BROWNBOOK

On the outskirts of Marrakech, a collective farm offers its residents a simple respite from city life   Thirty kilometres south of Marrakech, the road that leads from the red city to the foothills of the Atlas Mountains passes through Tahanaout, a picturesque village set against the majestic backdrop of the High Atlas. For decades,…

Faig Ahmed’s psychedelic carpets are shifting the stereotypes of Azerbaijan   In his studio on the outskirts of the Old City of Baku, Faig Ahmed is hard at work deconstructing an Azerbaijani carpet, as he explodes the traditional two-dimensional pattern into a three-dimensional artwork. While most carpet weavers in his native Azerbaijan stick to the…

Artist Ali Lamu uses recycled dhow sails as a community-boosting canvas for his Kenyan hometown    An Omani protectorate during the 19th and 20th century, vestiges of Lamu’s golden age can still be seen throughout the Kenyan island today. The warren of narrow alleyways are lined with monumental Islamic houses and beautifully crafted dhow ships,…

Now entering its third year, Mathaf is sending out a message to the rest of the world that fits with Qatar’s dynamic new role   On a flat dusty outback of Qatar that will soon be part of Doha’s rapidly sprawling suburbs stands Mathaf, one of a network of museums the Gulf state is fielding…

Egyptian singer Maryam Saleh is bringing some raw power to the Cairo underground music scene   Egyptian singer Maryam Saleh is a fiery figure in Cairo’s underground music scene. Blending Egypt’s musical heritage with sounds of the present, Saleh takes inspiration from two enigmatic figures of the city’s past: Sheikh Iman and Ahmed Fouad Negm. …

As an incubator for Palestine’s thriving creative community, the Qattan Foundation in Ramallah has paved the way for young voices   Some might argue that a place ravaged by conflict does not always make the most fertile ground for ingenuity, but taking a closer look at Palestine might make one believe the old adage that…

Hard-hitting yet beautiful, Ayman Baalbaki’s paintings offer a glimpse into the turmoil he had experienced during a lifetime of conflict   The past few decades of struggle in Lebanon have inspired a plethora of artists who have lived through the country’s tortured history. Painter Ayman Baalbaki is one who needs no introduction. Over the last…

A former Soviet city on the old Silk Road, it’s easy to fall for Tashkent’s culture clash charm   Almost any cityscape in Uzbekistan is enough to make you draw your breath. The detailed mosaics of the ancient cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khavi are centuries old and testament to the great trading route The Silk Road. In more…

A self-proclaimed ‘Gulf futurist’, Sophia Al Maria’s hotly anticipated literary debut is not your usual Arab-American memoir   It’s Sophia’s first day at her new school and, like most teenage girls, she’s feeling self-conscious about what she’s wearing. The public school uniform under her ill-fitting abaya suddenly seems out of place as a glossy clique…

Fierce and fresh, London-based fashion designer Mayada Khammu is giving hip hop some Bedouin swagger   Hip hop, 1980s Brooklyn, Bedouin motifs and modern London are just a few of the influences on the moodboard of Mayada Khammu. Full of fierce urban attitude, the 24-year-old fashion designer draws on both her South West London upbringing…