In an Al-Monitor article in 2013, I suggested that partly because of the civil strife, traditional core cities in the Arab world such as Damascus, Cairo and Baghdad are facing, as well as increased cultural investments by Gulf states, the center of gravity for art and culture in the Arab world was shifting eastward to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha. The article created controversy both within the Gulf states and the wider Arab world. Read more »
Capturing the Ephemeral: An Interview with Sultan Al Qassemi on Art and Technology
In this interview with Creative Time Report, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, co-director of Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum, connects the themes of this year’s conference with broader conversations about art, culture, politics and technology in the Middle East. Read more »
Social Media in the Era of ISIS
Today the social media landscape in the Middle East resembles the squares and streets of the Arab Spring cities of yore: it is a new battleground for hearts and minds between regimes, Islamists and activists; between young and old; between freedom and constraint. Read more »
London Social Media Discussion with Sultan al-Qassemi
Discussion with Gulf blogger Sultan al-Qassemi and PS21 executive director Peter Apps on the changing face of social media in the middle east from the Arab spring to ISIS. Read more »
Art After the Internet
In this nimble, malleable, and responsive sphere, are artists enabled with an autonomy from art and its institutions? Could the Internet allow artists a means to jettison the formal structures and encourage a different kind of artistic expression? Or does it simply re-enforce real-world realities online? Read more »
Social Media in the Arab World
Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, of the MIT MediaLab, speaks on social media and broadening of India-GCC relations. Read more »