ARTS

Isabella Hammad’s breathtaking debut novel, The Parisian, is a work of historical fiction that masterfully presents crucial periods of Palestinian history through the life and adventures of Midhat Kamal’s coming of age, from his voyage to France to study medicine to his seemingly dutiful life once he returns home to Nablus, profoundly changed, several years later.

At the beginning of the 20th century, an unprecedented wave of feminism took the world by storm. In Egypt, this movement was led by one formidable woman.

“Celestial Bodies,” an Arabic novel written by an Omani woman, Jokha Alharthi, won the Prestigious Man Booker International Prize of 2019.

June 25, 2019, marks the 21st anniversary of the assassination of famous and beloved Berber singer, poet, thinker, and mandole player, Lounes Matoub, who was a prominent advocate of human rights and secularism in Algeria.

Faten Hamama and Omar Sharif first captivated the hearts and minds of Egyptian audiences in Youssef Chahine’s 1954 movie, “The Blazing Sun.” For the next 20 years, Sharif and Hamama were the dream couple of Egypt’s golden age of cinema. Although their marriage did not last, their careers have left a lasting impact on the Egyptian and international film industries.

Projects like Al-Magreb Blues are reanimating forgotten gems of North-African history.

In our divided times, the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival creates space for much needed international and interfaith dialogue.

Master of traditional and modern, Arab and Western musical fusions, Rachid Taha left a unique musical genre of his own making. An irreverent political activist always rooting for the underdog, he was not just an artist, but a force of nature pushing for social and political change both in the Western and Arab worlds.

The American Sephardi Music Festival was one of several events celebrating Sephardi Jewish culture in New York City across February and March this year. Such events are instrumental in promoting tolerance and inter-cultural understanding.

During Pope Francis’ recent visit to Morocco, a stunning interfaith musical medley performed for the pontiff and Morocco’s king sparked controversy.