The anger and sadness I brought back from Damascus. And the urge to shave my head
Batoul Ahmad, during a ten-year absence from Damascus, reconstructs her sense of home through memory and self-discovery in Australia.
memory
On Forgiveness and Path—an Exhibition in Damascus
In post-regime Syria, forgiveness is not resolution—it’s a quiet demand for justice in the language of art.
Courage and Compassion, a Memoir of War and its Aftermath
Nektaria Anastasiadou reviews polyglot Tony Molho's memoir about the Holocaust in Greece and his family history.
Why FORGETTING?
What shall we forget and what shall we remember, and can forgetting also be a force for good? The editors inquire.
Memory Archive: Between Remembering and Forgetting
Mai Al-Nakib explores memory, forgetting, and writing through the lenses of Woolf, Proust, and a Wim Wenders film.
Asmae El Moudir’s The Mother of All Lies
Brittany Landorf reviews the first major film of director Asmae El Moudir, Morocco’s entry for the 2024 Academy Awards.
The Elephant in the Box
Revisiting her memories of Egypt's January 25 revolution, Asmaa Elgamal finds that denying common sense is the worst oppression.
Forgotten & Silenced Histories in Moroccan Other-Archives
Language, gender, class, race, and geography shape citizenship in Morocco today, argues Brahim El Guabli in his latest book.
The Art of Letting Go: On the Path to Willful Abandonment
Nashwa Nasreldine explores the importance of holding onto failed attempts to capture fleeting moments for the sake of our souls and poetry.
An Iranian Novelist Seeks the Truth About a Plane Crash
Novelist Négar Djavadi deploys non-fiction to question Iran's downing of an international flight out of Tehran.
“The Hauntology of Varosha” or “Room Number 137 of the Argo Hotel”
A Cypriot writer's story about a forgotten child in an abandoned town the writer looked on to from her window in Cyprus.
Memory Art: Water and Islands in the Work of Hera Büyüktaşçıyan
Arie Amaya-Akkermans does a deep dive into the fascinating career of Istanbul-born Greek Armenian artist Hera Büyüktaşçıyan.
On Museums and the Preservation of Cultural Heritage
Arie Amaya-Akkermans on the history of war, colonialism, memory and how museums strive to preserve and display artifacts and art.
“The Burden of Inheritance”—fiction from Mai Al-Nakib
In Mai Al-Nakib’s new short story, a woman makes a Herculean effort to preserve the memory and artwork of her late husband.
The Ghost of Gezi Park—Turkey 10 Years On
An art critic comments on the 10th anniversary of the Gezi Park protests with an overview of a decade of corresponding Turkish art.