contributors

In godly trance

Zikr in Georgia's Pankisi Valley: Part 1

CultureSociety Mashallah region

Kists in Georgia’s Pankisi Valley have traditionally embraced sufism, and Sufi orders – or tariqas – have played a major role in structuring society and organising religious practices through collective rituals. One of their most treasured practices is zikr, the remembrance of Allah.

Izmir’s art revival

Talking to Nursaç Sargon

Izmir

With the new art season about to start, we spoke to curator Nursaç Sargon about her project Monitor Izmir and the decentralisation of Turkey’s artistic scene.

Caring for Georgia’s old wooden mosques

Culture Batumi

Georgia harbours a valuable, often forgotten, Muslim heritage. The project “Indigenous Outsiders” aims to let people discover the old wooden mosques of the Adjara province.

Fueling Turkish feminism with satire and humour

CultureSociety Istanbul

Bayan Yanı is a Turkish satirical magazine led by women. Cartoonists and writers make readers not only think but also laugh in a feminist way.

Educating out of the box

Aziz Nesin’s living heritage

CultureRights & dissent Istanbul

The Nesin Foundation is the creation one of Turkey’s biggest writers who thought education should always bring out the best in children.

Fighting back with a camera

Interview with Marie-Rose Osta

Culture Beirut

Marie-Rose Osta’s last project, called “GangBang”, is a short, catchy silent movie that was screened during the last Lebanese Film Festival in Beirut.

Addicted to birds

Society Istanbul

“For birds’ sake” is a photo book by Cemre Yesil and Maria Sturm about Istanbul birdmen. More than a hobby, the bird lovers speak of an addiction.

Telling kids’ stories in everyday Arabic

Culture Mashallah region

“The Girl Who Lost Her Imagination” is a new book for kids that aims at making the Arabic language accessible to bilingual children.

Rocking Cairo

Interview with Youssef Abouzeid

Culture Cairo

At 24, Youssef is the leader of PanSTARRS indie rock band based in Cairo. His new EP is called “Ghaby Ghaby Ghaby” or in English: Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.

Marching through the dark

Yerevan

On April 24 of every year, Armenians the world over take to the streets to commemorate the 1915 genocide. In Yerevan, the commemoration this year, 100 years since the killings, took on greater significance. Young and old, women and men, gathered for a nightly climb to the “eternal fire”, symbolising Armenia’s insistence on recognition and remembrance.