Review
Portal Into the Past
The virtual reality “House of Memory” created by the artist Basil Al-Rawi takes viewers on a journey through photos and memories of Iraq’s past, allowing the diaspora to share personal stories and reclaim their cultural heritage.
Edward Said’s Cultural Symphony
Edward Said’s writings on opera show a side of the famous Palestinian academic and activist little appreciated today — his enduring belief in cultural universalism. His legacy cannot be captured without taking into account what his lifelong passion for classical music meant to his broader corpus.
‘A Round of Applause’ Finds the Funny Side of Despondency
Do we know what’s best for ourselves? Can we choose to lead meaningful lives? Is life worth living? A brilliant new Turkish Netflix show, “A Round of Applause,” tackles such existential questions with dark insight and biting humor, following the fate of its miserable protagonist right from the womb.
Indian Films Are Showing the Realities of Life for the Country’s Housewives
A number of Bollywood movies in the last decade have exposed the daily grind of Indian housewives and compelled viewers to understand the patriarchal structure of the country's households, which burdens women, ignores their needs and undermines their work.
The Novels That Charted Jewish Hardship, Survival and Assimilation in America
The story of Jews in America is one of exceptional upward mobility, and the community’s literature has evolved alongside it. Early fiction often focused on poverty and antisemitism, while later authors chronicled subtler forms of social discrimination and the pursuit of a less tangible sense of inclusion.
The Rise of a Distinctly African Speculative Fiction
For all its acclaim, Afrofuturism has been perceived among many native Africans as primarily catering to the diasporic concerns of African Americans. Now, distinctly African forms of science fiction and fantasy are emerging across the continent and beyond.
Remembering Sergei Parajanov, the Bard of the Caucasus
The revered Armenian cinema auteur Sergei Parajanov both embodied and sought to capture on celluloid the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Caucasus, inspired by the myths and folklore that bind the region together. Yet the world he cherished is now marked by closed borders, nationalist rancor and polarization.