Last October, the whole world watched in disbelief as Israeli forces dismantled and dragged a 16-foot-tall sculpture across the streets of Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The monument, Al-Hissan ("The Horse" in Arabic) commonly known as The Jenin Horse, was built in 2003 out of the wreckage of an ambulance and other vehicles during the Israeli invasion. The statue was a collaboration...
A poem I wrote back in 2017, "Lost Rhyme," was a part of a collection of short poems and quick sketches I made using only a regular speedball inscribed on a notepad. The collection, titled "Sketches and Scribbles", is a series of experimental attempts to knit together poetry and visual art, and was initially posted on my Facebook and Instagram accounts. The collection...
The Art of Compassion Project (AOCP) has launched its 2024 calendar project which aims to raise funds for The Farm Animal Sanctuary in UK. The selection of artworks was held through voting on the official Facebook page of the AOCP. Vegan artists around the world participated and thirteen artworks from six different countries have been selected to be featured in the 2024 calendar, which...
First and foremost, this is not a "how-to" post. There is no one-fits-all formula to writing a novel or a poem or basically any literary form. Everything depends on a person's circumstances, or how they go about their own lives, and many more.As someone who came from a non-privileged background, I have not had the ability to buy a personal computer or a...
For the past few months, I've been enrolled in several refresher courses in literature to prep for my upcoming year-long writing marathon and revamp a defunct literary research (this could get personal so read at your own discretion). I signed up for a couple of literary theory and criticism plus writing composition courses to brave the flood of reading materials, from classical to...
Applications for fall 2023 are now open for the two-year Master of Fine Arts in Art and Media (MFA) at NYU Abu Dhabi. The courses emphasize artistic experimentation within a context of theoretical, cultural, and historical study. The program leverages Abu Dhabi's location as a global hub for the exchange and dialogue in the arts and culture.Students can choose to work in-depth in...
The Kuwait-based writers group focused on writing and publishing migration literature, Pluma Migrant Writers Guild, has recently posted one of the poems from its latest publication. The poem, titled "Verbs of the Same Feather," and written by contributing member, Gina Testigo, talks about the challenges faced by migrant workers. It was published in Pluma's second anthology, Meridian: A Journal from Everywhere, a collection of poems,...
For the past few years, veganism has taken baby steps in permeating the local and regional culinary scenes in this part of the world, as many vegans across the region come out of the open to demand for animal emancipation. Although many dishes in the Middle East are, by default, considered plant-based, the V-word has yet to enter the vocabulary of every household. Caking...
Four-year-old Lailan Marquez has a penchant for cameras—also toys. For the young artist, who learned to take real photos when he was three, the two are interchangeable. That is why in his upcoming debut photo storybook, he is taking us to the real world of play.“True Toy Stories” is a collection of photographs depicting the daily "lives" of Lailan's favorite toys. The book...
The Museum of the Future in Dubai, UAE features on its online store memorabilia inspired by the museum's design meant to imprint on visitors the museum experience. The new store, which comprises six collections, also shows what to expect from the exhibits, with products designed to reflect the spirit of the museum and its values.Among the products are creations by Emirati talents, as well...
The fictional artist is based on two historical women, Judith Leyster and Sara van Baalbergen. They were the first women painters to be included in a Guild of St. Luke in the Netherlands during the 17th century. Both artists whose names were almost buried with them and forgotten as none of their works would have survived until one collector discovered Leyster's monogram on...
