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Farah Abdessamad

Farah Abdessamad

Abdessamad

Farah Abdessamad is a New York City-based essayist/critic, from France and Tunisia.

Follow her on Twitter: @farahstlouis

Book Club: Hisham Matar's My Friends is a story of three friends living in political exile, their encounters and how community provides emotional nourishment.

06 March, 2024

The New Arab sat down with Yemeni documentary photographer and storyteller Thana Faroq to discuss intentional photography, craft, and nurturing intimate narratives of displacement and resilience.

23 November, 2023

British-Lebanese calligraphy artist Joumana Medlej creates intensely lyrical and meditative prints based on Arabic calligraphy, such as the Kufic script. We explore her connection with the land as well as the spiritual dimension her work embraces.

13 July, 2023

The Middle East and North Africa region is facing acute environmental degradation. A River Flows Downstream captures the lingering angst of ecological collapse through the lens of eight photographers from the region.

29 June, 2023

Watching the recent Arab League summit, which saw the region's authoritarian leaders welcome back Syria's Assad with open arms, Farah Abdessamad reflects on the legacy of revolution and the road ahead.

24 May, 2023

Under COVID-induced hiatus, Sharjah Biennial had been missing from the Arab art landscape for nearly four years. Speaking to Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi of the Sharjah Art Foundation, we find out what drove its return, and what themes permeate its design.

10 March, 2023

Rummana Hussain's conceptual artistic imprint on the state of India is relevant now more than ever. Dealing in the currency of feminist expression, postcolonial thought and perennial ideas, Rummana's India is both doubly colourful and doubly dark.

08 December, 2022

Farah Abdessamad celebrates the inclusion of Tunisian Harissa in the UNESCO Heritage list by recounting her personal relationship to it having grown up in France. She argues that amidst global attention, the condiment's essence must be preserved.

05 December, 2022

Book Club: The civil war in Yemen has brought about untold suffering. For Yemeni author and journalist Bushra al-Maqtari, bringing those responsible to justice is of paramount concern, as is the necessity to remember those lost to the horrors of war.

19 October, 2022

Despite aiming to advance decolonial discourses and challenge power structures in the art world, the 12th Berlin Biennale continued to alienate local voices in favour of tokenisation and fetishisation, writes Farah Abdessamad.

22 August, 2022