AL-Monitor Dubai: Emirates Literature Festival returns
Syrian-American journalist Hala Gorani will join the festival next week to discuss her memoir, “But You Don’t Look Arab.”
You're reading Al-Monitor City Pulse — Dubai, a guide to the city’s nightlife and proliferating music and food scene, as the Gulf metropolis solidifies its status as a regional culture hub. To get this newsletter in your inbox each week, sign up for free here.
This week’s highlights include the 17th edition of the Emirates Literature Festival, which returns to its home at InterContinental Dubai Festival City; a new restaurant in Dubai by Palestinian chef Salam Dakkak; and the thought-provoking and inspiring inaugural symposium “African Museums Today and Tomorrow” at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Also, catch Hala Gorani next week at the Emirates Lit Fest where she will be discussing her memoir, “But You Don’t Look Arab.”
Leading the Week: Emirates Literature Festival
One of Dubai’s oldest and most popular cultural events is returning next week: The Emirates Literature Festival. For close to two decades, the festival has drawn world-renowned authors from across the globe, alongside eminent and rising writers from the Arab world. The 17th edition of the literary festival is set to take place from Jan. 29 to Feb. 3 and is returning to its home at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City, with close to 160 events hosted in various halls of the hotel.
Among the top names in attendance will be Abraham Verghese, author of “Cutting for Stone,” “The Tennis Partner” and his latest page-turner,” The Covenant of Water,” which tells the story of a Malayali family living in southwest India and was on The New York Times bestseller list for 27 weeks. Verghese takes to the stage on Jan. 31 and then again on Feb. 2 for a discussion with author and researcher Pip Williams.
The line-up of authors also includes Emmy Award-winning journalist Hala Gorani, who takes to the stage to present her book, “But You Don’t Look Arab,” on Feb. 2. The former CNN anchor will discuss the contents of her book, which explores the complexities of identity, race, and the nature of belonging, and particularly her experiences as a journalist of Arab descent living and working in the West. Also on Feb. 2, Gorani joins a panel discussion titled “Media and the Middle East.”
Other renown names in attendance include Nobel Prize laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, Booker Prize-nominated author Chigozie Obioma, bestselling travel writer and author Mohamed Kandeel, scholar and researcher Abdelillah Benarafa, Emirati poet and author Khalid Albudoor, and celebrated Palestinian chef and hotelier Fadi Kattan.
Date: Jan. 29 - Feb. 3.
Location: InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Find more information here.
Word on the street: Sufret Maryam
A Levantine dish, shish burak, at Sufret Maryam. (Courtesy of Sufret Maryam)
The popular chef behind Bait Maryam in Jumeirah Lakes Tower has opened a new restaurant packed with mouthwatering flavors from the Levant. Chef Salam Dakkak, who has a Michelin Bib Gourmand commendation and was ranked as one of the Middle East and North Africa region’s best female chefs in 2023, has worked to raise the bar with her latest restaurant featuring delicious Palestinian flavors. The restaurant is lined with Middle Eastern art and decor that pays tribute to the Levant region and creates a warm and inviting ambiance. Try the “khobez al bait,” or house bread, which is prepared the traditional way with dough fermented for 48 hours before being cooked — all of which is done in-house. Try the mezze grill featuring a wide selection of meats, Palestinian hummus and kale salad. End your meal with labneh brulee, a sweet and salty dessert that comes with a touch of olive oil.
Location: Wasl 51 - Jumeirah - Jumeirah 1 – Dubai
Find more information here.
Dubai diary
• ‘A Shroud is a Cloth’
This poignant exhibition opening on Jan. 29 features the work of Lebanon-based Honduran artist Adrian Pepe. Exploring themes of memory, material transformation and renewal, the works in this show weave together nature and culture through performance and large-scale, site-specific installations that ponder socio-political questions focused largely on recent events in Lebanon. At the heart of the exhibition is a monumental, 200-square-meter woolen textile that once wrapped a damaged heritage building in the center of Beirut after the Aug. 4, 2020, port explosion.
Date: Jan. 29 - May 17.
Location: NIKA Project Space, Al Khayat Avenue Unit 11 19th Street Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Find more details here.
• ‘African Museums Today and Tomorrow’
For lovers of African art, this event is not to miss. Louvre Abu Dhabi will present “African Museums Today and Tomorrow,” a dynamic symposium running from Jan. 28 to 30. A landmark event for the broader art and museum sector, this symposium, one of the first of its kind, will bring together leading voices in the museum world to discuss the evolving roles of African museums and their profound impact on society and global cultural dialogues. The event is being held just a few days ahead of the greatly anticipated blockbuster exhibition “Kings and Queens of Africa: Forms and Figures of Power” — Louvre Abu Dhabi’s inaugural major showcase dedicated to African heritage opening Jan. 29.
Date: From Jan. 28-30
Location: Auditorium, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Cultural District
Find more information here.
• Quoz Arts Fest
Returning for its 12th edition on Jan. 25-26 and encompassing Alserkal Avenue and the Quoz Creative Zone, the festival features public art installations, exhibitions, live performances, workshops, conversations, creative pop-ups and a dedicated kids’ program. A standout highlight this year is “Forest Dance and the Path to Pure Creation” by ENESS art studio at Concrete, an immersive light and sound installation celebrating creative freedom.
Date: Jan. 25-26
Location: 13-7, 19th Street, Al Quoz, Dubai
Find more information here.
Book of the week: "But You Don't Look Arab”
Emmy Award-winning Syrian American journalist Hala Gorani will be in Dubai this week to present her book, “But You Don’t Look Arab,” on the sidelines of the Emirates Literature Festival. In this book, Gorani, one of the world’s most-respected international reporters, writes about her decades of reporting, especially in the Middle East, revealing the lives of the people and communities she has met. Her memoir, which she will discuss on stage with Dubai-based journalist Rawaa Talass, not only explores her life and career but also her family history and questions she has pondered over the years, prompting her to go on her own search for identity and belonging.
As a “blonde Arab,” Gorani was often asked, even in the Middle East, where she was from. It’s a story about being from the Arab diaspora and struggling to fit in everywhere, from the unique standpoint of being the “other,” while also having the ability to fit in everywhere and nowhere at the same time, rising above and challenging preconceived stereotypes. The book is a must for everyone in the journalism field and beyond, offering a recount of a personal journey during a period of great change not just for the Arab world, but for the world of media and storytelling.
View from Dubai
“A Corridor of Books,” 2024, by Lamya Gargash, on the exterior of Alserkal Avenue in Dubai. (Courtesy the artist and The Third Line, Dubai)
This large-scale commissioned work by Emirati photographer Lamya Gargash has been placed on the corner facade of Alserkal Avenue. For the project, the artist made the Al Ain home of His Excellency Zaki Nusseibeh, a prominent collector and patron of the arts, her subject. Amid the numerous rows of books, a golden fabric is draped through the center of Nusseibeh’s library. The nonchalantly draped fabric is guided by the Qibla, the direction pointing toward the Kaaba, the sacred structure in Mecca to which Muslims pray. The work invites viewers to meditate on ideas of devotion and the memories of the places we inhabit.
By the numbers
- There are 13,000 restaurants and cafes in Dubai, according to the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism.
- In 2024, more than 2,700 new hotel rooms were added in Dubai, according to research by property consultancy Cavendish Maxwell.
- Around 40 Dubai hotels will open before the end of 2025, adding 10,100 more rooms, according to the report by Cavendish Maxwell.
