Art
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Iraq post-IS
Mosulʹs cultural comeback
Music is back in Mosul, as are books and paintings. With Islamic State gone, locals are enjoying their newfound freedom and embracing culture. Will it last? Judit Neurink reports from Mosul
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Interview with Mauritanian artist Saleh Lo
"If I can restore some of their dignity, my work will have been a success"
Self-taught artist Saleh Lo grew up in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, playing with children from different ethnic communities, among them "Haratin" kids – the children of modern-day slaves in Mauritania. Today, the visual artist portrays freed slaves and anti-slavery activists. Interview by Siri Gogelmann and Wolfgang Kuhnle
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French festival showcases contemporary Turkish photography
Truths that buck the official discourse
"A Pillar of Smoke", currently on show in the southern French city of Arles as part of the "Les Rencontres d'Arles" festival, reveals the lively diversity of contemporary Turkish photography. The major group exhibition also highlights the political nature of the photographersʹ work. By Felix Koltermann
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Female Yemeni artists
Making art in times of war
Jeem is a new website for young, Arabic-speaking people, dealing with the topics "love, sexuality and society". The idea was first conceived in 2015, when the team at the Goethe-Institut in Cairo wanted to establish a digital project for youth in the region. This is an excerpt from an article by Afrah Nasser about four Yemeni artists who have been affected by war and displacement
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Traditional Palestinian "tatreez"
Sewing with a message
Once practiced by village women across Palestine, "tatreez" has become a symbol of women's resistance, identity and heritage. However, as Abbadi points out in an interview with Jan Tomes, this unique piece of Palestinian cultural heritage is now in danger of dying out
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Interview with Joobin Bekhrad, publisher of "Reorient"
Love-letter to Tehran
Joobin Bekhrad is the founder and editor of "Reorient", a well-known magazine for Middle Eastern arts and culture. Melanie Christina Mohr spoke to the author about art in Iran, rock ʹnʹ roll and his first novella
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Turkish actor Baris Atay
Defy the dictators!
Turkish actor Baris Atay plays a dictator in a one-man show that is intended to get audiences thinking. The play has been banned in several Turkish cities, but Atay remains defiant. By Gezal Acer
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Interview with Palestinian poet and artist Farid Bitar
″I must either be the voice of sanity or justice″
Palestinian artist and poet Farid Bitar's work was recently included in Smokestack Books' "A Blade of Grass: New Palestinian Poetry", edited by Naomi Foyle. One of the 60 people allowed to enter the Gaza strip for a few hours during the Gaza Freedom March in 2009, Bitar talks to Valentina Viene about his activism and his art
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Book review: Donia Maher′s ″The Apartment in Bab El Louk″
Chronicling a neighbourhood
Donia Maher′s award-winning graphic novel ″The Apartment in Bab El Louk″, featuring the combined talents of prominent Egyptian artist Ganzeer, political cartoonist Ahmed Nady and gifted translator Elisabeth Jaquette is a collaborative tour-de-force. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book
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Exhibition: "Jews, Christians and Muslims" in Berlin
Dispelling myths
The Berlin exhibition "Jews, Christians and Muslims: Scientific Discourse in the Middle Ages 500–1500" shows the circuitous routes by which knowledge made its way around the medieval world while dismantling the theory of a Judeo-Christian Europe. By Gustav Seibt
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The Jewish Museum Berlin's Jerusalem exhibition
The majesty and the misery
Shortly after Trump said the US would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the Jewish Museum Berlin opened a long-planned exhibition about Jerusalem, a city saturated with religion, politics, conflict and beauty. By Werner Bloch
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Documentary series: "Paradises of the earth"
The time is now
Nadir Bouhmouch, director of the ground-breaking web documentary series ″Paradises of the earth″, talks about the inception of the project and the urgency of telling North African stories