Survivors of Daesh’s genocide in Iraq come together to create Yazidi Cultural Archives

Survivors of Daesh’s genocide in Iraq come together to create Yazidi Cultural Archives
‘The Temple of Betrayal’ by Saher Shaker. (Supplied)
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Updated 11 November 2022
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Survivors of Daesh’s genocide in Iraq come together to create Yazidi Cultural Archives

Survivors of Daesh’s genocide in Iraq come together to create Yazidi Cultural Archives

DUBAI: Malaeen Luqman Khalaf was in her early teens when Daesh swept into Iraq and unleashed a genocidal campaign against the Yazidis, an ancient ethnic and religious minority living in the country’s north-west. A young girl of just 14, she was among thousands of Yazidi women and adolescent girls who were kidnapped and enslaved. Many of them were systematically raped and subjected to horrific acts of sexual violence. Thousands of men were also murdered and hundreds of thousands of Yazidis were forced to flee their ancestral homelands. 

The fate of many of those women and girls remains unknown, but Yazda, a community-led organization that protects and champions religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan and Syria, has kept a database of survivors since 2014. That database currently numbers more than 1,000.  

“The experiences of these women are unimaginable. First, they were under siege. Second, their fathers or brothers or husbands or sons were killed. Third, they were taken as hostages and sold and bought by Isis members and tortured physically and sexually,” says Haider Elias, the president of Yazda, using another term for Daesh. “It’s beyond comprehension.” 




‘Behind Every Darkness is Light’ by Malaeen Luqman. (Supplied)

Now, eight years later, Khalaf is among 16 Yazidi women who have shared their stories of resilience and are using art as a means to support their psychological wellbeing. Working in collaboration with Yazda, the women have created four online exhibitions — collectively known as the Yazidi Cultural Archives — in an attempt to raise awareness of the continued plight of the Yazidis, to conserve their cultural heritage, and to provide psychosocial support. The exhibitions include first-person testimonies, art and photography. 

Designed to leverage the psychological benefits of artistic engagement, cultural validation and group support, the archives took a year to create and were launched at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and at Yazda’s headquarters in Duhok, Iraq, on Oct. 26. They will act as “a permanent digital repository of Yazidi culture” and have been published by the United Nations on Google’s Arts and Culture platform. 

Now 23 and living in Qadia camp, Khalaf is in her final year of high school and dreams of becoming an artist. Still too traumatized to discuss her experience, she painted because she wanted people to know what her life was like, both in captivity and after. “I drew the reality of when I was in captivity and after I was free, so the two of them kind of combined, which was hard for me because I had to remember all the things in the past,” she says, speaking through an interpreter. “It helped me to not lose hope, to get up and to work on our culture.” 




Deq Tattooing process, photographed by Zina Ibrahim. (Supplied)

“It’s not a conventional archive,” explains Elias, whose brother was killed during the genocide and whose father was briefly abducted. “It’s an archive that has been made by the survivors themselves, with a little bit of help from Yazda and partners.” Those partners include the Iraq Cultural Health Fund, which was established by Community Jameel and Culturunners in 2021, and the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology.  

For Elias, the project has three primary benefits. The first is the healing and psychosocial support that art can provide to the 16 women from internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Qadia, Khanke, Mamrashan, Kabartu, Sharia and Chameshko in Duhok Province. An evaluation of the impact of the archives on the psychological wellbeing of participants will be supported by New York University’s Arts and Health initiative and by the World Health Organization’s Arts and Health program.  

The second benefit is cultural preservation in the face of continued displacement, while the third is increased global awareness of the continued suffering of the Yazidis, particularly the survivors.   




‘Fleeing on truck’ by Zmnanko Ismael. (Supplied)

“What is new in this platform is that there are two levels,” says Nathalie Bondil, head of museum and exhibitions at the IMA. “First of all, the women were able to express what they felt thanks to drawings or paintings. This is the first step of the therapy. But what is also important is that they will be recognized for who they are as women — as women with a name, as individuals. The platform will not only show their drawings but present a portrait of each of them. It will help them to be recognized for who they are — not only to express what they felt or what they endured, but to show who they are to the world.” 

At the heart of the project is cultural preservation. Yazidi shrines, temples and other sites of historic importance were destroyed in Sinjar, Bahzani, Bashiqa and elsewhere in northern Iraq. Elias states that around 68 temples were destroyed in Sinjar alone, not only impacting the Yazidis’ tangible heritage but their ability to perform religious rituals and practices. The displacement of hundreds of thousands of people has also created an existential threat to the population’s traditional ways of life. Of the more than half a million Yazidis in Iraq before 2014, 360,000 were displaced by Daesh, with an estimated 200,000 still living in IDP camps. An estimated 2,763 Yazidis are still missing. 

“We have a generation of Yazidis who were born in the camps,” says Elias. “We have a generation who do not know what the Yazidi temples are, what the traditional holidays are, what traditional materials we use. A lot of Yazidis are losing this in the camps, especially those who are migrating to Europe. They are assimilating and they forget. Their children are forgetting what the culture of the Yazidis is.” 




‘Burning women’ by Hanna Hassan. (Supplied)

During the creation of the archive Khalaf focused on painting but was also drawn to filiklor, a musical style in the stan tradition that tells stories of love, history and religion.  

“We would visit people and we would ask them to tell us the stories of these songs and why they sang them, because for us the songs are true stories from the past,” she says. “I just wanted to know more about our traditions and customs after I was freed.” Those traditions include tattooing (known as deq), various forms of cuisine, and national dress.  

Then there’s awareness. Because eight years have passed since the genocide, and because other crises have arisen, the suffering of the Yazidis has slipped from public consciousness. “You know, we’ve tried — in terms of advocacy — almost every front,” says Elias, who has also worked with the Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad, who advocates for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. “We’ve tried virtual reality advocacy; we’ve tried documenting the genocide; we’ve tried advocating conferences in a conventional way. Now we’re trying art because we’ve disappeared from the headlines. 

“People’s attention gets divided,” he admits. “The attention of donors and supporters is drawn to more urgent causes, but our problem is that the Yazidi case has not been resolved yet. Nothing has happened. Security hasn’t been achieved. Isis is defeated temporarily, but people have not gone back to their homes, reparation hasn’t started yet, justice has partially started but not completely, and reconciliation hasn’t started. So many aspects are still left hanging there. That’s why it’s important to keep it in the public domain and remind the world that we’re here. We’re still in the camps. We’re still suffering.” 


Lebanese label Elie Saab shows Spring 2024 ready-to-wear collection at Paris Fashion Week

Lebanese label Elie Saab shows Spring 2024 ready-to-wear collection at Paris Fashion Week
Updated 01 October 2023
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Lebanese label Elie Saab shows Spring 2024 ready-to-wear collection at Paris Fashion Week

Lebanese label Elie Saab shows Spring 2024 ready-to-wear collection at Paris Fashion Week

DUBAI: Saudi model Amira Al-Zuhair had all eyes on her as she walked the runway for famed Lebanese designer Elie Saab as he showcased the label’s Spring 2024 ready-to-wear collection at Paris Fashion Week on Saturday.

The model showcased two unique-but-breezy looks on the runway for the collection titled ‘Moonlight Shadow.’

In the show notes, the label described the Elie Saab woman as, “always ready for moonlight gatherings in radiant day looks that bring blissful glimmers to the evening.”

“Flowing open-back summer dresses with scalloped hemlines are garden-fresh in oversized white English lace. Wisps of citrus organza flowers flourish from the monochromatic hemlines of billowing silk bomber jackets. Chunky tromp-l’oeil sapphires, rubies and platinum chains trace a white kaftan with a sleek cape,” it continued.

“Of course, the party is never complete without raffia leather platforms, mini top-handle bags and extravagant gemstone jewellery.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by ELIE SAAB (@eliesaabworld)

Previously, Al-Zuhair also hit the runway for Japanese-helmed label Yohji Yamamoto and French jewelry brand Messika at Paris Fashion Week, just days after she walked for French label Balmain.

apanese fashion designer Yamamoto, who is based in Tokyo and Paris, sent models down the runway in an assortment of all-black looks as part of the labels Spring/Summer 2024 collection.

Earlier in the week, Al-Zuhair opened the Balmain show during Paris Fashion Week. 

The rising star, who was born in Paris to a French mother and Saudi father, wore a white polka dot jumpsuit with colorful three-dimensional flower designs around the chest.  

When Gertrude Stein, a close confidant of house founder Pierre Balmain, penned “a rose is a rose is a rose,” she likely never envisaged its metamorphosis into a Paris runway’s guiding theme. Yet, designer Olivier Rousteing, embracing this iconic friendship, orchestrated a floral ode for Balmain’s Spring 2024 show. 

Rousteing channeled the essence of Balmain’s couture from the late 1940s and early 1950s, celebrating Balmain’s architectural wizardry. With every fold, cut and stitch, he echoed the legacy of the maison, fused with his own brazen touch. Sprinklings of the petit pois (polka dot), a staple from Monsieur Balmain’s era, added whimsy amid the blossoming rose narrative. 


Rami Al-Ali is first Syrian designer to be recognized by Business of Fashion list

Rami Al-Ali is first Syrian designer to be recognized by Business of Fashion list
Updated 01 October 2023
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Rami Al-Ali is first Syrian designer to be recognized by Business of Fashion list

Rami Al-Ali is first Syrian designer to be recognized by Business of Fashion list

DUBAI: Middle Eastern designer Rami Al-Ali has become the first Syrian fashion designer to be included in the BoF 500 list, the Business of Fashion’s index of the people shaping the fashion industry.

“Privileged to be included in #BOF500 2023, thank you @imranamed for your trust and your vision,” posted Al-Ali on Instagram, acknowledging Imran Amed, the founder and CEO of BoF.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Rami Al Ali (@r_al_ali)

While Al-Ali has had a loyal celebrity and royal following in the Middle East for years, more recently he has dressed global stars including Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez and Naomi Campbell.

Al-Ali has demonstrated a commitment to nurturing young designers through mentorship programs with the Esmod Fashion Institute in Dubai and the Dubai Design and Fashion Council. He is the founder of Ard Dyar, an initiative dedicated to empowering upcoming Syrian talents by connecting them with accomplished leaders in the industry.


Amira Al-Zuhair walks for Yohji Yamamoto at Paris Fashion Week

Amira Al-Zuhair walks for Yohji Yamamoto at Paris Fashion Week
Updated 30 September 2023
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Amira Al-Zuhair walks for Yohji Yamamoto at Paris Fashion Week

Amira Al-Zuhair walks for Yohji Yamamoto at Paris Fashion Week

DUBAI: Saudi model Amira Al-Zuhair hit the runway for Japanese-helmed label Yohji Yamamoto and French jewelry brand Messika at Paris Fashion Week, just days after she walked for French label Balmain.

Japanese fashion designer Yamamoto, who is based in Tokyo and Paris, sent models down the runway in an assortment of all-black looks as part of the labels Spring/Summer 2024 collection.

Earlier in the week, Al-Zuhair opened the Balmain show during Paris Fashion Week. 

The rising star, who was born in Paris to a French mother and Saudi father, wore a white polka dot jumpsuit with colorful three-dimensional flower designs around the chest.  

When Gertrude Stein, a close confidant of house founder Pierre Balmain, penned “a rose is a rose is a rose,” she likely never envisaged its metamorphosis into a Paris runway’s guiding theme. Yet, designer Olivier Rousteing, embracing this iconic friendship, orchestrated a floral ode for Balmain’s Spring 2024 show. 

Rousteing channeled the essence of Balmain’s couture from the late 1940s and early 1950s, celebrating Balmain’s architectural wizardry. With every fold, cut and stitch, he echoed the legacy of the maison, fused with his own brazen touch. Sprinklings of the petit pois (polka dot), a staple from Monsieur Balmain’s era, added whimsy amid the blossoming rose narrative. 


K-Pop’s Super Junior ‘looking forward’ to performing at KCon in Saudi Arabia 

K-Pop’s Super Junior ‘looking forward’ to performing at KCon in Saudi Arabia 
Updated 30 September 2023
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K-Pop’s Super Junior ‘looking forward’ to performing at KCon in Saudi Arabia 

K-Pop’s Super Junior ‘looking forward’ to performing at KCon in Saudi Arabia 

DUBAI: South Korean boy band Super Junior are gearing up to perform at Saudi Arabia’s popular K-Pop music festival KCon, which will be held at Boulevard Riyadh City on Oct. 6 and 7. 

The group — which consists of Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun — will hit the stage on Oct. 7.  

In an interview with Arab News, Shindong said that the group is looking forward “to proper fandom culture. I hope that singers and fans will work together to have a positive impact on society,” he said.  

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by KCON (@kconofficial)

 

For his part, Donghae, said:  “I am looking forward to performing in Saudi Arabia after a long time and I am glad to be able hear the cheering of Saudi fans again. I know that K-Pop is very popular in Saudi Arabia, so I want to perform there quickly.” 

“We will make you happy and (give you) precious memories  — as much as the time you waited,” he promised his fans.  

Ryeowook views art as a powerful connective tool.  

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by KCON (@kconofficial)

 

“We would be honored if many future artists were inspired by Super Junior and found themselves in great positions,” he told Arab News. “I want to show you songs and performances that can have a positive impact right here and now.”  

During the interview, Siwon said he would love to collaborate with local talent in the Kingdom. “I really hope this will happen. I believe that collaboration in the field of cultural exchange is a great development for both countries,” he said.  

Meanwhile, Leeteuk was surprised to learn that people in the Kingdom are fans of K-Pop. “I was very surprised and once again moved by their passion. I will do my best to repay their passionate love,” he said.  

Eunhyuk, who will perform twice at the festival, told Arab News: “We will be able to show you Super Junior and Super Junior-D&E’s performance together, so you will be able to see the charm of our diverse music and performances.” 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by KCON (@kconofficial)

 

Super Junior falls under South Korean multinational agency SM Entertainment, which manages groups like EXO, SuperM and Red Velvet.  

The first day of the festival will see performances by Riize, Everglow, Highlight, Hyolyn, Kard, Super Junior-D&E (which are members Donghae and Eunhyuk) and 8Turn.  

On the second day, Super Junior will perform alongside Dreamcatcher, El7z Up, Evnne, Oh My Girl, Tempest and TNX.  

The event, which launched in Los Angeles in 2012, is said to be one of the largest Korean cultural festivals worldwide.  

The Kingdom’s hosting of the event is part of an agreement signed between the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Seoul-based entertainment company CJ ENM in June 2022. It also reflects the ministry’s efforts to boost international cultural exchange in line with the goals of Vision 2030. 


Review: Chilling drama ‘Wilderness’ is a wild – if overly long – ride

Review: Chilling drama ‘Wilderness’ is a wild – if overly long – ride
Updated 30 September 2023
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Review: Chilling drama ‘Wilderness’ is a wild – if overly long – ride

Review: Chilling drama ‘Wilderness’ is a wild – if overly long – ride

LONDON: From the first beats of the first trailer, it’s very clear what “Wilderness” is about – newly married Liv (Jenna Coleman) has discovered her husband’s infidelity and, during a spectacular American road trip, decides to seek revenge in the most definitive way possible. It’s also set to Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)” so you don’t have to be Benoit Blanc to deduce what’s about to go down. 

But then you realize that “Wilderness” is six episodes long, so perhaps there’s more to the story than a simple tale of a scorned woman settling the score? 

Well, yes and no. There’s more to learn about Liv’s marriage to handsome, charismatic Will (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), her relationship with her abrasive mother (Claire Rushbrook) and what brought the newlyweds to the US in the first place. There’s more sleuthing for Liv to do as she reveals the extent of Will’s philandering, and there’s some commentary on the trope of the slighted wife and how reductive it can be.  

But there certainly isn’t six episode’s worth of material, so “Wilderness” ends up feeling stretched thin in some places, and overly padded in others. Ironically, after congratulating itself for reflexively highlighting how women are always assumed to be the unhinged victims of male misbehavior, the show decides to rob Liv of much of her agency. She’s either reacting to things Will has done, or scrabbling to adjust when his web of lies throws up another curveball. 

Coleman is captivating, that’s for sure, but she’s slightly penned in by a character who flits from empowered decisiveness to pleading submissive so easily that it’s hard to get a firm handle on exactly who Liv is. At times, she’s steely and cold, at others she falls foul of many of the tropes “Wilderness” attempts to send up.  

“Wilderness” is certainly a gorgeous, stylish show. It’s just a shame that it’s two episodes – and twists – too long.