Most recent articles by Marian Brehmer
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Islamic popular cultureA match for Bollywood – the rise of Turkey's dizis
Turkey is the second-largest exporter of TV series in the world, boasting a growing presence on international screens from Pakistan to Chile. The "dizis" offer audiences an elaborately staged alternative to Hollywood and Bollywood. Marian Brehmer reports from Istanbul
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Album review: Misagh Joolaee's "Ferne"Expanding the horizons of the kamancheh
German-Iranian Misagh Joolaee was recently recognised for widening the scope of playing the Persian spiked fiddle with the German Record Critics’ Award. Mariam Brehmer listened to his new album
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The poems of Ibn ArabiInterpreting desire
The famous mystic Ibn Arabi’s 61 poems have been translated into German for the first time by Stefan Weidner. But are the poems really all that easy to understand? By Marian Brehmer
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16th Morgenland Festival OsnabruckA virtual journey of sound across the Balkans
As a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, the Osnabruck Morgenland Festival took place via YouTube for the first time – transporting us to new cultural regions through music. Marian Brehmer attended several of the virtual concerts
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Book review: Kurt Scharf's "Halt aus in der Nacht bis zum Wein"A window on modern Iranian poetry
Iran’s contemporary poets are less well known in Germany than the old Persian classics. Kurt Scharf has now translated 32 of them into German. Marian Brehmer dipped into the anthology
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Interview with Indian Muslim writer Sadia Dehlvi"The soul of India is inclusive, pluralistic, and democratic"
Modi’s Citizenship Amendment Act grants the Indian citizenship to members of persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries, yet excludes Muslims. This has sparked waves of protest all across India. For prominent Delhi-based Muslim writer Sadia Dehlvi the new law is a long overdue wake-up call. Interview by Marian Brehmer
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Turkey's Aramean ChristiansWhere they speak Jesus' language
There are only a few thousand Aramean Christians left in south eastern Anatolia. And they are intent on preserving their ancient culture dating back one-and-a-half millennia. Marian Brehmer visits a community marked by exile, flight…and eventual return to the homeland
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Interview with environmental expert Tarik M. Quadir"If we don’t pull together to save the earth, we will ‘sink’ together"
Taking the Fridays for Future movement as his starting point, Muslim environmental expert Tarik Quadir talks to Marian Brehmer about the connections between Islam and environmental protection – and the attitude Islamic countries need to adopt in countering climate change
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"Karin" – an Armenian-Turkish music projectFrom deportations to duets
"Karin" is a musical dialogue between two virtuosos seeking to reconcile the souls of their home countries through their instruments. Marian Brehmer listened to the second album of Armenian duduk virtuoso Vardan Hovanissian and Turkish baglama master Emre Gultekin
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Modi and the revocation of Article 370Kashmirʹs tormented quest for freedom
Since India scrapped its special status, tensions in Kashmir are rising once again. The conflict over the valley has defined the lives of Kashmiris for decades. Marian Brehmer reports from Kashmir
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India, Modi and the Muslim minority"Not yet a Hindu Pakistan"
Many regard Modi's Hindu nationalist policies as an attack on India's pluralism. But does this mean that pluralism has really died a death? Marian Brehmer reports from the Muslim pilgrimage city of Ajmer
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Mayoral election re-run in TurkeyIstanbul's Imamoglu has a plan
Having spent just seventeen days in the job, Ekrem Imamoglu from the Republican Peopleʹs Party wants to win back the office of Mayor of Istanbul. Who is this man – and why is his potential re-election so significant for Turkeyʹs future? By Marian Brehmer