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Farouk Hosny and the UNESCO Director-General Election

Leitmotif Opportunism

As a representative of an authoritarian regime, the Egyptian minister of culture Farouk Hosny would never have made a suitable head of UNESCO. Yet rather than finding a better Arab candidate to lend the dialogue between cultures a new lease of life, most states took an opportunist stance. Stephan Roll comments
Egypt's Hijab Debate

"Islam Is Not a Dress"

Earlier this month Egyptian Cultural Minister Farouk Hosni said that the headscarf is a "symbol of backwardness". The minister, who was quoted in an independent daily, said he was only stating his personal opinion and not a religious view. Reem Nada reports
"The Band's Visit"

An Israeli-Egyptian Utopia

In the Israeli film "The Band's Visit", an Egyptian police orchestra plays the starring role. Despite this, the film has not been shown in Egypt and Abu Dhabi. Kristina Bergmann has seen the comedy about the common ground shared by very different people
Arab Photographers' View of the "Orient"

Looking into the Blind Spot

Images that "orientalize" Middle Eastern subjects are widespread and well known. The Arab Image Foundation presents other views of this part of the world. Its online collection is a discovery, says Mona Sarkis
Historic Photographs of the Orient 1864-1970

With Camel and Camera

For decades, a unique collection of historic photographs of the Orient lay forgotten at the Hamburg Museum of Ethnology. Now, the stock of 18,000 pictures has been catalogued and made accessible to the public in the form of an exhibition. Nimet Seker reports
Orient Photography by Hermann Burchardt

Far from Pathos

The newly rediscovered and reprinted Orient photographs by Berlin photographer Hermann Burchardt from around 100 years ago appear startlingly unstaged and free of the embarrassing voyeurism demonstrated by some of his contemporaries. Andreas Pflitsch reports
Interview with Mona Hatoum

"The Idea Is What Matters!"

Palestinian-British artist Mona Hatoum has the gift of visualizing the uncanny in the accustomed, the ludicrous in the banal. Now she was awarded the art prize of the Haftmann Foundation. Urs Steiner and Samuel Herzog spoke with the artist
Interview with Rose Issa

"Culture Should Not Be Restricted to the West"

The Louvre has just signed a lucrative million-euro deal with Abu Dhabi. Critics in France fear a "sell-out" of French culture. In this interview with Lewis Gropp, Rose Issa, independent curator and art critic specialised on Middle East and North Africa, disagrees
Photography Project "Missing"

Lebanon's Shadows of the Past

The legacy of the civil war weighs heavily on Lebanon. With a photo exhibition in Beirut various initiatives hope to make people aware of the countless persons who vanished during this period and to encourage Lebanese society to start coming to terms with its past. Arian Fariborz reports
Book Review: The 33-Day War

Global Dimensions

On July 12, 2006 Israeli forces attacked Lebanon. Authors Gilbert Achcar of Lebanon and Michael Warschawski of Israel investigated the ensuing "July War" or "33-Day War" and are already warning of a continuation. Beate Hinrichs presents their book