A circle of some twenty old men are sitting around playing marbles. They’re split in two teams of four players. They look focused and immersed in the game, very much indifferent to the world around them. Old fogies with balls. A scene that could be anywhere. Boccia in Italy, pétanque in France. This particular congregation [...]

Let’s recap. Globalization—this obscure word remains consistently used and misused. Today, anything which includes non-western nationalities/cultures/ethnic or political groupings is defined as being the face of this globalization. On the art front this globalization is rampant; inIVA (London) produces the hit show ‘The Veil’; the Fridericianum (Kassel) opts for ‘In the Gorges of the Balkans’ [...]

Serkan Özkaya can remember copying important works of contemporary art from an early age. With no international art collection of note in Istanbul and no option to travel to see the originals, he relied on photocopies from books, from which he would make a copy of his own. Reproductions were for Özkaya and other artists [...]

The first recorded story of a Christian icon is related by the early church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, who tells of the incurable illness of King Abgarus of Edessa. Hearing of the miracles performed by Jesus, the ailing king wrote to him imploring for his help. Jesus, who was otherwise engaged at the time, took [...]

“And that is the difference between a legend and a star”—he ended his lengthy soliloquy with emphasis. Then the smallish middle-aged man whose real name I would never know picked up his briefcase, politely excused himself with a curt bow, and headed out. “I must get back to the office,” he explained apologetically—like his name, [...]

The landscape – Showing the barrier separating the Jewish colony of Giloh, within the expanded borders of Jerusalem and the Palestinian cities of Bet Jallah and Bethlehem. The tunnel is not used to bypass natural barriers; rather it traverses political boundaries. The road is in Israeli jurisdiction and is used exclusively by the colonists [...]

Shaaban and I have been playing hide-and-seek over the telephone for some time now, he grumbling and me rambling. This is how it goes: Every time I call, I must reintroduce myself, as though we’ve never spoken before. I remind him how I got his number (through a musician contact) and that he has asked [...]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

NEWS

PREVIEWS

WORK IN PROGRESS
Teelya Artist Yasmeen Alawadi discovers some old fogies playing marbles (and makes a film about it)
By Tirdad Zolghadr

MUSEUM
The United Nations
The museology of world peace
Mary Blair Taylor andNegar Azimi

OPINION
Paved With Good Intentions: Political opposition and the pitfalls of international support
Noushin Ahmadi

CURATORIAL COLUMN
Global Epidemic Art in the Age of Globalization
Mai Abu Eldahab

ARTIST PROJECT
Project Misplaced
Houman Mortazavi

PROFILE
Serkan Ozkaya
November Paynter

TRAVEL
Grand Hotel Londra: The Second Nicest Place to Stay in Istanbul
November Paynter

INTERVIEW
Aside From Being Wildly Intelligent
Okwui Enzewor discusses the relevance of biennials and the business of art with Michele Maccarone

ICONS
Intro: I’m looking through you George Pendle on the slip of the icon

Edward Said I: Thank god he wasn’t French
Tirdad Zolghadr

Edward Said II: The Stupidest Word
Christopher Hitchens discusses his friend and foe with Emran Qureshi

GOOGOOSH: Private Devotion
The world of Googoosh’s biggest fan
Negar Azimi

Images selected by
Ketuta Alexi-Meskhishvili

Tent City: Two worlds, an automaton and a skyscraper
Remembering the revolutionary form of Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square
Tony Chakar

The Yacoubian Building: A Cairo apartment building thrust into the limelight
Ursula Lindsey

Yul Brynner: Hollywood’s one-man melting pot
Brian Ackley

Artist project in collaboration with Bidoun: SIDEWALK MAGIC
Yto Barrada and Simona Schneider

Ataturk: National rhetoric versus contemporary art in Turkey
Erden Kosova

The new Iraqi flag: An exercise in identity manipulation
Fawwaz Traboulsi

The Wall: Settlement Archeology
Eyal Weizman in conversation with Markus Miessen

Javad Yasari: Second hand fridge salesman, singing legend of the Tehran bazaar
Coco Ferguson and Khosrow Hassanzadeh

Artist project in collaboration with Bidoun: HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Hassan Khan

Shaaban: Egyptian gangsta rappa and improbable hero of the people
Yahia Lababidi

Political Campaigns: The political economy of gloss
Christopher Pinney

Portraiture: Bahram Afandizadeh talks to Negar Azimi about his photography studio at Imam Khomeini Square, Tehran

Cat Stevens: The pop idol forgoes his fame for his faith
Mary Blair Taylor

MUSIC
Islamic Chic: Religion hopping in the life of Michael Jackson
Yahia Lababidi

Music is Kontagious: Turkish hip hop rolls deep in south London
Gervase de Wilde

The Popular that is not Pop: An album cover for the anxious
Hassan Khan

Stylistic Tourism: Pop’s new orientalism
Kevin Braddock

FILM
Summer Film Festival Diary
Yesim Tabak and Antonia Carver

Tehran as Movie Panorama: An iconography
Mazyar Lotfalian

Dances With Wolves for Muslims: Seeing the Islamic side of the crusades through Kingdom of Heaven
Antonia Carver

FASHION
75%: Archetypes of Tehran: Photography: Peyman Hooshmandzadeh
Art Direction: Hushidar Mortezaie

Art Market: If loving you is wrong Gulf collectors appropriate the cannons of orientalist painting and raise some awkward questions
Antonia Carver

INTERVIEW
There is art here, lower your voices: On art and its urban entourage, Istanbul 2005
Vasif Kortun and Secil Yersel in conversation

Photo48 : Diana Allan and Mahmoud Zeidan

DESIGN
Turning flags into infographics
Foote Cone and Belding’s ad campaign for Grande Reportagem

BOOKS

REVIEWS

PRODUCTS

BIDOUN PHRASE BOOK
Part 1: Farsi

COOKING
with Khosrow Hassanzadeh

AFTERTHOUGHT
Mr Lebanon: Anatomy of an icon