Arts and Culture

Five Arab countries are participating in the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, including, for the first time, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Largely considered one of the most significant architectural gatherings in the world, it is an event that draws practitioners, academics, and critics. Over the last few years there has been an increased presence from the...

Ahmad bin Fahd Al-Mezyed, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Culture, used the 2018 Cannes Film Festival as a cinematic backdrop to garner international interest in the Saudi film and television industry. His announcement of generous commercial incentives for moviemakers follows related developments in the country: The popular superhero film “Black Panther” was screened...

AGSIW and Alserkal Avenue hosted performances and talks at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC by leading Gulf-based artists. With this event, AGSIW celebrated its third anniversary of examining the Gulf Arab states in all their complexity. Speakers Ahaad al-Amoudi, Saudi Contemporary Artist Farah Al Qasimi, Emirati Artist and Musician Vikram Divecha, Artist Kosmas Nikolaou,...

This panel, part of the 2018 Gulf Arts and Culture Symposium, examined the proliferation of art districts in Gulf cities, covering the involvement of government agencies and the private sector in the development of art districts and consider urban and architectural strategies for integration of these districts within the city. The discussion considered regional case...

Over the last few years many cities have attempted to integrate cultural developments within their overall planning strategy.

Dubai greeted the new year with a picture frame – a really large one. It is located in Zabeel Park, straddling what is referred to in local parlance as “old” Dubai and its “new” counterpart.

Ulafa’a is a Bahraini art collective that flourished in response to the 2011 Bahraini uprising.

Yemen’s ongoing war has left millions of people displaced, hungry, and hopeless. The fluid authority of local factions, the lack of news sources, and pervasive illiteracy all work to stifle public discussion within Yemen. But street graffiti, presented in local context, is a way to slip past those obstacles: to promote citizens’ involvement and provide...