Emily Jacir

This month I reviewed Palestine C/O Venice for The Economist. I felt the pavilion was extremely successful in displaying art work from Palestine-based artists and those in the diaspora. Due to politics, the exhibit was a collateral event and not technically allowed to participate as full-fledged pavilion. Read the article for more information on its evolution and a review of the work.

The Economist: Making Room for a \"Stateless Nation\"

It may seem to most the Israeli left is rapidly shrinking. Yet efforts like Tal Adler & Osama Zatar’s to create the One State Embassy challenges the status quo. Adler, who has worked for years as a photographer in the Negev photographing Bedouins who are citizens but live in ‘unrecognized villages’, has been a key figure in challenging much of the accepted right wing rhetoric.

Although not opened in Israel/Palestine proper, still the choice of Vienna was a strategic one according to Adler and Zatar:

“Vienna, the place where monarchs titled themselves kings of Jerusalem, where the Jewish State conceived, the holocaust cultivated, and still today Islamophobia and anti-Semitism compete for crowd’s popularity, is the place where OneState opens its first Embassy.”

For more information on their endeavors click HERE.

It’s the Islamic version of the Sartorialist–and its wonderful. Check out Hijabs High, a site devoted to inventive ways for women to wear hijabs. The images of these ‘hijabistas’ (as they are sometimes called) are taken from around the world.

The site’s founder describes those featured as: “a stylish and dynamic global community of Muslim women who fuse their identities and pronounce their place in the world everyday through beauty and fashion.”

Here are some of our favorite images from the site.

www.hijabshigh.com

Road Sign in Israel

We were saddened to see that the Arabic signs may soon be coming down in Israel. The supposed reason, according to the Transport Ministry is a lack of uniform spelling on road signs, which they cite as causing confusion for drivers.

Arab parliamentray member, Ahmed Tibi, has said: “[Transport Minister Yisrael] Katz is mistaken if he thinks that changing a few words can erase the existence of the Arab people.”

In response, Katz answered:

“Some Palestinian maps still refer to the Israeli cities by their pre-1948 names.”

“I will not allow that on our signs. This government, and certainly this minister, will not allow anyone to turn Jewish Jerusalem to Palestinian al-Quds.”

This certainly reeks of Avigdor Lieberman–the ultra-right wing minister bent on having Israeli Arabs become more loyal to the State. Erasing the Arabic from the signs would be a tragedy. Israel must embrace the language, which nearly one-fifth of the population continues to use. What’s more–Arabic was here long before Hebrew. In fact many of the country’s Jewish citizens used to speak the language before they arrived.

How could erasing Arabic lead us to more cross-cultural understanding, which is what the country so desperately needs.

Emirates Palace

Abu Dhabi announced today they will be hosting their own art show. The four day affair–Abu Dhabi Art–will take place between November 19-22 inside the capital’s largest and most lavish hotel: Emirates Palace. The event is supposedly not replacing Art Paris Abu Dhabi, which was temporarily canceled earlier this year, but nevertheless is taking place around the same time.

For the moment, Dubai, which holds the annual Art Dubai fair, maintains center stage with the number of art initiatives and galleries. And while there is obviously nothing wrong with the addition of such a fair–particularly if it gives more local artists an opportunity to display their work–there are a couple of  issues I can foresee with the event. One is the speed to which it’s being put together. Hopefully there will be enough time to prepare for what is surely to be a blockbuster event–as is everything that comes out of that city (just take a look at the line up and prizes for MEIFF–their answer to DIFF). And the second is the less then buoyant art market in the Middle East right now. Supposedly not a lot of profits were raked in at this year’s Art Dubai, so I am wondering how Abu Dhabi Art organizers will manage to convince foreign galleries to shell out large sums for booths here? On a brighter note, Art Basel was rather successful this June, so perhaps the outlook for Abu Dhabi is not quite as dour….

After a recent visit to Morocco we were astonished by the self empowerment initiatives that are brimming throughout the country. We spent time with Boubker Mazoz who is an astonishing community organizer who runs seven networks dedicated to serving lower income communities in and around Casablanca (read more about him here).

That said it wasn’t a total suprise to hear how a 21-year old woman residing in the southern Moroccan commune of Tata was just elected leader of her local council. Fatima Boujenah is a member of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), and served as president for Jeunes de Tagnart (Youth of Tagnart). Boujenah hails from a family of limited means, but that didn’t at all stop her. In fact its likely what fueled her decision to run. Upon discovering her success, she told reporters she hopes to do, “something for the good of the people in this mountainous area.”

Other young female victories in Morocco include the recent election of the 33-year old Fatima Ezzehra Mansouri as the leader of Marrakech City Council.

A local sociologist Jamila Mourabiti said the election of Boujenah demonstrates how Moroccan society is evolving: “In general, it is men who get involved in politics in rural areas. It is rare for a woman to enter the political arena there; the example set by Boujenah is a good starting-point.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Tata

The blockbuster Dubai International Film Festival seems to be going through a bit of turmoil. Andalus Journal received a release on behalf of former director Neil Stephenson stating his issues with DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma and Managing Director Shivani Pandya:

“Stephenson, at the invitation of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum with whom Stephenson had previously worked,  joined TECOM in 2003, and  pulled together a top-flight team of festival professionals and ran three successful editions in 2004, 2005 and 2006 before being ousted by Juma in early 2007 after Juma’s appointment as DIFF Chairman. Juma then improperly sought to claim all credit for Stephenson’s central role in the inception, planning and successful launch of DIFF, and then went on, in conjunction with Pandya, to slander Stephenson and besmirch his good reputation in the Arab world.”

The statement was issued in response to articles in the Hollywood Reporter and Emirates Business 24/7 , which claimed Stephenson had dropped his $5 million dollar defamation lawsuit against them.

Stephenson’s release aimed at clarifying his position that not only has the case not been dropped, but apparently it was re-filed in British courts because Stephenson is a British citizen. He was then granted permission to serve Juma and Pandya outside the jurisdiction of England.

According to an email sent by Stephenson this past May, Pandya and Juma were served in Cannes this year.

The festival is definitely one of the best in the Middle East and should be lauded for its endeavors. It would be a shame to see its reputation tarnished. I hope it will all be resolved soon.

Content creation in Dubai. It exists.

Read about it here:

More Than A Mall: Inside Dubai’s Art Scene

We predicted that Iran’s recent elections would likely surprise us, but we didn’t imagine such a dramatic turnout. While the violence in Tehran is extremely disheartening, it is amazing to witness people hitting the streets and voicing their opinions about what they see as rigged elections.

For now it seems offers of a recount fall short of protesters demands. What perhaps is most promising is the emergence of senior cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who took to the internet to issue a public letter that not only reprimands the government for delivering results “no one in their right mind can believe,” but also to support what he saw as peaceful demonstrations.

We have been sent several images taken from Iranian protesters. So far this one is excellent at revealing the details of what exactly is happening on the streets. As the media continues to be jailed and or restricted from reporting, such sites are crucial to understanding what is actually occurring on the ground.

Pictures from the Tehran: http://is.gd/13zW1