Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

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

Leading Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti has died at the age of 77. Born four years before the state of Israel was created in a village near Ramallah, Barghouti spent much of his life in one form or other of exile – which he recounted in the memoir "I Saw Ramallah", described by fellow Palestinian writer Edward Said as one of the finest accounts of Palestinian displacement.More

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

The Knowledge Transfer Project sponsored by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities is winding down after contributing 50 new titles – including important reference works such as The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy and E.H. Gombrich’s The Story of Art – to the store of knowledge translated from English, French and Italian into Arabic.More

There is very little Arabic poetry by women translated into English; for Women in Translation Month (#WiTMonth), we offer a brief look at ten poets.More

Germany's PEN has appointed blogger, poet and human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates since March 2017, as an honorary member and is demanding his unconditional and immediate release. Mansoor is one of the few independent voices to have publicly denounced human rights violations in the country.More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"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