With each passing year, the decline of spoken Arabic is only growing. Steps are being taken to preserve it, but this continues to be an uphill battle. In this article, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi argues for the importance of globalising and modernising without losing our language. Read more »
Articles
A pilgrimage to remember Iraqi artist Jewad Selim
In this article Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi profiles Jewad Selim, who was a central figure in Iraq’s 20th century cultural scene, responsible for some of the country’s most important post-revolution art. Read more »
The UAE’s J Curve
Successful nations are born of hard sacrifices made to attain giant leaps. In the world of finance, a J Curve is a trendline in which an initial loss is immediately followed by a dramatic gain. In this article, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi discusses this phenomenon as it relates to the formation of the UAE. Read more »
Remembering Dr Ramzi Dalloul
My most enduring memory of Dr Ramzi Dalloul (1935-2021) was at a dinner I hosted in my house in Dubai back in October 2014. I posed a question to Dr Dalloul asking him: “Can you tell us your philosophy behind collecting Arab art?” What I received was a 15 minute speech, parts of which are etched in my memory. Read more »
Blue Collar: Depiction of Workers in Modern Arab Art
Since at least the 1950s, Arab artists depicted workers in paintings, sculptures, posters and more recently, in new media and installations. Workers from different industries were not only painted as central figures, they were also depicted with dignity. Read more »
New Arab Hip Hop: Between Love and Rebellion
A generational divide is manifesting itself in the Arab World in politics, activism, human rights and more recently in music. Nowhere is this more evident than in the hip hop industry. Read more »