Art and entertainment

Yazan

Culture

Healing through art: Syria’s artists seek to unite a fractured nation

From Damascus to Idlib, a new generation of Syrian artists is reclaiming public space and rebuilding cultural life through contemporary art.

Newly elected Miss Lebanon Perla Harb poses on stage after winning the Miss Lebanon 2025 pageant, in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, on Oct. 4, 2025.

Culture

Miss Lebanon 2025 crowned in ceremony highlighting culture, heritage

Lebanon crowned Perla Harb as the country’s new beauty queen in a grand ceremony highlighting Lebanese culture.

Installation view of CONVERGE in Seven Contours, One Collection at MACAAL © Ayoub El Bardii.

Culture

Marrakech's African Contemporary Art Museum reinvents itself two years after quake

Marking the two-year anniversary of the 2023 earthquake, Marrakech’s Museum of African Contemporary Art highlights the city’s recovery and its growing role as a hub for African art.

An image of “Tarboush Jedde Maallak”.

Culture

Lebanese play explores struggle between exile and staying in Lebanon

“Tarboush Jedde Maallak” is currently playing in Beirut, bringing to life the enduring struggle of exile that has resonated with every Lebanese for nearly five decades.

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Culture

Turkey's women, LGBTQ artists top targets of Erdogan's drive for cultural hegemony

Manifest

Culture

London photography exhibition documents daily life in wartorn Gaza

Against erasures

Gaming giant Electronic Arts taken private in $55B Saudi-backed buyout

EA office building in Austin, Texas, USA.

Saudi Arabia's PIF buys $2B majority stake in entertainment giant MBC

The Public Investment Fund is present during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 13, 2024, in Indian Wells, California.

Women fill leading roles in Egypt’s Ramadan TV series

Egyptian cinema was considered a pioneer in featuring strong female characters 50 years ago; is this trend making a comeback in Ramadan TV series now?

71st Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film “Yomeddine” in competition - Cannes, France May 10, 2018. Director A.B. Shawky and producer Dina Emam pose. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe - UP1EE5A0SAO1G

Egyptian director's debut film honored at Cannes

The touching low-budget Egyptian film "Yomeddine" took the Francois Chalais Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Can YouTube series compete with Egypt TV dramas during Ramadan?

A group of Egyptian actors known for their award-winning play "1980 and Above" try their hand at a Ramadan series on YouTube.

Ancient city of Mardin gets big dose of contemporary art

Contemporary artworks at the 4th Mardin Biennial pay homage to the heritage of Mardin, a multicultural city with a strong Assyrian, Arabic and Armenian past.

Egyptian artists outside Cairo struggle for spotlight

The #Art_Has_No_Place campaign intends to break the monopoly of Cairo as Egypt's cultural capital.

Ramallah festival takes dancing to the streets

The latest edition of the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival gained international recognition through the participation of international dance troupes.

Israeli play digs into Hamas tunnel

"In the Tunnel," a satirical play by Israel's Gesher Theater, asks its audience to decide every night if there is hope for a solution at the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Culture Alert: Fairs and fears of the future

The Middle East culture scene in May includes street festivals, book fairs and visions of a dystopian future.

Iran’s Fajr film festival grabs headlines with Oliver Stone

The Fajr International Film Festival's ambitious director is determined to get the festival top rankings by focusing on regional issues and high-profile guests.

Palestinian writers rejoice as one of their own wins 'Arab Booker'

With his dystopian novel “The Second War of the Dog,” Ibrahim Nasrallah won the 2018 International Prize for Arab Fiction in yet another victory for Palestinian literature.

Egyptian artist brings Saudi women, men to same stage

The Egyptian theater troupe Masrah Masr enjoys popularity across the region, but can it become a model for Saudi Arabia's performing arts scene?

Iraqi comic strip collective tells stories of war, rebirth

Mesaha, an Iraqi comix group, had its first European debut at Switzerland's Fumetto festival, yet visa obligations stopped the artists from presenting their own works.