#follow the halo is a curated zine celebrating culture. It follows the people, places, and projects that tell stories from the Middle East and beyond. These works are complied into a monthly edit that gets sent to your mailbox. By following along, you are supporting the art and culture.
Khabar Keslan is an independently run, volunteer-based, primarily English-language online review featuring art and critique relating to the Global South, with a particular focus on the Middle East and North Africa. This is a dedicated platform for dissidents, artists, critics, and those on the margins.
We are deeply unimpressed by the representation of the region; hence our name, “Khabar Keslan,” or lazy news. Coverage of these regions tends to emphasize violence, chaos, and corruption. But the region is also complex, beautiful, and wrought with passionate voices.
As much as destruction characterizes the region, so does creation.
Previous Issues:
An independent bilingual publication exploring a range of topics shared by a globally based generation that speaks, thinks, and lives in Arabic and English. Tariff is made up of a varying balance of both languages. It is the product of recognising our presence within the cultural, political, and temporal overlap between these two languages.
All content is published in its original language; English, Arabic, or a combination of both. Topics vary with every issue, often spanning the cultural, artistic, musical, critical, research based, personal, ironic, and satirical.
Tariff is like a collective journal tallying the progression of thoughts within a group of people who share it.
A hybrid of Saudi/Egyptian with Turkish origins, 22 years of age and an advertising, creative design student at UBT in Jeddah. I'm an aspiring artist and writer, who enjoys books, art, music, and poetry. Started with pencil sketching now into digital art, specifically Collage art.
Lina Jamjoom is a Saudi illustrator, storyteller, and a graphic designer. Illustration and storytelling have always been a passion of her's ever since she was a child. She recently began to combine both her passions together through her art page "Karkabah".
Hussein Aljabi is an Iraqi collage artist and Designer that tries to capture complex social / political situations and into a visual representation giving the viewer an easy digestion of the context and to better communicate a certain view.
EMAIL: HUSSEIN-HISHAM-ALJABI@HOTMAIL.COM
INSTAGRAM
A visual artist and musician from Syria. Adnan's work revolves around collage, where he mixes different media to break certain taboos or discuss mainstream views, mainly about the Middle East.
In 2016, his work was exhibited and sold during an auction at the prestigious Central Saint Martins in London.
Moza is a self-taught illustrator and multimedia designer based in Ajman, UAE. While the mediums often vary in her work, from digital, to traditional, to whatever the hell she finds on the floor, perhaps the only constant is the presence of a face.
Human characteristics intrigue Moza to no end, and she finds herself creating made-up people to embody a momentary state of mind or to simply vent/talk to herself/articulate feelings she may not have exact words for.
Diplomantiq (adverb) = Combining diplomacy and Mantiq (logic in Arabic). A new state of being for the everyday citizen diplomat – That is, you and I.
Diplomantiq is a social initiative operating on a non-profit basis, focussed on individual & collective progress in society.
Subjects covered: Culture & Art, Digital and Social Media, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy, physical well-being and of course, diplomacy.
OPPORTUNITY: Diplomantiq is seeking a curator/creator of digital content on art, culture and social entrepreneurship. If interested, contact them.
Mazin is a 19 year old Omani, majoring in Marketing in the Modern College of Business and Science.
Banat Collective is a creative community made in response of a lack of artist spaces and lack of discussions womanhood within the arts in the MENA region. Our platform aims to support creatives seeking to produce, collaborate and share their work with the world.
We believe that a discussion of intersectionality, feminism, gender and identity politics from a 'middle-eastern' perspective is becoming increasingly relevant and important. Banat Collective offers a space for discussion and creation and to address these questions and issues that course through our everyday lives.
Sarah Ahmed is a creative experimentalist, based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Her creations range from mixed media, film photography, watercolor, digital illustrations and glitch art. She enjoys the process of creating a zine, and DIY culture.
Rama Duwaji is a Syrian illustrator and visual artist born and currently based in the U.S.A. Rama's work mainly consists of illustrations and simplified designs. She utilizes her art work to discuss topics within the Middle East, such as beauty standards and misogyny
Haya B. AlGhanim (HBG) is a Kuwaiti filmmaker and artist based in New York City and Kuwait City. Haya received her undergraduate degree from The New School in New York, where she was a teaching assistant for courses in creative development, experimental filmmaking techniques, digital editing fundamentals and documentary production. Currently, Haya is an MFA in Film Candidate at Columbia University's School of the Arts, concentrating in Creative Producing.
Haya’s short films have screened at various international film festivals, including the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, Miami Independent Film Festival, Seattle Art Fair and more. Among the official selections of her work, Haya’s short documentary ’by the medina, for the medina’ recently won the Bronze Sidra for Best Short Documentary at the 2017 Kuwait Film Festival. During the Summer of 2016, Haya was hosted by Green Olive Arts in Tetouan, Morocco as an Artist-in-Residence, where she produced cultural content on the artists of Morocco. In 2017, Haya was granted a residency at PARADISE AIR in Matsudo, Japan.
Alongside her production and art practice, Haya is a curator and programmer of film and video. Previously, Haya was the curator of film at IDIO Gallery in Brooklyn. Launching the IDIO Experimental Film Series, Haya made IDIO one of New York’s hubs for experimental film. Through her art, film, and curatorial practice, Haya aims to pursue her passion in working towards the preservation and representation of modern Arab art and culture.
