Art
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Last stand for Afghanistan's art scene?
Afghan artists react to the Taliban takeover
Particularly threatened by the Taliban, some artists are trying to destroy all proof of their work. Others are creating last pieces as a form of resistance. Manasi Gopalakrishnan reports
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Berlin: "bê welat – the unexpected storytellers" exhibition
Taking a tender look at life through the Kurdish lens
How can the various realities of Kurdish life, shaped by depression, resistance and war, be depicted in art? This is the question addressed by the “bê welat – the unexpected storytellers” exhibition in Berlin. Ceyda Nurtsch reports for Qantara.de
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"What is Islamic art?" with art historian Wendy Shaw
What is art, when the primary sensory organ is the heart?
How can we truly appreciate the richness of cultures not our own? In her recent book "What is Islamic art? Between religion and perception", art historian Wendy Shaw explains the need to abandon our vision-centred perception of art and the aesthetic, embarking instead on a multi-sensory voyage of discovery. Interview by Lucy James
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Muslim artist designs stained glass windows for German abbey
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Muslim artist designs stained glass windows for German abbey
Afghan artist Mahbuba Maqsoodi redesigns the stained glass windows in Germany's oldest Catholic monastery, in Tholey (Saarland).
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Turkey's handle on soft power
Hit TV series from Turkey conquer the Arab world
Televised Turkish dramas are all the rage in the Middle East. A young Ottoman TV Empire has been expanding its soft power by harnessing regional dialects, Arabic names and viewers' desire for racy-yet-traditional plots. By Jennifer Holleis
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Interview with Iranian artist Parastou Forouhar
"Opposition to the religious patriarchal system is female"
As an artist, she translates experiences into images – for her political engagement, she was brought to trial. The Iranian contemporary artist Parastou Forouhar talks about idyllic places and war, suicide and opulence, and how women in Iran are fighting for equality. Interview by Siri Goegelmann
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Repression in Turkey
Art in exile: a prison cell as exhibition venue
What form does artistic freedom take in prison? The exhibition "Museum of Small Things" by exiled Turkish journalist Can Dundar explores the topic. By Ceyda Nurtsch
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Alireza Abiz' "Censorship of Literature in Post-Revolutionary Iran"
Iranian literature – the censor’s mindset
The Islamic Republic has a strict and often arbitrary system of censoring artistic and journalistic works. An in-depth investigation by writer Alireza Abiz uncovers the details and their impact on the book trade. By Gerrit Wustmann
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Interview with Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri
"We are lucky to be alive today"
In August 1978, four men set fire to the Cinema Rex in the Iranian city of Abadan, killing more than four hundred people inside. The event is said to have started the Iranian Revolution to overthrow the Shah's regime. Forty years later, "Careless Crime" by Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri depicts four men planning to burn down a cinema in a contemporary Iran where ghosts of the past haunt the current society. Interview by Schayan Riaz
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Exhibition: "Be/coming/home – Berlin, capital of exiles?"
Monument to diversity in the "Capital of Exiles"
"Be/coming/home" by the Berlin dis:orient collective – which runs until 22 December – showcases work by six artists in exile in the capital. The multimedia presentation, in the form of a COVID-secure urban walk through Kreuzburg and Neukolln, shows how they experience and influence Berlin as a city of exile. Hannah El-Hitami went to see the exhibition for Qantara.de.
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Art and liberation
Modern Arab art and the depiction of blue collar workers
The rise of liberation movements in the Arab World during the 20th century brought with them an array of complimentary works from the creative sector. Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi examines the phenomenon