Visit the MEMRI Arab Culture blog (http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/) daily for news updates you will find nowhere else. This blog focuses on the vibrant cinema scene in the Arab and Muslim world, and works, both fiction and non-fiction, by the most influential authors and publishing houses in the Middle East. It explores the Middle East through its popular music, especially music that is politically oriented and musicians who are also social activists, and also examines other Arab cultural and popular trends.
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The following is a selection of entries from daily reports over the past few weeks.
INTERNET
Queen Rania's new YouTube channel encourages global dialogue
"Jordan's Queen Rania has launched her very own YouTube channel to encourage global dialogue to counter Muslim and Arab stereotypes [...]
"Queen Rania vowed to work against current preconceptions, saying she wanted people to 'know the real Arab world ... unedited, unscripted and unfiltered.'
"Her YouTube channel encourages viewers to express their opinions of the Middle East and discuss the stereotypes they may have.
"'In a world where it's so easy to connect to one another, we still remain very much disconnected,' the media-savvy queen said in her YouTube video. [...]"
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6564.htm
Detained Saudi blogger Farhan: "I don't want to be forgetten in jail"
"'Daddy, I miss you. When are you coming back home?' is 10-year-old Raghad's plea to her father Fouad Al-Farhan, a detained Saudi blogger, on a YouTube clip posted on Monday.
"Al-Farhan, a 32-year-old Saudi father of two, was arrested on Dec. 10 for 'violating regulations related to security,' according to Saudi officials.
"Al-Farhan daughter's voice message to her missing dad can be heard on the YouTube 'freefouad' clip, accompanied by pictures of the once-happy family.
"Yesterday, Al-Farhan's wife said she was able to speak to her husband over the phone last Tuesday for the first time since his arrest in December. 'It was only a five-minute call and we could not say much,' she said. [...]"
Source: Arab News (Saudi Arabia), March 12, 2008
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6127.htm
VIDEOS AND SONGS DEDICATED TO POLITICAL LEADERS
In the Memory of Gibran Tueni
Official Web Page: http://www.gebrantueni.com/
Gebran Ghassan Tueni (September 15, 1957 – December 12, 2005), who was assassinated by a car bomb on December 12, 2005, was an anti-Syrian Lebanese politician and former editor and publisher of the mass circulation Al-Nahar daily newspaper in Beirut, Lebanon. He fought for the freedom of the Lebanese people. Following his assassination, the Al-Nahar front-page headline was "Gebran Tueni didn't die, Al-Nahar goes on."
The following videos were produced by Al-Nahar after his death.
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6712.htm
Hymn to Boudiaf
Muhammad Boudiaf was an Algerian political leader and one of the founders of the revolutionary National Liberation Front (FLN) that led the Algerian war of independence (1954-1962). In February 1992, after 27 years of exile in Morocco, he became chairman of the High Council of the State of Algeria. On June 29, 1992, he was assassinated during a public speech at the opening of a cultural center in Annaba. Boudiaf was considered the hope to save Algeria from the Islamists.
Source: http://www.the-athenaeum.org/people/detail.php?ID=802
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6366.htm
TV SHOWS
Chef Osama: The most watched cooking program in the Arab world
Official Web Site: http://www.chefosama.com/
With marked enthusiasm for his subject, Chef Osama El-Sayed can take his audience through a world of culinary delights in several easy steps.
Since his audience usually numbers in the millions of viewers on several continents, it is no wonder that Chef Osama has learned how to take complex cooking techniques and recipes and simplify them for basic home cooks. Chef Osama and his shows 'Ma Osama Atyab' – 'It's More Delicious with Osama' – live daily on Dubai TV, and 'Bil Hanna Wa Shiffa' – 'With Joy and Good Health' – are for those who want to understand and enjoy glorious food without too much fuss.
Chef Osama also writes a syndicated column that appears in magazines in the Middle East.
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6637.htm
Star Academy 5
Star Academy Middle East is a pan-Arab televised talent show on the Lebanese channel LBC. Launched in 2003, it features a group of young male and female candidates from all over the Arab world to sing in the show.
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6509.htm
Afghan Star
"In a first for post-Taliban Afghanistan, a woman has made it to the final three in the country's version of Pop Idol.
"Lima Sahar, from the conservative Pashtun belt, is up against two male contestants [...] for a place in the final sing-off on Afghan Star, which has become one of the nation's most popular television shows.
"Conservatives decry the fact that a woman has found success singing on TV, while others – younger Afghans – say the show is helping women progress. [...]
"With her hair tucked under a headscarf, Lima brushes off her critics, saying there can be no progress for women without upsetting the status quo. 'No pain, no gain,' she told reporters.
"Lima saw off 2,000 other hopefuls who auditioned for the third series of Afghan Star, in which viewers vote by text message. The format is similar to Pop Idol – the singers perform in front of a studio audience and three judges, and past winners have been given recording deals.
"Afghanistan's clerics' council has protested to the president, Hamid Karzai, over the show. 'In the situation that we have in Afghanistan right now, we don't need a woman singer. We don't need Afghan Star. We are in need of a good economy, good education,' said Ali Ahmad Jebra-ali, a member of the council. 'If Lima Sahar wins Afghan Star, how can she help the poor? This is not the way to help the Afghan people.' [...]"
Source: Online International News Network (Pakistan), March 14, 2008
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6246.htm
MUSIC
Dimi Mint Abba, Mauritanian Singer
In her native Mauritania, Dimi Mint Abba is a superstar, and one of the few artists from that country to have an album released internationally. Dimi is widely regarded as Mauritania's best-loved female griot. The griot occupies a special place in society; much more than a singer or musician, they could be described as a walking library. Through their songs they act as historian, biographer, social commentator, poet, soothsayer, and storyteller, but are equally adept at singing love songs and entertaining at social gatherings. In Mauritania, griots are known as iggawin, and Dimi was born into an iggawin family in 1958.
[To view a clip of Dimi Mint Abba, visit the full blog post]
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6471.htm
Anouar Brahem: Tunisian oud player and composer
Anouar Brahem is a Tunisian oud player and composer widely regarded as an innovator in his field.
Performing for primarily a jazz audience, he fuses Arabic classical music, folk music, and jazz, and has been recording since at least 1991 after becoming prominent in his own country in the late 1980s.
Source: http://www.anouarbrahem.com/
[To view a clip of Anouar Brahem, visit the full blog post]
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6437.htm
"Mamnou3 f'Radio": Forbidden on the Radio
As Moroccan radio stations do not promote Moroccan rap music, some rappers feels that their music is becoming more and more a censored underground phenomenon.
For this reason, a group of Moroccan rappers is launching a new album called "Mamnou3 f'Radio," "Forbidden on the Radio."
Source: Tel Quel (Morocco), No. 316, March 22-28, 2008
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6374.htm
Ruby: Egyptian Singer and Belly Dancer
Rania Hussein (born October 8, 1981), known as Ruby, is a famous Egyptian singer and actress.
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6370.htm
MOVIES
"Bamako" by Mauritanian Director Sissako
"Melé is a bar singer, her husband Chaka is out of work, and the couple is on the verge of breaking up…
"In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial court has been set up.
"African civil society spokesmen have taken proceedings against the World Bank and the IMF whom they blame for Africa's woes…
"Amidst the pleas and the testimonies, life goes on in the courtyard. Chaka does not seem to be concerned by Africa's novel desire to fight for its rights…"
Source: http://www.bamako-themovie.com/about.html
Director: Abderrahmane Sissako
Born in 1961 in Mauritania, Sissako spent his childhood in Mali. He later spent over 10 years in Moscow, where he studied at the VGIK Film Institute. In his shorts, documentaries and feature-length fiction films, Sissako has often explored the exile experience and the relationship between African and Western societies.
[To view a clip of "Bamako," visit the full blog post]
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6183.htm
Morituri: New Algerian Movie against Terrorism
Movie's Official website: http://www.morituri-lefilm.com/
Plot Synopsis: Civil war tears Algeria apart. Police captain Brahim Llob, also a writer in his spare time, spends his days hunting down Islamic fundamentalists. He has hence become their prime target; each day his fear grows as he goes to work at the Alger police headquarters. He must find a former senior government official’s daughter who has gone missing .Upright, with a biting wit and mocking attitude, cynical and disillusioned, Llob heads the investigation with his colleagues, officers Lino and Serdj. He quickly realizes that he’s treading on dangerous ground. His investigation leads him on the trail of a terrorist group given the task of wiping out Algerian intellectuals, and to people implicated in a scandal to do with the national bank. He then discovers, with the assistance of his colleague Dine, his ousted predecessor, that he has been manipulated by a politico-financial mafia. Now a nuisance for the powers that be, and on the brink of publishing Morituri, an exposé, Llob is forced to take early retirement – and to be fast about it.
Source: http://en.unifrance.org/
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/4985.htm
A network of Arab women filmmakers
Nadia Cherabi-Labidi, Algerian film director, called in Paris for the setting up of a "network of Arab women filmmakers" in order to "create a channel of aid" and "overcome all difficulties." Ms. Cherabi-Labidi invited to a round-table gathering in the Arab World Institute (IMA) six women movie directors from Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon and Egypt, and indicated that this network would allow Arab women filmmakers to connect with each other.
Source: Algeria Press Service (Algeria), March 10, 2008
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6077.htm
DESIGN
Abu Dhabi Fashion Week
"Abu Dhabi Fashion Week, scheduled from 15 to 18 March 2008, has been created by Maven Corporate Ltd as part of the initiatives underway to develop in the United Arab Emirates a new center for the fashion industry in the region. In this process, Maven has formed an alliance with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (the organizers of Milan Fashion Week) to develop the Abu Dhabi Fashion Week into a glamorous, business driven international event. [...]"
Source: www.abudhabifashionweek.com/
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6219.htm
Arabic for designers
ARABIC FOR DESIGNERS by Mourad Boutros
"Extensively illustrated with more than 200 examples of the best in contemporary Arabic typography and graphic design, Arabic for Designers is an authoritative guide for designers unfamiliar with Arabic script.
"Using visual examples and case studies, author Mourad Boutros takes the reader through the entire range of graphic design applications – newspaper and television news typefaces, book jacket designs, corporate and brand identity, logotype conversions, advertising, design for print and fine art.
"The author shows how non-Arabic speaking designers can work with the language and understand and respect its cultural nuances, while avoiding the pitfalls and mistakes to which many others have fallen victim. [...]"
Source: www.stepinsidedesign.com
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6372.htm
HUMAN RIGHTS
An international Arab campaign against the Muslim headscarf
"A group of Arabic websites and blogs have launched an international campaign against the Muslim headscarf (hijab), arguing the move is a response to what they see as 'intellectual terrorism' practiced by strict Islamic groups and individuals.
"The campaign, called 'Take Off the Veil,' was launched March 8, 2008, to coincide with International Women's Day.
"'My hair is not a sex symbol that I should be ashamed of, and my body is not a stage for men's fantasies. I am a noble human being with my hair and body,' Dr. Elham Manea, one of the campaign's leaders, wrote on the participating websites. [...]
"Manea added that Islamists influence women by citing three reasons: that by covering her body she will protect men from sinning and will be establishing a righteous society, and that doing so is a religious obligation.
"The campaign posted a picture of a woman taking off her headscarf and part of her clothes while saying that this is the outfit she chose for herself. This picture will be distributed in the Cairo subway as a response to the headscarf leaflets showered on women commuters on daily basis.
"The campaign also posted a picture of Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris – who criticized the spread of Iranian-style headscarf in Egypt – and a traffic sign that says 'No Entry for the Veiled' as well as a banner that says 'Support Denmark, defend freedom.' [...]
"The 'Take off the Veil' campaign involves about 30 Tunisian, Arab, and Coptic secular websites which all posted a picture of the late Tunisian president Habib Bourguiba taking off a woman's headscarf. [...]
"Pictures of Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna and its current Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef were also posted with critical comments, in addition to pictures of other Islamic preachers accused of promoting fundamentalist thoughts."
Source: Al Arabiya.net (Saudi-owned, Dubai-based), March 10, 2008
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6093.htm
No to female genital mutilation
Tiken Jah Fakoly is a reggae singer dealing with social issues from Côte d'Ivoire. Since the rise in political instability in Côte d'Ivoire, Tiken Jah has been living in exile, particularly in Mali. In December 2007, Fakoly was declared persona non grata in Senegal after criticizing President Abdoulaye Wade.
Tiken Jah Fakoly is an advocate of women's rights. On February 6, 2008, International Day against Genital Mutilation, he dedicated a song to "every woman who suffers from genital mutilation and to every woman who is fighting it." The title of the song is "Non a L'excision" (No To Genital Mutilation) and the video was directed by Jessy Nottola.
[To view a clip of Tiken Jah Fakoly, visit the full blog post]
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6042.htm
Child Marriages in Saudi Arabia
A member of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council, Dr. Muhammad al-Nujeimi, demanded that children's marriage must be stopped. He called for adopting appropriate measures against parents who rush to marry their children at a very young age.
Source: Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), April 2, 2008
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6661.htm
CULTURE AND TRADITION
"Qat, the plague of Yemen"
"Still popular, qat chews provide an important forum for debate and dialogue in Yemen. Nearly every Yemeni chews; even old age and toothlessness fail to stop some. Taking a closer look at the agricultural, social, community, and health effects that this plant has on qat chewers will help us understand why it is so dangerous to Yemenis. [...]
"According to some research, qat can induce mild euphoria, and although this side effect is considered to be a positive as it stimulates conversation, there are many other effects that are clearly negative to qat chewers. Euphoria followed by mild depression is a common occurrence in qat users, and these sudden highs and lows can be classified as manic. Further psychological consequences include hallucinations and nightmares.
"Qat may also cause a loss of appetite, constipation, withdrawal symptoms, slight tremors, and decreased libido. Research indicates that qat can cause ulceration of the gums and gastrointestinal tract, as well as permanent tooth discoloration. Long term use can also precipitate renal and liver disease.
"Finally, many of the pesticides used to protect qat leaves from insects and bugs are not regulated; thus, excessive and improper usage has been associated with many types of cancers in qat chewers, including oral, gastrointestinal, liver, renal and bladder cancers, just to name a few. [...]
"Qat is the plague of Yemen and we need to work together on discouraging the habit of qat chewing and terminating its cultivation in order to ensure a more promising and fruitful future for the generations to come."
Source: Yemen Observer (Yemen), February 26, 2008
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6426.htm
Ardha: The Warrior's Dance
[To view a clip of The Warrior's Dance, visit the full blog post]
"The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud patronized the Saudi Ardha celebration yesterday, organized by the National Guard as part of the National Festival for Heritage and Culture.
"The traditional Saudi Ardha is held annually and is attended by the King, members of the royal family as well as Saudi citizens, and is an expression of Saudi unity.
"The dance begins with a single line of poetry that is repeated as the drums beat in the background and swords are wielded as part of the national and official celebrations and the re-pledging of allegiance to the authorities.
"The Saudi or Najdi Ardha is considered Saudi Arabia's official dance, and expresses victory and pride of Saudi history, especially regarding the battles, wars and victories led by the founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz.
"The Ardha used to be performed before warriors would meet their enemies in battle. It demonstrates that they have no fear of fighting and it is used to stir up enthusiasm amongst soldiers and leaders. [...]."
Source: Asharq Al-Awsat (Saudi-owned, London-based), March 19, 2008
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6337.htm
Sufism
"The term Sufism originates, according to writer and philosopher Sheikh Fadhlalla Haeri (The Elements of Sufism, Element Inc, 1993) from three Arabic letters, sa, wa and fa.
"The word may be derived from safa, which means purity, or from the noun safwa, which means those who are selected; some believe, writes Haeri, that the name may be derived from the word saf, referring to those who stand in a row, while others propose suffa for its origin, the suffa being 'the low verandah made of clay and slightly elevated off the ground outside the house of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina, where the poor and goodhearted people who followed him often sat.'
"Finally, there are those who assume that the word Sufi comes from suf, wool, and implies that the people who were interested in inner knowledge cared less about their outer appearance and often took to wearing a simple garment made of wool all year round. [...]"
To read the full article: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2000/510/special.htm
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6307.htm
NIGHTLIFE
Tripoli (Libya) Night Life
Source: http://mrbehi.blogs.com/photos/libya/tripoli_night_life.html
http://www.thememriblog.org/arabculture/blog_personal/en/6285.htm
Buddha Bar in Beirut
