series

Libya has seen rough times since Gaddafi fell. Things that once worked are no longer functioning; what used to be reliable cannot be trusted. This includes the country’s electricity supply – Libyans today are more and more finding themselves left in the dark. But, as it turns out, the blackouts also let people discover new things.

With night comes invisibility, and who says we are less ourselves when we cannot be seen in a proper light? At an Istanbul nightclub, a group of people revel in the flicker of disco balls; shedding identity and taking on greater form within a spectrum of gender, gloriously vivid.

Walking around Tehran at night means discovering a new city, different from the capital we know meet during the day. Streets, squares and neighbourhoods live another life at night; people inhabit them in different ways. Many areas become empty – or, at least so it seems. Because the emptiness at night is not void, but filled with things.

Mahmoud! Eh da ya Mahmoud? Heya el nas de 3ayza menny ba’a eh? (“Mahmoud! What’s this, Mahmoud? What do these people want from me?”) One of Egyptian star Mahmoud Ellithy’s songs from 2014 comes blasting through a speaker set up at the back of Messi, a boat afloat on the Nile. Passengers crowd the deck […]

Syria is drawn deeper into the darkness, yet one community is finding some space to step out of the shadows. Once tucked between whispers and secret getaways, members of LGBTQ communities in Damascus are finding a new, louder voice in the conflict as society’s gaze and the country’s brutal security apparatus begin to look the other way.

There’s a street in downtown Tunis, lined with places where the light is dim and drinks are served from coloured bottles. It was once a place where music made people smile and cinemas had moviegoers line up outside. Today, much of that has changed. Rue de Marseille may still come alive at night, but not in the old, joyous way.

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.