Arts and Culture in the Mideast

Image, Space and Power: Photography and Paradox in Algeria

This photograph nearly got me arrested. Yeah, yeah—I’m being hyperbolic here, but I’m also not joking. What is this image, exactly? It is a few pieces of bread wrapped in a plastic sack—resting against a wall in Algiers, it’s a small still life in a public park on a cloudy afternoon. It’s also a rapid-fire introduction to the politics of power, public space and images in contemporary Algeria.

I moved to Algiers for a brief term of comparative research for my doctoral dissertation, which primarily concentrates on Morocco. However much I’d like to pretend otherwise, I arrived with latent, pre-determined notions of a culturally-unified “Maghreb”— the kind of ideas a good cultural theorist (or non-blind observer) will quickly destroy.

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire: A Review of Trishna

There is a line in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d'Urbervilles, when a character remarks that Tess has jumped “out of the frying pan and into the fire!” It is an apt characterization that comes to life in Michael Winterbottom’s film adaptation of the classic novel, Trishna.

Winterbottom and the film’s star, Frieda Pinto (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) were both present at the Tribeca Film Festival in April to introduce the film, where they also praised the festival for its dedication to independent filmmaking.

Transporting the story from 19th century England to modern-day India, Trishna follows its namesake protagonist (Pinto), a peasant from the villages of Rajasthan, and her relationship with Jay (Riz Ahmed), the wealthy and charismatic hotelier. How the initial attraction develops into a complexly dangerous relationship forms the crux of the plot.

Women and Beauty Celebrated at Egyptian Arts Festival

‘When you look at the form of a woman, you see beauty and love.’

So said the Sheikh of al-Azhar University, Mohamed Gamia, in an address that challenged stereotypes at the opening of the fourth annual Caravan Festival of Arts in Cairo last week.

‘We came here today to satisfy our soul for its need of beauty,’ Gamia went on.

‘When you look to the heavens, you see beauty and love. When you look to the kingdom of earth, you see beauty and love. When you look in the faces of people, you see beauty and love.’

“Art is Politics”: A Conversation with Iraqi Artist Wafaa Bilal, Part II

In the second half of Wafaa Bilal’s exclusive two-part interview with Aslan Media contributing writer Amanda Rogers, he offers his thoughts on representing the United States in the 2011 Jakarta Biennale shortly before the “official” end of the war in Iraq, the impact of digital media on free expression in the Arab world and political art as a responsibility of “good citizenship.”

AM: In terms of reception, have you noticed a marked difference in how audiences have received work based on nationality, or gender, or other factors?

“Art is Politics”: A Conversation with Iraqi Artist Wafaa Bilal, Part I

Comfort zones are equally as damaging as they are protective. Harmful because they isolate, desensitize, and in the case of many Americans living a snug distance away from major conflict zones, they dehumanize, simplifying entire populations into images on a TV screen where the choice to flip a switch off is all we need to disconnect ourselves from ongoing violence that much of the world cannot escape.

Where engagement stalls, artists have long stepped in subvert stereotypes and instigate dialogue. Iraqi-born artist Wafaa Bilal is no exception. Working from a childhood of violence and oppression during Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime and an adult immigration that opened him up to the vulnerabilities of ignorance and discrimination, Bilal is an artist who doesn’t condemn, but rather holds up the mirror, reflecting the flaws of both Iraqi and American society, taking us out of those comfort zones and into those where understanding can begin.

Easter Wisdom and Egyptian Hope

In Egypt, Easter is celebrated today according to the Orthodox calendar. It is a rather strange holiday as it sets off a bit of schizophrenia in the country. Unlike Christmas, which is a national holiday, it seems to many that Easter is a regular day.

Except it isn’t.

Christians are allowed to take the day off and many Muslims take it off also. The Monday following Easter is a national holiday, called Shem al-Naseem (Smelling the Breeze), which is a social holiday going back to the Pharaonic age in celebration of Spring.

The government grants many holidays, both national and religious, and as Muslims and Christians together recognize the prophet Jesus, Coptic Christmas is designated officially. There is little protest of this fact, save for some Salafis who also oppose recognition of Muhammad’s birthday.

Where London and Mecca Meet: The British Museum’s Hajj Exhibition

In his letter from Hajj, a spiritual journey for Muslims and the largest gathering of people in the world, Malcom X, once wrote: "Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this ancient Holy Land.”

As one of the five pillars of Islam, Hajj is expected of all Muslims at least once in their lives if they are able. Despite the massive number of Muslims that travel to Mecca each year, the event is still one of the least understood for those outside the Muslim faith.

In an effort to better educate the public on the significance of Hajj and its evolution throughout history, The British Museum of London, in partnership with The King Abdulaziz Public Library Riyadh, put together Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam, the third installment of the museum’s curated series that showcases the spiritual journey. Tickets sold out the first week it opened. 

The Future, Now on View: A Review of Ala Ebtekar’s Elsewhen

The concept of “the future” has often been the subject of art, literature, and cinema with the question, “what will tomorrow look like?” pressing on the minds of many over the centuries. Between the turmoil currently afflicting the greater Middle East from the aftermath of the Arab Spring in Egypt and Libya, the plague of unrest that still pummels opposition in Syria, and the heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, the threat of continuing conflict into the future between disparate groups seems inevitable.

So is that it? Should humanity resign itself to thinking of the future in such a pessimistic light?