Art by the fountain: The Yaz Fentazi music group
The widely acclaimed Yaz Fentazi musical group made a brief appearance in London as part of the Music@One series of lunchtime encounters between a diverse walk-in urban audience and a dynamic virtual procession of known or newly discovered musical talent from near and far, especially from the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East. As the promoters point out, Yaz Fentazi and Robyn Hemmings and their companions, when in...
Cold fury: EU reacts to US stance on Jerusalem
The European Union’s response to US President Donald Trump’s stance on Jerusalem has been met with cold fury in senior EU echelons, with one political analyst in conversation with The Middle East in Europe describing the development as “yet another American own goal.” In private conversations shared with The Middle East in Europe, EU officials warned the United States in the event could be the ultimate loser if...
Asia Society honours the Aga Khan
The Asia Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award has gone to the Aga Khan for his contribution to improving the lives of millions of people around the world. The pioneering Ismaili leader has achieved this through art and architecture, sustainable economic development, education and numerous other fields. The Game Changer Lifetime Achievement Award is Asia Society’s most highly regarded honour, given annually to individuals,...
The Lost Men of Syria at Saatchi Gallery
Syria’s grim humanitarian crisis finds yet another sombre expression in The Lost Men of Syria exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, opening 19 July, writes Eastern Art Report arts newsdesk. Photographer Edward Jonkler’s work examines the role of men in refugee camps, and the shifting power dynamics that can often lead to acts of radicalisation and mental illness, with once patriarchal figures becoming “lost’. Fleeing violence...
Tate Modern honours Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid, modern art pioneer
Come this June (2017), Tate Modern celebrates the life and works of Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid, an artist who can rightly be seen as one of the female pioneers, in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, of both modernism and abstraction in a western sense, responsive to western aesthetics and sensibilities. Abstraction, through reinterpretation of Arabic/Farsi/Osmanli/Urdu calligraphic forms, isn’t new to a region...
Amidst war wounded, Syria’s cancer sufferers risk being forgotten
Syria’s numerous hospital patients are an almost forgotten casualty of the conflict. The World Health Organisation says it is hoping to get to some of them, in particular cancer patients in health facilities not already targeted in the war. WHO cites the experience of 12-year old Khedr from Aleppo Governorate, who was diagnosed with fibrosarcoma, a tumour in the connective fibrous tissue affecting bones and muscles, in January...