Omar El Ouaer plays three of his songs: Alif Ya Soltani, Aziza, and Mana3ref Win. He tells us about Tunisian music and how he discovered Jazz. Omar el Ouaer, a Tunisian jazz musician. He started his music education at the age of 11, studying Arabic music at the conservatory, and later discovered jazz and modern piano. He participated in various jazz workshops and played concerts with local and international musicians, including the JCT Bigband project under the direction of renowned musicians fr...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 324
Mary Ann Peters talks about her art work and productions that stem from the histories of the Middle East. She uses watercolor, gouache, and walnut ink to create pieces that tell stories. Mary Ann Peters is an artist whose combined studio work, installations, public art projects and arts activism have made noted contributions to the Northwest and nationally for over 30 years. Most recently her work has focused on the overlap of contemporary events with splintered histories in the Middle East. Her...
Apr 07, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 323
Haya Bishouty talks about her techniques in recreating traditional Palestinian food through Haya's Kitchen. She speaks about her favorite dishes and desserts such as Christmas Kaak, Rummaniyeh, Shush Barak Bel Laban and more. Haya Bishouty is the founder of Haya's Kitchen, a supper club that she started in order to revive the tradition of Palestinian grandmothers opening their homes and inviting people to feast communally. While she began with friends, word began to spread and eventually she wou...
Apr 05, 2023•57 min•Ep. 322
Daizy Gedeon talks about her work as a filmmaker and activist, producing work about Lebanon from Australia. She discusses the importance of the role of the diaspora in creating change. Daizy's family immigrated to Australia when she was five years old. She began her writing career as a sports writer in 1987 and was the first female sports journalist on The Australian newspaper and the first female football writer in Australia which led her to the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Created & hosted...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 321
Clive Holes talks about the relationship between standard and non-standard Arabic, cultural myths of the history of Arabic, and the vectors impacting the evolution of Arabic. Clive Holes received his education from High Arcal Grammar School, Trinity Hall (Cambridge University), Wolfson College (Cambridge University), and Birmingham University. He worked as an Overseas Career Officer of the British Council in various countries and was involved in the establishment of Sultan Qaboos University in M...
Mar 31, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 320
Dorian Paul Rogers, Salem Al Attas & Maryam Alshehhi talk about Rooftop Rhythms and how it aims to add life and positive energy in to the UAE community with culturally-appropriate performance arts and nightlife concepts. Rooftop Rhythms was founded in March 2012 by award-winning poet and educator, Dorian Paul Rogers, Ed. D. What started as a poetry open mic night in Abu Dhabi quickly grew into a variety of community-based culture, arts, and nightlife event offerings. Created & hosted by ...
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 319
Zeid Hamdan introduces us to the Indie music scene in the Arab region. We listened together to songs he produced: Herzan by Soapkills and Zamel by Bedouin Burger, which he forms with Lynn Adib. Zeid Hamdan is a Lebanese music composer. For the last 2 decades, he's been producing some of the most interesting bands of the Lebanese and regional indie music scene such as Soapkills, The New Government, Hiba Mansouri, Kanjha Kora, Maryam Saleh, Maii Waleed and his own songs under the band name "Zeid a...
Mar 27, 2023•54 min•Ep. 318
Rami George Khoury talks about the status of politics and journalism in the modern world and how it shapes people's lives. He discusses how the media has shifted in light of today's circumstances. Rami George Khouri is Co-Director of Global Engagement at the American University of Beirut (AUB) based in NY, an internationally syndicated political columnist and book author, and Journalist-in-Residence at AUB, and a non-resident senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. Created & hosted by M...
Mar 24, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 317
Nadir Nahdi talks about his exploration of the world's cultures through their different cuisines. He discusses his revelations in Morocco, Yemen, and Palestine through Bastilla, coffee steaks, and Jaffa cakes. Nadir Nahdi is a presenter, film-maker and producer from London with Yemeni, Indonesian, Pakistani and Kenyan heritage. Nadir was recently voted by the Evening Standard as one of 'the most influential Londoners'. His videos articulate the unique experience of children of the diaspora. His ...
Mar 22, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 316
Maysoon Pachachi talks about her film "Our River... Our Sky," an Arabic language narrative feature film. The film is a web of intersecting stories that describes a collective drama happening in this time and place... in 2006 Baghdad. Maysoon Pachachi is a London-based filmmaker of Iraqi origin. As a director, she largely works through her production company, Oxymoron Films ( www.oxymoronfilms.com ). Her documentary films include Iraqi Women — Voices from Exile, Bitter Water about four generation...
Mar 20, 2023•59 min•Ep. 315
يتحدث الشيف محمد كمال عن أساليبه في الطهي النوبي في مصر وكيف يحافظ عليه بين الذاكرة والابداع. محمد كامل هو شيف نوبي متخصص في المأكولات النوبية الحديثة، يمزج تقاليد الماضي مع الأذواق والأساليب الحديثة. نظرًا لأن المطبخ النوبي غير معروف كثيرًا خارج المنطقة النوبية، يطمح كمال إلى الحفاظ على الثقافة حية من خلال تطوره في الأطباق التقليدية. كان أيضًا جزءًا من المنتخب الوطني للشيفات المصريين الذي حصل على كأس 2022 لفنون الطهي الأفريقي. إعداد مايكي مهنا تقديم سلمى سري إنتاج رمزي رمان موسيقى طارق يمني htt...
Mar 17, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 314
Malika Zarra takes us on a musical journey to discover Moroccan music. She tells about her newest album "RWA (The Essence)" and about who inspires her the most, from Moroccan Hajja Hamdaouia to Lebanese Farid Al-Atrash and Algerian Warda. Malika is a singer and composer who was born in Southern Morocco and raised in a suburb of Paris. Her musical background is a blend of French and Moroccan influences, with jazz and Arabic music being the most prominent. Her breakthrough came when she started si...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 313
Rula Alami talks about her work at INAASH and her private work as a collector and artistic curator. She talks about Palestinian embroidery "Tatreez" and how its empowers Arab identity and culture. Rula Alami is an art collector, assistant curator and art dealer based in Lebanon. She is the vice president of INAASH Association. She has been engaged in Middle East art market for over 15 years. Her area of special interest is Arab modern and contemporary art. She has co-curated thematic exhibitions...
Mar 13, 2023•56 min•Ep. 312
What happens when you take a lawyer turned pastry chef trained in France and mix in Egyptian flavors and heritage? Listen to find out. Beware: don't listen while hungry! After 10 years of experience in law (studying and working), El Charkawy first discovered her love of cooking while pursuing a Master’s degree in Law in France. Prior to her move, she had hardly ever stepped foot in the kitchen. Created & hosted by Mikey Muhanna , afikra Edited by: Ramzi Ramman Theme music by: Tarek Yamani ht...
Mar 10, 2023•51 min•Ep. 311
Iconic Palestinian Artist Sliman Mansour has spent a lifetime inspiring people all over the world with the power of his art. You don't want to miss this conversation. Sliman Mansour is one of the most distinguished and renowned artists in Palestine. His style embodies steadfastness in the face of a relentless military occupation. His work — which has come to symbolize the Palestinian national identity — has inspired generations of Palestinians and international artists and activists alike. Cre...
Mar 08, 2023•49 min•Ep. 310
From Shankaboot to Brando Al Sharek, we talk with innovative Emmy-winning filmmaker Amin Dora about cinema, advertising, working with George Khabbaz, Shankaboot, Beirut, and where we are today in TV and Film in Lebanon. Amin Dora is an Emmy-Winning Film Director and Visual Artist, born and raised in Zahle, Lebanon. Dora won "International Emmy Award" in 2011 for Shankaboot, the world's first Arabic Web Drama series he directed, and in which he explored innovative ways of portraying real life in...
Mar 06, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 309
Talking to the Khatt Chronicles team, Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, Yasmine Taan, Yara Khoury Nammour & Fawzi Rahal, about the new season of the Khatt Chronicles. We talk about the history of graphic design in the region and what people can expect from season 2 of Khatt Chronicles. Khatt Chronicles podcast features remarkable designers, illustrators and researchers from the Arab World. We host engaging conversations about their practice, vision, and aspirations. Created & hosted by Mikey M...
Mar 03, 2023•58 min•Ep. 308
Helping facilitate positive impact and growth in disaster struck communities, Theresa Chahine talks about the importance of social entrepreneurship and enabling sustainable businesses and organizations. Teresa Chahine is the inaugural Sheila and Ron '92 Marcelo Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship at the Yale School of Management. She is the author of "Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship," a twelve step framework for building impactful ventures in new and existing organizations.. Created &...
Mar 01, 2023•54 min•Ep. 307
Bringing Iraqi food into the English food scene, Chef Philip Juma is keeping the essence of the Iraqi home alive with his Kubba, Quozi, and Dolma at Juma Kitchen. Philip Juma studied Economics for Business and started his career in finance. Throughout his time in finance, he always loved cooking – he would speak about food, restaurants, hospitality with such enthusiasm but it was just a ‘passion’ of his. He worked for an energy consultancy company and after 18 months there, he made the leap in b...
Feb 27, 2023•55 min•Ep. 306
We're delighted to revisit the history of the Ottoman empire with Dina Rizk Khoury in this episode of the Afikra podcast. We learn about the exchanges and interactions between the Ottoman Empire, the British, and the French and the systems they relied on in order to maintain control of their populations. This includes different garments for classifying their internal rankings as well as nationality laws that eventually led to some of the first passports. Dina Rizk Khoury's research and writing s...
Feb 24, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 305
Welcome to this episode of the Afikra Book Club with the engaging Joumana Haddad who takes us on a journey through her past and upbringing in Bourj Hammoud to uncover family sorrows and share the stories of those left scathed by the Armenian genocide. Joumana Haddad is an award-winning Lebanese writer, journalist, university professor and human rights advocate. She’s worked for Lebanon’s An Nahar newspaper and taught creative writingand Italian at the Lebanese American University in Beirut. She ...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 304
On this episode of afikra, Walid Siti shares with us the origins and the stories behind his solemn pieces, from his life in Duhok and Ljubljana, Slovenia, to his start in printmaking, to the creation of works such as the "Seven Towers", "Climbing To Nowhere", and "The Black Tower." We touch upon the themes of large culminating structures, the recurrent climbing in a life, the return to memory, and acknowledgement of change. Walid Siti was born in 1954, in the city of Duhok, in Iraqi-Kurdistan. F...
Feb 20, 2023•52 min•Ep. 303
Khaled Barakeh talked about his art work on reframing moments of dissonance, and often outright injustice, in political, and social structures. Khaled Barakeh is a conceptual artist and cultural activist. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus in 2005 and received his MFA from Funen Art Academy in Odense, Denmark, in 2010. In 2013, he completed a Meisterschuler study at the Städelschule Art Academy in Frankfurt a.M., Germany. In recent years, his projects have delved into the med...
Feb 17, 2023•56 min•Ep. 302
On this episode of Quartertones we're talking with Nubian-rooted Egyptian singer Nesma Herky who takes us to the origins of her interest in singing. We then listen to her work starting with Amary, continuing with Ne3eesh Be3eed, and end with her rendition of Mohamed Mounir's Ya Marakby. Nesma Herky is a marvelous Nubian rooted Egyptian singer and a skillful music composer, who is taking steady steps toward the limelight of the music scene in Egypt. Created & Hosted by Mikey Muhanna , afikra ...
Feb 15, 2023•56 min•Ep. 301
Justin K. Stearns talked about his work as professor of Arab Crossroads Studies at NYUAD and his research in contagion and diseases in Al-Andalus and North Africa. Justin Stearns received his BA in English and History from Dartmouth College in 1998 and his PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University in 2007. He is a Professor of Arab Crossroads Studies at New York University Abu Dhabi. His research interests focus on the intersection of law, science, and theology in the pre-modern Musl...
Feb 13, 2023•57 min•Ep. 300
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige talked about their multidisciplinary work as artists, photographers, and filmmakers. They discussed their art work and installations, as well as their movies, notably Memory Box. Filmmakers and artists, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige question the fabrication of images and representations, the construction of imaginaries, and the writing of history. Their works create thematic and formal links between photography, video, performance, installation, sculpt...
Feb 10, 2023•58 min•Ep. 299
Reem Assil talked about her culinary approach at her restaurant 'Reem's California,' in addition to her chosen single ingredient that can be used in different dishes and desserts: Ashta. Reem Assil is a Palestinian-Syrian chef based in Oakland, CA. She is the owner of Reem’s California, a nationally acclaimed restaurant, inspired by her passion for Arab street corner bakeries and the vibrant communities that surround them. Created by Mikey Muhanna , afikra Hosted by Salma Serry Edited by: Ramzi ...
Feb 08, 2023•58 min•Ep. 298
Amir Nizar Zuabi and Samar Haddad King talk about the inception and process behind Yaa Samar!'s dance theatre performance: Last Ward which follows one man’s journey towards death in a hospital room. They also share with us how they met and began collaborating and discuss how far identity extends into their work. This episode is in collaboration with the Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi. Amir Nizar Zuabi is an award-winning theater writer and director, the Artistic Director of ShiberHur, and served a...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 297
Manal Al Dowayan talked about her interrogation of the gender-biased customs in Saudi Arabia and its metamorphosis through her art work and installations. Manal Al Dowayan’s practice navigates a territory where the personal and the political overlap. Her works spring from lived experiences—these intimate encounters with social injustice, the pangs of memory and forgetting. Yet her pieces are consistently galvanizing, sparking identification and engagement, particularly among women around the wor...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 296
Vanessa Paloma Elbaz talked about her research in Jewish music. We listened to Chant Juif pour la Naissance by Mme. Azeroual, Habibi Lawel by Habiba Messika, and La Llorona by Chavela Vargas. Vanessa Paloma Duncan-Elbaz has a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne’s CERMOM research group of the INALCO (Center for Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Studies of the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilization). Her dissertation “Contemporary Jewish Women’s Songs from Northern Morocco: Core Role and Fu...
Feb 01, 2023•54 min•Ep. 295
