contributors

Quarantining whom?

Mediterranean disease detention then and now

Society Beirut Mashallah region

The word quarantine made an unexpected comeback in 2020, after having been out of mind for as long as most of us can remember. But only as far back as the early 20th century, crossing the Mediterranean often meant spending weeks in isolation. Then and now, something remains true. Not all travellers are equal.

New films, old memories

Sudan's post-revolution cinema

Khartoum

For nearly three decades, Omar Al Bashir’s regime suppressed arts and creativity in Sudan. But after the 2019 revolution and coup, several new movies are out.

Madas sharqi

Saudi Arabia's singature sandals

Society Riyadh

Originally made for walking in the desert, Saudi Arabia’s traditional leather slippers are used all over the country and sometimes still made by hand

مراسلات في وقت الانقطاع

Society Beirut

تبادل المراسلات بين صديقتين حول نزهات بعد الظهر في شوارع المدينة الخالية ومتاجرها المغلقة

Correspondence during an interlude

Society Beirut

A correspondence between friends, during afternoon walks through a city with empty streets and closed shops

Of soil and pebbles

Lebanon's mountain pottery

Society Beirut

In the northern Lebanese mountains, one woman is continuing the village tradition of making handmade pottery from clay and soil from the surrounding hills.

Holy wine

The blessed drink of a Georgian village

Society Tbilisi

For people in the Georgian village of Nikortsminda, wine and winemaking have a profound and deeply spiritual meaning.

السوريون في السودان

ملاذ غير متوقع

Society Damascus Khartoum

لقد أدت الحرب في سوريا الى تدفق غير مسبوق من اللاجئين. كما أَقفلت في وجههم غالبية الدول أبوابها، ما عدى لبنان وتركيا والأردن. إلا أن عدداً منهم إلتجؤوا الى السودان، وقد تنقلب أوضاعهم بعد سقوط الرئيس عمر البشير .

Syrians in Sudan

The door that stays open

Society Damascus Khartoum

With most other doors firmly closed to them, Syrians escaping the war have found a respite in Sudan, where they have been let in without any restrictions.

On temporality and the Gulf city

Talking to Deepak Unnikrishnan

CultureSociety Abu Dhabi

Deepak Unnikrishnan’s debut novel Temporary People chronicles stories of life-worlds shaped by change, temporality and migration, well familiar to the people of today’s Gulf cities.