Millennial Gulf

In an age when the virtual world is becoming increasingly dominant, a culture of board games and nonvirtual games is flourishing in Saudi Arabia. Young Saudis are filling specialized coffee houses that provide games for customers, including ones designed by Saudis and other Arabs that draw upon Arab and Islamic culture and history. Companies producing...

Where to? This is the question Taibah al-Qatami, a Kuwaiti millennial, was pondering as she thought of initiating WEORITU. An independent Gulf youth initiative, WEORITU attempts to spread positivity through showcasing and producing different mediums of art that inspire and bring the Gulf community closer together. Among WEORITU’s projects is #WeCanDoIt, which is a series...

Saudi Arabia has been sending bold messages domestically with the recent security crackdown on influential clerics, intellectuals, and other public figures, while simultaneously engaging in a global soft power projection, most recently through an event held in the heart of New York. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s MiSK charity foundation partnered with the United...

The Bahraini uprising, and its aftermath, has left profound rifts six years on, in political views, sectarian relations, and even geography. To address these negative social ramifications and bring in the voices of people often lost amid conflict and crises, Suhail Algosaibi established the Bahrain Foundation for Dialogue. BFD aims to create civil dialogue and...

In the Gulf Arab states, there is a growing trend of entrepreneurship in the field of art, as millennials pursue creativity in their careers. These “artrepreneurs” often collide with a complementary trend of social entrepreneurship, bringing together art and philanthropy in ways that are meaningful and even profitable.

“If you don’t condemn homosexuality in traditional print outlets, you’re not going to get published.” This is one of the many reasons that led Shaikha Al-Bahaweed, a writer from Kuwait, to start writing for online writing platforms Manshoor and Raseef22. These writing platforms are becoming more popular every day in the Gulf due to the...

After gaining wide popularity on Instagram for sharing inspirational and humorous posts about his everyday life with his wife and children, Khalid Al Ameri started “Meet The Al Ameri’s.” This vlog features Khalid and his wife Salama, and their two children, Abdullah and Khalifa. It gives viewers an inside look into the interaction between the...

The career of curating is new to the Gulf, though the role of a curator is not. People have long curated exhibitions in the region at their homes or in art galleries without being addressed as a “curator.” When asked about how familiar people are in the Gulf with the term “curator,” Aisha Stoby said:...