail AzzamMore

'The Olive Writers' creative writing programme for young Moroccans Literary trends: Introducing Egypt's BookTubers Hoda Marmar, administrator of Beirutʹs Bookoholics: Truly, madly, deeply into books Arab teens and Young Adult literature: The new wave

Lebanese film director Nadine Labaki (photo: Getty Images)

Interview with Lebanese film director Nadine Labaki

"Children are the first to pay for our wars"

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

Social inequality in the Arab world: There is no state in Lebanon Interview with Nadine Labaki: Thinking outside the box Nadine Labaki's film "Caramel": Rules of the game beyond the civil war

From left, exhibition co-ordinator Heba Farid, artist Huda Lutfi, curator Shiva Balaghi, and artist Sherin Guirguis (photo: Sherin Guirgis)

Inauguration of the AUC Tahrir Cultural Center

Manifesting the unseen

New work by Huda Lufti and Sherin Guirguis explores the poetics of revolution and repression at a pair of exhibitions marking the inauguration of the Tahrir Cultural Center at the downtown campus of the American University in Cairo. By Mahmoud Saber and Jacob WirtschafterMore

Portrait of the Egyptian artist Soad Abdelrasoul: Creating her own universe The Egyptian artist Ali Abdel Mohsen: The natural pessimist The cultural scene in Egypt: Creative artists are the motor for change

Still from Hassan Faziliʹs "Midnight Traveler" (source: IMDb.com)

Berlinale 2019: Hassan Faziliʹs "Midnight Traveler"

That our voices wonʹt be silenced

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

Deportations to Afghanistan: No safe country of origin Afghan director Salim Shaheen: Master of dreams Interview with Siddiq Barmak: An Afghan view of suffering

Still from "Khartoum Offside" (photo: Marwa Zein/Berlinale)

Berlinale 2019: Marwa Zein's "Khartoum Offside"

Football, film and freedom in Sudan

Marwa Zein has made an impressive documentary about the Sudanese women's football team, if only the national football association would recognise it as such. The players are neither allowed to represent their country at international level nor set up a domestic women's football league. By Rene WildangelMore

Jafar Panahi's "Offside": Protected from the profanities of the bellowing fans Iran's stadium ban on women: Excluding the people Protests in Sudan: The yellow vests of Khartoum

German actress, film-maker and author Aryam Zaree (photo: Stefan Kluter)

Berlinale 2019: "Born in Evin"

Confronting a very personal trauma

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

Obituary: dissident Ebrahim Yazdi: An emblematic figure of Iranian politics bows out Interview with Mahvash Sabet: Lyrical flights Qantara dossier: Iranian Cinema

Trailer of Florian Kunertʹs "Fortschritt im Tal der Ahnungslosen" (source: YouTube)

Berlinale 2019: "Fortschritt im Tal der Ahnungslosen"

Questing for a lost homeland

In the "Valley of the Clueless" in Saxony, where Arab contract workers were once employed alongside GDR factory workers, East Germans and refugees meet for a peculiar trip down memory lane. Rene Wildangel reports from this year's BerlinaleMore

Official "Fortschritt im Tal der Ahnungslosen" website Berlinale 2018: ″Central Airport THF″ by Karim Ainouz: Lives lived in waiting Germany′s Berlinale: Where film meets reality

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