Islamic art
All topics-
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
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2020 Singapore Art Week
Of spirituality in a contemporary age
How to talk about spiritual matters in a highly secularised, hyper-pragmatic society? This was the question artists exhibiting at the Stamford Art Centre in Singapore grappled with during the 2020 Singapore Art Week. By Naima Morelli
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Global history of ideas – contemporary Muslim art
Enlightenment rediscovered
A black sequined dress against a dark background. Two expressive hands dancing. A western dance, an "Oriental" dance – whatever that is. The video-sound-collage of artist Anahita Razmi sets out to demonsrate that cultural forms of expression can be adapted. By Christopher Resch
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Uncovering Portugalʹs Islamic roots
Where Christians pray facing Mecca
Archaeologists in Mertola have spent the last 40 years looking for traces of Portugalʹs Islamic past. What they found shows that Islam is not alien to Europe and has in fact deeply influenced Portuguese history and culture. By Marta Vidal
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Obituary: Turkish photographer Ara Guler
Chronicler of a bygone age
Turkey's most famous photographer, Ara Guler, has died in Istanbul at the age of 90. With his images of both the people and places of the Turkish capital, Guler has done more than any other to keep the memory of the city as it used to look alive. By Marian Brehmer
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4th Qalandiya International art exhibition
Showing for Palestinian solidarity
The fourth Qalandiya International exhibition opens with shows in the West Bank and Gaza, but also in Lebanon and Germany, crossing borders the Palestinians themselves can't pass. By Sarah Judith Hofmann
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Iraq post-IS
Mosulʹs cultural comeback
Music is back in Mosul, as are books and paintings. With Islamic State gone, locals are enjoying their newfound freedom and embracing culture. Will it last? Judit Neurink reports from Mosul
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The Maghrebʹs Moorish-Spanish legacy
Andalusia begins in northern Morocco
Any journey to southern Spain, to Al-Andalus, is akin to the start of a dream that finds its beguiling continuation beyond the Pillars of Hercules, in the Andalusian cities of northern Morocco – Tangiers, Chefchaouen, Tetouan, Fes, Meknes, Larache and Asilah. The relationship between Morocco and Spain is closer than we think. By Mourad Kusserow
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French festival showcases contemporary Turkish photography
Truths that buck the official discourse
"A Pillar of Smoke", currently on show in the southern French city of Arles as part of the "Les Rencontres d'Arles" festival, reveals the lively diversity of contemporary Turkish photography. The major group exhibition also highlights the political nature of the photographersʹ work. By Felix Koltermann
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Interview with Joobin Bekhrad, publisher of "Reorient"
Love-letter to Tehran
Joobin Bekhrad is the founder and editor of "Reorient", a well-known magazine for Middle Eastern arts and culture. Melanie Christina Mohr spoke to the author about art in Iran, rock ʹnʹ roll and his first novella
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Exhibition: "Jews, Christians and Muslims" in Berlin
Dispelling myths
The Berlin exhibition "Jews, Christians and Muslims: Scientific Discourse in the Middle Ages 500–1500" shows the circuitous routes by which knowledge made its way around the medieval world while dismantling the theory of a Judeo-Christian Europe. By Gustav Seibt
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Qatar-Germany Year of Culture 2017
Crisis, what crisis?
Showing solidarity through an art exhibition? In the Qatar-Germany Year of Culture, Volkswagen and Deutsche Bank are bringing European design and paintings to the Gulf – in the middle of an existential crisis for Qatar. Werner Bloch reports from Doha