The official announcement was made by Bin’s management, Vast Entertainment, on Instagram. The agency shared two pictures of the couple wearing different outfits in each.
Yejin’s second dress was a dreamy gown with an asymmetric neckline from US fashion designer Vera Wang’s Spring 2022 bridal collection, while Bin wore a cream-colored suit. They posed in front of a backdrop of white and pink flowers.
The pair both starred in the 2019 drama “Crash Landing on You.” In the show, Yejin played a South Korean heiress who paraglides into North Korea and runs into an army officer, played by Bin, who decides to help her hide.
Before this show, Yejin and Bin worked together on the 2018 crime film “The Negotiation.”
Iraqi Kurdish artist Hayv Kahraman’s explores how an understanding of microbiology can help deal with trauma
Updated 22 March 2023
Adam Grundey
DUBAI: The latest exhibition from Los Angeles-based Iraqi Kurdish artist Hayv Kahraman, on show at Dubai’s The Third Line gallery, is called “Gut Feelings: Part II.” The title is both instructive — the majority of works depict a female figure, or figures, with a knot of guts spilling from some part of their bodies — and allusive, as the show is informed by Kahraman’s exhaustive research into the gut microbiome and its effect on our mental and physical health, as well as by her own experiences of trauma. The imagery somehow manages to be unsettling, funny and comforting all at once.
The most immediate influence from Kahraman’s own life on this body of work was her mother’s diagnosis with lung cancer, which she received in 2018.
“That’s when I started digging into the biosciences and immunology,” Kahraman tells Arab News. “My mom was a naturopath, she tried a lot of alternative (medicine). If my mom were alive, she would have so much input into this. And it is a way of getting closer to her; it’s all connected to this work.
“I started with immunology and I was struck by how militaristic the language was. You’re ‘fighting cancer.’ You’re constantly at war with your body, you know? Why can’t we have something that’s looking at it as more of a journey, rather than something you’re fighting against? I really reacted to the semantics,” she continues.
“From immunology I shifted into microbiology, and that’s where this (show) was born. I really got into a rabbit hole,” Kahraman explains. “There are ecosystems of microbiota all over our bodies; inside, outside, around. There’s something called aura microbiota, so right now, as we’re sitting next to each other, my microbiota is mixing with your microbiota, which is just beautiful if you think of it, because then all of these notions of ‘us and them’ or where I end and you begin — these dichotomies — shatter. I found out — and this was mindblowing — our bodies have a 1:1 ratio of human cells and microbial cells. So where do ‘you’ start and where do ‘you’ end? You’re equally other: microbe, germ, dirty. As somebody who’s been an immigrant, a refugee, ‘othered’ in so many ways, I’m constantly thinking about difference. So with the microbes, it was, like, ‘Ooh, these are my friends.’”
Hayv Kahraman, Feeding on entanglements, 2022. (Supplied)
Kahraman was born in 1981 and grew up in Baghdad. Her mother worked for the United Nations and her father was a university professor. “My parents were very liberal. We had a little playroom in our home that we could paint all over; walls, ceiling, doors. That was very empowering. That room was filled with all kinds of stories — our concerns, things that we wanted to celebrate,” she says.
Her parents also hosted regular soirees attended by Iraqi creatives. “I’d sit in the room next door and do these quick gestural paintings, and every now and then one of these creatives would come in and look at my painting and give me a mini critique. And that was amazing; to get that from multiple voices,” she says. “That was pivotal to my life.”
The family fled Iraq to Sweden when Kahraman was 10, after the first Gulf War. They arrived as undocumented refugees and were eventually granted asylum. “I went through a process of assimilation when I arrived; I wanted so desperately to belong and become Swedish,” she says. “And when that happens to you, you’re robbed of who you thought that you really were; whatever that is. I did everything I could to become Swedish; dyed my hair, had a perfect accent, so I didn’t sound like an immigrant. And that’s a very violent thing to undergo, because you really are erasing something. This is something I revisit in my work all the time; I’m so concerned with not being erased. ‘I’m here. I exist. Listen to me. Hear me. See me.’”
Hayv Kahraman, Neurobust, 2022. (Supplied)
That, she says, is why the female figure in “Gut Feelings: Part II” has been recurrent throughout her work. It was first created in Italy, where she moved to intern as a librarian at an art school. There have been many “transmutations” of the figure, however. In 2007, for example, at the height of Iraq’s sectarian violence, when thousands of people were dying there each day, Kahraman had just moved to Phoenix, Arizona. “I was consumed by guilt, being in this country that was currently at war with my own. So the work was very violent — you had women setting themselves on fire, women hanging themselves...” She was also in an abusive relationship at the time, although she says it took her many years to realize it, “but it came out in the work.”
Having lived through so much trauma, it’s unsurprising that Kahraman describes herself as having a tendency to be “very dark” and to regularly become obsessed with certain topics (such as microbia).
“If I could, I would just live in my obsessions,” she says. “My work is about working through things — trauma and those obsessions. Why am I obsessing about the microbiome, and health, and torshi (fermented beetroot, which features heavily in the show, and is rich in ‘good’ bacteria)? My mom used to make torshi when we were kids and we used to paint with it. I didn’t consciously link it at first. The academic research came before, and then I’m like, ‘Oh my god. Yes. That’s why I’m here…’”
She stresses, however, that as much as her art doubles as therapy, it also brings her joy. And there is lightness in the exhibition too — the comic book-style gut-spillage has a certain humorous appeal.
“I am trying to channel that levity. I think I’ve got a nice balance between the really grotesque and… I wouldn’t say beauty, because that’s subjective. I’d say, connection, maybe,” she says. “I wanted the audience to walk in and feel like they’re inside the body and that it’s comforting and that there’s compassion and healing and that it’s a safe space.”
French label Messika stars 3 Arab talents in Ramadan campaign
Updated 22 March 2023
Arab News
DUBAI: French jewelry brand Messika unveiled their new Ramadan campaign, starring three Arab talents paying tribute to the women of the region.
The three stars are Laila Abdallah, a Lebanese actress based in Kuwait, Yara Alhogbani, the first and only Saudi tennis player competing on an international level, and Mariam Al-Remeithi, the first and youngest Emirati theater costume designer and abaya designer who recently took her work to Paris.
“A large part of Ramadan is about introspection and committing oneself to growth and lasting change,” said 18-year-old Alhogbani in a statement. “I make sure to take the time to distance myself from distractions so that I’m able to see where I can personally improve to better the journey that I’m currently on.”
Al-Remaithi, the acclaimed fashion designer who began pursuing her passion for clothing design from childhood, said: “Ramadan has always been a source of inspiration for me. By tuning into my spiritual self, I am able to to recalibrate my creative vision and goals.
“There is a sense of serenity and demure elegance that is unique to Ramadan, which I tend to channel into my designs,” she added.
Abdallah said: “Ramadan is a time to rejuvenate the mind, body and spirit. It is a special month that brings peace to my soul, allowing me the opportunity to self-reflect and create invaluable memories with loved ones.”
In the campaign images, the three talents wore Ramadan-inspired jewelry, including multi-layered necklaces, bracelets and earrings, as they posed for pictures together.
DUBAI: US model Olivia Culpo this week turned heads at the Endometriosis Foundation of America’s 11th Annual Blossom Ball wearing a black gown by Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad.
The former Miss Universe wore a pleated organza ballgown with lace trim from the couturier’s ready-to-wear spring/summer 2023 collection.
Culpo took to Instagram to share a video from her speech at the New York City event.
In her caption, the model explained what endometriosis was. She said: “It’s a disease where tissue that resembles the lining of the uterus is present outside of the uterus. It causes chronic inflammation and scarring leading to pain and/or infertility.
“It’s a complex disease and affects so many women around the world,” she added.
Culpo revealed in 2020 that she had been diagnosed with endometriosis in a series of posts that were shared to her Instagram Story.
She has since partnered with the Endometriosis Foundation of America to raise awareness about the condition.
In another picture, she wore a blue coat-like dress with gold buttons and had a maroon scarf wrapped around her head. For her third look, she donned a silk monogram shirt dress.
The model, who was born in Milan to an Italian mother and a Moroccan father, is one of the industry’s most in-demand stars.
El-Maslouhi made her modeling debut when she was 18 and went on to captivate the industry.
In addition to gracing the runways of storied fashion houses that most models can only dream of — such as Dior, Chanel, Valentino, and Jacquemus — she has also appeared in international campaigns for the likes of Off-White, Calvin Klein, and Lanvin.
Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s entertainment authority thanks Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan for rare film collectable
‘You are an honor not to India only but to the world. Thank you for the gift that you sent it means a lot,’ said Al-Sheikh
Earlier this year, Bachchan won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Joy Awards in Riyadh
Updated 22 March 2023
Arab News
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s chairman of the General Authority for Entertainment, Turki Al-Sheikh, took to Twitter this week to thank Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan for gifting him his iconic jacket from his 1988 film “Shahenshah.”
“To the legendary and one of the best actors in the entertainment world in all time, you are an honor not to India only but to the world,” Al-Sheikh tweeted. “Thank you for the gift that you sent it means a lot.”
@SrBachchan To the legendary and one of the best actors in the entertainment world in all time, You are an honor not to India only but to the world. Thank you for the gift that you sent it means a lot pic.twitter.com/dB6sCiA4Mu
Bachchan retweeted Al-Sheikh’s post and wrote: “My dear and most considerate friend . . . I am so honored that you have received the gift of the jacket with the steel arm that I wore in my film ‘Shahenshah’ . . . some day I shall tell you how I was able to retrieve it.”
In the film, the actor played a double role: A corrupt police inspector by day and a vigilante at night.
T 4591 - My dear and most considerate friend .. I am so honored that you have received the gift of the jacket with the steel arm that I wore in my film SHAHENSHAH .. some day I shall tell you how I was able to retrieve it .. my love to you .. @Turki_alalshikhhttps://t.co/mfkGijqQue
Earlier this year, Bachchan won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Joy Awards in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia has long had an affinity for Bollywood with stars such as Shah Rukh Khan headlining last year’s Red Sea International Film Festival’s red carpet in December.
