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Morgenland Festival Osnabruck

Countering patriarchal cliches

Focusing on music from the Levant to Central Asia, Osnabruck's Morgenland Festival occupies a special place in the German festival landscape. Prior to the 18th festival, which begins on 21 June, Stefan Franzen spoke to festival manager Michael Dreyer about the musical concept, the political dimension, and whether the term 'Morgenland' [engl. 'the East', 'Orient'] is still in keeping with the times
Middle Eastern music

Music in the Middle East: Attuned to a different classical

Many in the West equate Middle Eastern music with the folklore of "A Thousand and One Nights". Tayfun Guttstadt demonstrates just how erroneous this is
Kioomars Musayyebi's "A voice keeps calling me"

The nights speak to me

With his new album, "A Voice Keeps Calling Me", the Persian santur player Kioomars Musayyebi is building bridges from Iran across the Arab world to European early music. By Stefan Franzen
Arooj Aftab's "Vulture Prince"

Coping with pain in Urdu

The first musician with Pakistani roots to win a Grammy, Arooj Aftab has been recognised for her third album Vulture Prince – a meditative, moving song cycle in which she captures loss and pain using poetry in Urdu and guest collaborators from all over the world. By Stefan Franzen
Matchmaking among Indians

Why do Indian expats in Europe still seek an arranged marriage?

Arranged marriages have been the norm in India for centuries. Now online dating sites, the "marriage market" and changing social norms have seen matchmaking services evolve – especially for Indian expats in Europe. By Shabnam Surita
Iranian cinema: "A Tale from Shemroon"

King of the night

Many reports on Iran focus on Tehran's middle classes, giving a rather one-sided impression of the country. New film release "A Tale from Shemroon" is also set in this milieu. So does it succeed in presenting a more multi-faceted picture? Lisa Neal watched the film for Qantara.de
The legacy of Lebanon's Lokman Slim

"His work lives on in all of us"

German filmmaker Monika Borgmann, widow of slain Lebanese activist Lokman Slim, is continuing the work they began together in Lebanon. By Lea Bartels
Climate crisis: Iran and Afghanistan dispute Helmand water rights

Iran and Afghanistan recently exchanged gunfire amid rising tensions over water supplies. The countries are engaged in a decades-long dispute over rights to the Helmand River, on which Iran depends to irrigate land in its arid south.
Nubian women in post-revolution Egypt

The Nubians, inhabiting a 700 mile stretch of Nilotic villages between Egypt and Sudan since the days of the Pharaohs, have been around for the most of Egypt's long history. Until the construction of the High Dam in 1964, their lives were determined by the ebb and flow of this ancient river. Subsequently some 50,000 Nubians from 45 towns were forcibly relocated to ″New Nubia″, a vast concrete housing development far from any arable land. This catastrophic loss of land heightened the already common migratory trend of men going abroad for employment and changed the community for good. Text and photos by Maya Hautefeuille
"Iraq's Invisible Beauty"

Pictures, not words

"Iraq's Invisible Beauty" is a documentary film depicting the journey of the late Iraqi photographer Latif al-Ani, who gained international acclaim as one of the pioneers of photography in Iraq and the Middle East. By Shady Lewis Botros