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HAPPENINGS

February-March 2025

Ramadan Kareem to everyone celebrating.

This edition of the newsletter covers February and March. The month of February came and went, and I found myself not having time to send out my supposedly monthly newsletter! Aiming to go back to monthly after this one.

What have I been up to?
I was out of Dubai during the first half of February. I attended five days of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and stayed in Amsterdam, mostly to watch films by David Lynch and Nuri Bilge Ceylan. It was also nice for me to experience a proper winter season. The rhythm of a city changes - it feels quieter, everyone walks slower and less tourists roaming around.

My top highlight from the film festival in Rotterdam was The Open Door, a 1963 Egyptian coming of age feminist melodrama starring Faten Hamama, based on a novel by Latifa al-Zayyat with the same title, directed by Henry Barakat. Wrote a few words about it and the rest of the festival here.
I also wrote a few words about the films I watched by Lynch and Ceylan.


Above photo taken by me, Amsterdam - February 10, 2025.

The Saul Leiter: An Unfinished World exhibition at Foam was another highlight from my trip to Amsterdam. It featured more than 200 photos, I loved most of what I saw, especially in the first room. Sharing here two photos that I wanted to pair, they were exhibited on two different walls in two different rooms.

 

After I returned to Dubai, I planned a few visits to exhibitions in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah where the 16th edition of the Sharjah Art Biennial is taking place. This year’s edition is bigger and more spread out. I’ve visited some of the venues so far, and aiming to write more in the next newsletter after I visit more sites.

In Dubai, it’s been a while since I stepped out multiple times in one week to visit exhibitions. I especially liked the Arab Journalism Exhibition in the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library. There’s a good collection of magazines, books and newspapers on display, but sadly, the exhibition text is quite sparse. Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing publications as old as the late 1800s, and there was a nice selection of film and entertainment magazines from the early to mid-1990s.

These are a few photos I took from the exhibition.

I recently published on my blog a list of exhibitions I recommend you visit this season in Dubai that you may find useful.

 

Film Screening
Saturday, March 8

If in Dubai, join me on March 8 for an event I’m co-hosting as part of my film club:

Film screening and book discussion, presented by The Culturist Film Club and Tamreez Inam:
Terra Femme + Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women  

Join us for an evening of reflection and exploration, with a pairing of a film screening Terra Femme (Courtney Stephens) and book discussion Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women (Edited by Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Daniel Majchrowicz and Sunil Sharma) on the theme of travel as a means for self-discovery and finding one’s place in the world, especially for women. 

Film curator Hind Mezaina and writer Tamreez Inam will interrogate the reasons why women travel, including religious and educational, and how for some, spirituality and a deeper awareness of oneself was the outcome of travel even if not the intended goal at the outset.


Date: Saturday, March 8, 9-11pm
Venue: Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai
Free to attend, and you can register here, where you can also find more information about the film and book.

Above image: Film still from Terra Femme
Below image: Photo from Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women  

This will be the second time Tamreez and I host this event. We first hosted it last November at Kutubna, and wrote about our highlights from that evening here.

March 8 is also International Women’s Day, which we found out after we agreed on a date. A suitable accidental coincidence.  
 

Recent posts on The Culturist

I’ve not made any new artworks or printed new photographs, but I was busy writing on the blog.

Take a look here - https://www.theculturist.com

One of the blogposts includes a transcribed version of Radu Jude’s acceptance speech at Berlinale where his film Kontinental ‘25 won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay. Here’s an extract:

“…although we are now in a terrible times, I hope there will be more money for culture because there’s a lot of talent. And I hope that there will be more solidarity in Europe in these moments where we are pressed from all sides. But real solidarity, not bullshit solidarity.

I hope the International Criminal Court in The Hague will pursue its job against all these murderous bastards.

Since you have tomorrow the elections here, I just hope that next year’s festival doesn’t open with Triumph of the Will by Leni Riefenstahl.”

 


Recommendations

Read:
Oil Paintings at the Dentist’s Office - Oscar Movies 2025 by A. S. Hamrah

I wait for Hamrah’s annual Oscar piece like a child waits for a Christmas or Eid present. It was published yesterday, and one to dive into right away.


Music:
People Watching by Sam Fender
I heard this song when I watched the last 40 mins of the Brits Awards early this morning. I instantly liked it and have been listening to it most of today.

I’ve also been doing a deep dive into Robbie Williams’ hit singles during the past few weeks. But don’t worry, will save my Robbie Williams fangirl mode for another time.


Exhibitions:
Nadine Ghandour: Rooms for Error at Bayt Al Mamzar, Dubai
Until May 18

Abdullah Al Saadi: Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia at 421 Arts Campus, Abu Dhabi
Until May 4

Saul Leiter: An Unfinished World, at Foam, Amsterdam
Until April 25
 

Thanks for reading.
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Past editions of this newsletter can be found here.

Hind Mezaina, PO Box 5243, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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