Graffiti outside Tahrir
‘Against Modern Football’ from Henry Hemming on Vimeo. Does anyone know more about this – like who made it, when and why?
View ArticleJeddah
last week was fascinating. I was there for the opening of We Need to Talk, billed as the most significant exhibition of contemporary art ever held in Saudi Arabia. Here’s my write-up in the Art...
View ArticleSigns of Conflict
is a fascinating website, one that I’ve only just heard about, an online archive of political posters made during the Lebanese Civil War. Here’s one of my favourites.
View ArticleMakkah
as I’ve never seen it before. This is worth it for the unforgettable closing shot.
View ArticleThe Disappearance of
Orwa Nyrabia in Syria is a chilling reminder of the cultural repression that goes on under Assad, alongside everything else we’ve read about in the last year. Rather than try to paraphrase Lawrence...
View ArticleThere’s An Interesting Piece
on Saudi art in today’s Guardian, in advance of the show about to open on Saturday night at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, which should be excellent. Above is one part of Ayman Yossri Daydban’s...
View ArticleAbdulnasser’s Capitol dome
was even taller than I had imagined. Here’s my piece on it for The Washington Post. And in case that link doesn’t work, here are some more pictures of it:
View ArticleMiddle East in London
Above: Khaled Jarrer, ‘Volleyball’, 2012 The number of London galleries dedicated to Middle Eastern art continues to grow. As well as the long-running (and consistently excellent) Rose Issa Projects,...
View ArticleCairopia
Here’s a gorgeous illustration by Jennie Edwards for the piece I wrote in February’s Condé Nast Traveller: ‘A Letter From… Cairo’. What’s amazing is just how much it takes me back to the day described...
View ArticleLatest from Mecca
This is spectacular. It’s the pinnacle from one of the towering new minarets going up around the Ka’aba in Mecca as it is swung into position. Apparently the film was shot by one of the men working on...
View ArticleWadjda
is fascinating and emphatically Saudi. It’s a protest movie, really, without protesting or being at all confrontational. While there were moments when it seemed to be getting too didactic, it never...
View ArticleSaqi
Here’s a piece I wrote some time ago for Qulture.com about the wonderful people at Saqi Books, in Westbourne Grove. Long may they prosper.
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