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It’s nearly impossible to define Abeer Seikaly, or rather, to put her in a box. The Jordanian-Palestinian says: “I’m just interested in the process of making.” Perhaps, the word ‘maker’ is the most fitting description for her talents. Her installations juxtapose and blend fine art…
A little over 12,000 kilometres separate the Dolby Theatre (home of the American Academy Awards) from the village of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank. When it was announced that the best documentary award went to ‘No Other Land,’ about the brutal displacement of Palestinian villagers by t…
IIt’s 8am in the Windy City and the eminent architect Gordon Gill is seated at his desk speaking to us before his Chicago office springs to life. His firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), as the name reflects, resulted of a convergence of two great minds. In the world of ‘s
The name Emmanuelle was forever changed by cinema – following the release of the 1974 soft porn film, it became the byword for desire, forbidden lust and fancy wicker furnishing. For those of a certain age the name still carries those connotations, but now the award-winning director Aud…
Rami Tabbara, 40, co-founder and co-CEO speaks to me on Zoom from Stake’s “cool set-up” at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) located on Gate Avenue’s shiny financial and fintech district. He scans the camera around the office, to where his team are busying away behind the sce
Yasmine Sfar and Mehdi Kebaier are the creative duo behind Altin Studio. They aptly named their brand after the Arabic word ‘Al-Tin’ meaning earth (or clay) as a means to reflect their philosophy of returning to the soil and to the traditional crafts of their native country. Their debut…
Beirut-based interior architect Roland Helou, 37, spent his formative years between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, where his father was employed at the construction company Saudi Oger. “It was Dad’s employment that piqued an early interest in design. I remember as a young kid in Riyadh, I us…
If you visit Cool Inc.’s corporate website, you’ll discover it calls itself a chameleon due to the reptile’s ability to adapt to an ever-changing world. “The chameleon is distinctive and highly specialised,” the website rationalises, “He is charismatic and confident but maintains a powe…
I am waiting for Michael Kors in an all-white room backstage before his Spring/Summer 2024 Collection catwalk show in New York. I hear him before I see him but, when he does appear, I see he’s dressed in his signature head to toe black, accessorised with his all-season suntan. “Th…
The Saudi art scene is booming right now, but behind the hot-topic exhibitions and international showcases are some incredible curators such as Jumana Ghouth, who has put together a multitude of shows over the years, from thought-provoking spotlights on single artists to large group sho…
It was over twenty-five years ago that Hamad Sultan (above) and Achille Rossini first met as students at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design). Then, after they both graduated in 2000, they ended up getting recruited by the same architecture firm in Boston – NADAAA (formerly Office dA). …
Much has been said about the modern day ‘It’ girl. Shorthand for an ineffable aura – one that embodies the cultural zeitgeist and reflects it back to us in sartorial flare and memeable moments – lately it’s become a bit of a misnomer. Probably because the elusive archetype is so hard to…