Art
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Egyptian photographer Heba Khalifa in interview
"A space for confronting our fears"
Heba Khalifa is an Egyptian photographer and fine artist. Her current project "Homemade" is supported by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and the Magnum Foundation. Islam Anwar interviewed the artist in Cairo
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The first German graphic novel in Arabic
Sketches with global appeal
How does one go about telling a story as dramatically tragic as that of the young Somali sportswoman who lost her life attempting to cross the Mediterranean in a refugee boat? And can such a story be told by a writer best known for graphic novels, comic books for adults? By Manfred Ewel
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Gay artists revisit Berlin-Istanbul relations
Queer forms migrate
While heightened political tensions between Turkey and Europe grab the world's attention, an exhibition at Berlin's Schwules Museum refreshingly highlights the gay community's links to Istanbul. Report by Jan Tomes
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Baghdad City of Peace Carnival
Grassroots, green shoots
An annual event shows what the Iraqi people want most of all: peace. Young people in Baghdad organise a major street carnival to set positive images against the daily news of violence and war. The event has also given rise to regular participation in civil society. By Eva-Maria Verfurth and Qayssar Alwardii
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Award-winning Iranian film director Asghar Farhadi
Watching the foundations crumble
How does human fragility express itself in a rigid social system? Oscar-winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi′s "The Salesman" reveals the precariousness of urban middle-class life in the Islamic Republic. By Jasmin Astaki-Bardeh
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"The Pearl of Dari" by Zuzanna Olszewska
Treasuring their common Persian heritage
A book about young Afghan poets in exile casts a new perspective on Afghans in Iran. Marian Brehmer read the Oxford anthropologist Zuzanna Olszewska′s study
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Syrian author Hamid Sulaiman
″The hospital is the true hero″
Defiance in the face of the adversity is the main theme of Hamid Sulaiman′s comic novel ″Freedom Hospital″. In interview with Stefan Dege the author talks about the confounding situation in Syria, about torture, destruction and death – yet also about hope
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Interview with the Lebanese media artist Rabih Mroué
"Images until victory?"
Is it possible to do a real revolution via digital media? Katerina Valdivia Bruch spoke to the Lebanese artist Rabih Mroué about his lecture performance "The Pixelated Revolution", which focuses on information transfer and the treatment and the power of images in the digital era
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Film review: "Aligarh"
Sensitive portrait of a tragic story
A film about the fate of a gay professor at India's renowned Aligarh University highlights the country's difficult relationship with homosexuality. Marian Brehmer watched the drama
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Turkish documentaries at Dok Leipzig 2016
Resilience in the face of adversity
The spotlight at the 59th Festival for Animation and Documentary Films in Leipzig was on Turkey. Numerous films and discussions showed how the cultural and film scene is coping with a country that is currently being torn apart by fierce social and political conflicts. By Madeleine Prahs
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Refugees, Frauke Frech and The Grand Beauty Salon
From peach to nectarine
It’s a delicate matter – placing one’s looks in the hands of a stranger, all the more so if this person comes from another part of the world. With her cosmopolitan art studio for beauty, artist Frauke Frech has created a platform for meetings between cultures. By Natalie Goltenboth
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Book review: Hilal Chouman′s ″Limbo Beirut″
Hybrid lives
″Limbo Beirut″ is Hilal Chouman′s third novel, but his first to cross over into English. Beautifully translated by Anna Ziajka Stanton, this illustrated novel is a five-part portrait of interconnected lives, written in markedly different styles. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book