Dune in 2024: A World Beyond Saving
The meta-narrative in Frank Herbert's Dune trilogy foresees the modern disaster of never-ending colonialism and a planet destroyed by oil.
Saudi Arabia
“The Scent Censes” & “Elegy With Precious Oil” by Majda Gama
Majda Gama shares with Poetry Markaz two poems from her award-winning book "The Call of Paradise."
The Rebels of Football, Then and Now
Justin Salhani argues that the "beautiful game" has been a powerful instrument of emancipation for workers, feminists and anti-colonialist activists around the world.
Art Lights Up Riyadh This Winter
Sophie Kazan Makhlouf travels to Saudi Arabia to take in a citywide festival that may have forever changed the country's cultural landscape.
Atom Bombs and Earthquakes: Changing Arabian Culture Via Architecture
T.H. Shalaby maps out and questions architectural planning in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
Art Curators as Public Intellectuals
Naima Morelli talks to Rose Issa, Sara Raza, Farah Abushullaih and Alia Al-Senussi about art and intellectuals.
World Picks From the Editors, Sept 29—Oct 15, 2023
A Markaz Review bi-weekly roundup of our editors' favorite selections from within the global arts and culture scene.
The Middle East is Once Again West Asia
Ambassador Chas Freeman on the dynamism of West Asia and the west's failing geopolitical grip on "the greater Middle East."
From Pawns to Global Powers: Middle East Nations Strike Back
Former ambassador Chas Freeman, Jr. argues that we have entered a new era in which players are shifting on the geopolitical chess table.
Yogurt, Surveillance and Book Covers
Malu Halasa finds unexpected tastes, pleasures and upsets at the 2023 London Book Fair.
Attack on Salman Rushdie is Shocking Tip of the Iceberg
An attack on one writer anywhere is an attack on freedom of expression everywhere.
Music in the Middle East: Business can’t Buy Authenticity
180,000 electronic music aficionados attended the SOUNDSTORM festival in Riyadh this month, but as columnist Melissa Chemam writes, "it is impossible not to see these events as a part of the country’s soft power and policy to whitewash its terrible human rights record."
Hayy Jameel — Jeddah’s Sparkling New Center for the Arts
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is home to a major new arts and cultural center, opening to the public on December 6, 2021.
Traveling in Contentious Spaces — Saudi Arabia
When friends in Abu Dhabi asked Deborah Williams how she could support MBS by going to “his” festival, she didn’t have an answer, only another question: how do we draw the lines around where we will or won’t go?
The Promotion (a short story from Saudi Arabia)
What happens when an immigrant professor dresses to impress in a bid to land tenure at a Saudi university? A short story by Waqar Ahmed paints a humorous picture.