This is a reflection of how society is already polarised in terms of morality. This polarisation exists in ideas of taste and status but most importantly in the tendency of privileged circles to guard “their” scene against newcomers. It can be argued that this is contemporary Turkey in a nutshell. The ruling class who had the upper hand in setting cultural norms is now faced with the risk of losing things it took for granted.
Read MoreMorrissey's career has thus far gone unharmed and his views have not been collected. He has an overwhelmingly white fanbase, yet the alternative scene is not adverse to social justice and calling people out. I see a lot of activists in various political realms fighting great fights while failing to confront (or at least distance themselves from) The Problem of Morrissey.
Read MoreAs in every settler colonial state, Israel is appropriating Palestinian art and culture and serving it back again to Palestinians, stripped of any signs of identity and belonging. This is where Manjm wants to provide its independent, unapologetic and authentic art and culture.
Read MoreTo many like Alaa who have witnessed the brutality of the Assad regime first hand, what is happening in Syria is not just a war, but a revolution. He chuckles, visibly proud of the fact that the uninitiated eyes of Turkish art dealers can not locate the 'war' in his pictures. "How could it not be there, yani?" he muses. "It is a part of me."
Read MoreThe amphitheater is once again facilitating what it used to facilitate during its heydays, namely, notions of collective identity formation, participatory social spectacle and politicized popular assemblies.
Read MoreIf convicted, Sharbat will face up to fourteen years in prison and a fine between three to five thousand dollars. Sharbat Bibi, for seventeen years known only as the Afghan Girl, has “inspired” so many in the West. How such inspiration is useful is lost on me, when Sharbat Bibi and her children still live as refugees in poverty.
Read MoreWhen tears are wept for the destruction of 'Roman' antiquity (the temple is dedicated to a Near Eastern god), there is no thought to the destruction of Syrian Islamic history which is taking place simultaneously.
Read More
