Fiction: “Skin Calluses” by Khalil Younes
Syrian artist and writer Khalil Younes recalls the strained sexuality of Martyrs Square in Damascus.
Art
“A Tunisian Revolt” — the Rebel Power of Arab Comics
Writer-translator Nada Ghosn talks to the illustrator of a new graphic novel recounting one of Tunisia's earliest uprisings, in 1984, presaging the Jasmine Revolution.
Atia Shafee: Raw and Distant Memories
Artist Atia Shafee hopes that her paintings will "resonate, trigger, and challenge, drawing the observer into the experience," imparting a universal appreciation for art.
Farzad Kohan: Love, Migration, Identity
Farzad Kohan's art is a bridge and commentary on his Iranian and American worlds, sometimes converging, at other times colliding.
Silver Stories from Artist Micaela Amateau Amato
Artist and writer Micaela Amateau Amato uses art and words to create unique ways of transmogrifying the world.
Baba Karam Lessons: Artist Amitis Motevalli
Iranian American artist Amitis Motevalli performs "baba karam" dance lessons, in a caricature of the street tough dance called “jahel,” often performed by women in drag as a commentary on gender and class constrictions.
L.A. Artist: Rachid Bouhamidi
The Moroccan, French and American artist Rachid Bouhamidi shares his love of portraiture as he peels back the layers of his friends with oils on wood.
(G)Hosting the Past: On Michael Rakowitz’s “Reapparitions”
Arie Akkermans reviews an Iraqi American's exhibitions as they attempt to recreate missing and destroyed artifacts taken from the National Museum of Iraq after the American invasion in 2003.
Etel Adnan’s Sun and Sea: In Remembrance
Art critic Arie Amaya-Akkermans summons the gods of art and poetry as he reviews the life work of the late polymath Etel Adnan, 1925-2021.
Guantánamo—The World’s Most Infamous Prison
An excerpt from Sarah Mirk's graphic novel describes life in the infamous US prison in Cuba.
Malak Mattar — Gaza Artist and Survivor
TMR's editor Jordan Elgrably talks to young Malak Mattar in Gaza, who has survived massive state violence and begun a promising career in art.
The Murals of “Education is Not a Crime”
Saleem Vaillancourt describes the worldwide mural campaign spearheaded by Maziar Bahari on behalf the Baha'i community to speak out about Iran's persecution of its largest religious minority.
The Murals of Yemen’s Haifa Subay
Yemen street artist, activist and mother Haifa Subay speaks to Farah Abdessamad about the state of the country and her work.
Beautiful/Ugly: Against Aestheticizing Israel’s Separation Wall
Malu Halasa revisits the question of whether walls, borders and barriers should ever be dressed up to disguise their true intent.
The Labyrinth of Memory
Critic Ziad Suidan meditates on the meaning of the labyrinth and the walls that can separate us but also remind us of our shared history inside the hammam.