Know what’s wrong with these images? Gender stereotypes going beserk.

These pictures throw up a swell of first reaction- curiosity, unease, interest, and in some cases possibly even a bit of revulsion. Why? Utterly simple. The gifted photographer Bojana Tatarska  has challenged our inherent gender biases in media by reversing gender roles. Look at the coy faces. The averted gazes. Those come-hither postures. Hark at the titillating [...]

Sharjah’s little Biennial goes haywire- Director fired for artwork selection

This was meant to be a mild, balmy post about all the vicissitudes of March. All the friendliness, the bonhomie, the occasional psychosis, the work, the play, and the brilliant programme of cultural events that we’ve been benefiting from. But drama’s always just around the corner. Jack Pereskian, the director of Sharjah Biennial, has been fired. Abruptly. [...]

A visual journey by Jalal Abuthina through Al Badaa, District 333

Walls. Not the sort that divide, but the ones that bring us together. Convergence.  Expression. Street art. That’s what Jalal Abuthina’s new book deals with. District 333 - beyond the surface, whispers the title. A municipality map of the approximate area adorns the otherwise plain white cover. Al Badaa near Satwa, or District 333 in Dubai [...]

A few words with Cherien Dabis of “Amreeka” fame

  On assignment, I tracked down Palestinian New Yorker Cherein Dabis, director of Amreeka, via email. The emails rapidly led to a phone convo. She’s gregarious, talkative and has positive energy I could feel reverberating all along the transatlantic wires linking us. Amreeka debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. It deals with cultural [...]

Logan’s unfortunate assault

Lara Logan. She decided to fling herself into the middle of a crowd in Egypt’s revolutionary quarter, and eventually found herself beaten and sexually harassed. All in the line of duty. Utterly brave woman. Ms. Logan, we salute you for your courage. However, may we take collective umbrage at the narrative that’s stemmed from therein? [...]

Tunisia is a wake up call – for pundits, not the Arab world

[The image was taken from commentator Sultan Al Qassemi's twitter feed] The clarions are calling, and klaxons blaring. Tunisians, finally tiring of a corrupt government, replete with sycophants and sidekicks who were casting a pall of poverty around them while living it up, decided to take action. The catalyst was an unemployed student whose vegetable [...]

Dubai and the United Arab Emirates: 2010 and beyond for city states in flux

This post was written for the Huffington Post, and mirrored on Mid East Posts. Links will be sorted soon. (Image acquired for reference from here. Here’s a view of what transpired in possibly the world’s busiest entrepot – through the eyes of seven individuals, residents, analysts, writers and global citizens who are proud to call the [...]

Within each of us…

The past six week have been utterly sublime madness. Much of my work has headed to the corporate realm, e.g.  there was a recalcitrant Toyota brochure in Bahrain, and stenographing and summarizing sessions at the Celebration of Entrepreneurship 2010. Then there were creative misdemeanors such as acting and co-writing bits of the script for an [...]

The Metro and the evolution of culture (Khaleej Times)

This appeared in the Khaleej Times here.19 October 2010  The importance of public transport for urban development cannot be overstated.  There are obvious benefits; commuters do not waste productive hours stuck in traffic, ecological footprints shrink from their vapid enormity, and snarls of honking cars subside to slowly moving streams. For instance, the opening day [...]

Thinking like Dubai

Thinking like Dubai – Khaleej Times, Sept 27 2010 Hisham Wyne 27 September 2010, An event revolving around the UN Millennium Goals, TEDx Change Dubai, recently gathered three hundred participants at the creek side Dubai Chamber of Commerce. Melinda Gates, wife of billionaire philanthropist and once Microsoft overlord Bill Gates, asked a pertinent question while [...]