Emirati artist Rami Farook on his Jeddah solo show ‘A Muslim Man’: ‘This is a living exhibition’ 

Emirati artist Rami Farook on his Jeddah solo show ‘A Muslim Man’: ‘This is a living exhibition’ 
‘The Siege of Jeddah/A Determined Defense’  by Rami Farook. (Supplied)
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Updated 31 January 2025
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Emirati artist Rami Farook on his Jeddah solo show ‘A Muslim Man’: ‘This is a living exhibition’ 

Emirati artist Rami Farook on his Jeddah solo show ‘A Muslim Man’: ‘This is a living exhibition’ 

JEDDAH: Rami Farook’s solo exhibition ‘A Muslim Man,’ which runs at Jeddah’s ATHR Gallery until March 25, is a deeply personal sequel of sorts to a film he made in 2015, and traces the evolution of his life, identity and creative practice over the past decade.  

The original project, a 64-minute conceptual feature comprising 16 vignettes, has now been reimagined as a labyrinth-like multimedia experience featuring 85 pieces, each of which is based on a scene from that film. 

The self-taught Emirati artist was 20 in 2001 when he lost his best friend. Four months later, while living in the US, the events of 9/11 drastically altered his life. As a Muslim, Arab-looking man, he recalls: “I became noticed, vilified… it shifted everything.” These events inspired a deeper exploration of his faith and identity, themes that are central to this show. 

“It’s about a Muslim man’s relationship with God, self, society and family,” he tells Arab News. 

Following the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and the outbreak of genocidal violence in Palestine, Farook turned to painting as a coping mechanism. “I painted daily, summarizing the news,” he says. This renewed urgency also shaped the exhibition’s tone. The ‘Muslim Man’ is portrayed as both a victim and a hero.  

Farook describes the show as “an immersive, intermedia experience.” It is his first attempt at blending multiple mediums into one cohesive journey. “For me, this was a fun curatorial process, way more magical than just watching the film,” he says. 

The “docufictional” exhibition is structured like a film, however, and unfolds across seven sections: context, protagonist, cause of conflict, conflict, response to conflict, climax, and moral, Farook explains. 

Here, he talks us through several works from the show.

 

‘Aerial View’ 

This is the poster for the show; the reason I like it as the poster is you can look at it in any of the seven sections I mentioned earlier — context, protagonist, cause of conflict, conflict, response to conflict, climax, and moral — and it could be in any of them. The character is a Muslim man. This shot presents him as a hero — because we’ve seen the villain side too many times in the last 25 years or more. This show is showing the other side. He’s on a ladder that looks like it’s not in the greatest shape. The village he’s looking at: is it alive? Is it dead? There’s the mystery. And whether he is looking to see what’s going on to eventually maybe protect it, we don’t know. So there’s a lot of mystery.  

 

‘Caring for His Father’ 

This is a closeup of me holding my dad’s hand. He wears white, I wear black. My dad cannot see; he lost around 50 percent of his eyesight in the last 40 years, and then he lost another maybe 40 percent in the last four or five years. He just sees light at this point. So, I care for him, especially recently. And I just felt like I wanted it to be here. This exhibition is docufictional — it can be about me, but it’s also general. 

 

‘Alone’ 

I made a mattress that’s exactly my height, my width and my depth. It literally just fits me. It’s the idea that rest, contemplation… it all happens lying down in bed. Later, I thought it also kind of looks like a casket. Originally, it was going to have a fitted sheet or a cover, and a pillow; I made a pillow that’s just the size of my head. I try to strip things down as much as possible to just the absolute basics. Maybe I’ll add it later. This is a living exhibition; I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up adding things later — there are some things here that weren’t planned. 

 

‘The Siege of Jeddah/A Determined Defense’  

This captures the moment the Portuguese tried to invade Jeddah. The commander at the time, they put up a determined defense for about 30 to 35 days. It’s significant to showcase it here because there’s only two works in the show that are Jeddah-specific. So for me, it’s beautiful. Jeddah is a city that I love very much. It makes you wonder, if the Portuguese did occupy Jeddah, how everything would be different now. 

 

‘Allah So Determined And Did As He Willed’ 

This, honestly, is a (phrase) that is my cure to any worry. We all look back at our lives — especially at the big things that we invested time, money, or whatever, into, and we could always ask: how could we guarantee that things — business, relationships, or anything — would have been better if we changed something? This phrase actually helps me to not live with regrets. 


REVIEW: Oscar-nominated ‘No Other Land’ is a bitter tale of occupation

REVIEW: Oscar-nominated ‘No Other Land’ is a bitter tale of occupation
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REVIEW: Oscar-nominated ‘No Other Land’ is a bitter tale of occupation

REVIEW: Oscar-nominated ‘No Other Land’ is a bitter tale of occupation

CHENNAI: In the running for the Best Documentary Feature at next week’s Academy Awards, “No Other Land” is a gripping work directed by a collective of four Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers.

Helmed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the film marks their directorial debut and follows the story of Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, as he fights against the mass expulsion of his community by Israeli forces. Since childhood, Adra has documented the demolition of homes and displacement of residents in his region under military occupation.

It is not sensationalist, it is not overdramatic, but it is as powerful as they come. The documentary traces everyday life in an area where generations of farming men and women have been resisting not only Israeli control but also the violence unleashed upon them by its military forces and settlers.

The documentary begins in 2022, with an Israeli court ruling in favour of eviction and a lot of the 95-minute work captures details of the misery brought about by the occupation in Arabic and Hebrew. There is graphic footage of homes being razed to the ground and operators going about their ruthlessness with faces that show not even a trace of remorse. Families with babies have to take refuge in caves, members huddled against each other trying to create a bit of warmth in the biting cold. “We have no other land, that's why we suffer for it,” says an old woman whose home has been destroyed. Later, her son is shot and paralyzed.

“No Other Land” is a harsh, bitter documentary that, perhaps unsurprisingly, has not yet secured a US distributor.


Shanghai man scammed of $28,000 by AI ‘girlfriend’: state media

Shanghai man scammed of $28,000 by AI ‘girlfriend’: state media
Updated 35 min 47 sec ago
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Shanghai man scammed of $28,000 by AI ‘girlfriend’: state media

Shanghai man scammed of $28,000 by AI ‘girlfriend’: state media
  • Scammers used generative artificial intelligence software to create realistic video and still images of a young woman

SHANGHAI: A man in Shanghai lost nearly $28,000 after being tricked into a long-distance “relationship” with an AI-generated girlfriend, Chinese state media reported on Wednesday.
Scammers used generative artificial intelligence software to create realistic video and still images of a young woman in order to pose as the fictional “Ms. Jiao,” according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The victim transferred nearly 200,000 yuan (nearly $28,000) to what he believed was his online lover’s bank account, after the scammers used the fake images to convince him that his “girlfriend” needed funds to open a business and help a relative with medical bills.
The scammers even created a fake ID and medical reports to support the ruse, CCTV reported.
The operation was conducted by a “scammer team sending video and photos that were all created through AI or made by combining multiple images,” CCTV said, citing a police investigation.
“Throughout the process, (the victim) Mr. Liu never met Ms. Jiao in person,” it added.
A CCTV video showed photos of a woman in different scenarios including posing with a paint palette and standing on a city street.
The emergence of AI tools able to generate convincing text, images and even live video has resulted in increasingly sophisticated scams around the world.
Earlier this month US social media behemoth Meta warned Internet users to be wary of online acquaintances promising romance but seeking cash, noting that scams making use of generative AI were on the rise.


Global models to attend Modest Fashion Week

Global models to attend Modest Fashion Week
Updated 26 February 2025
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Global models to attend Modest Fashion Week

Global models to attend Modest Fashion Week

DUBAI: Models and influencers including Halima Aden, Mariah Idrissi, and Rawdah Mohamed are set to attend the 10th edition of Modest Fashion Week from April 14-16.

This year’s edition will be held in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, with previous iterations having been held in Istanbul, Dubai, London, Riyadh, Amsterdam, and Jakarta.

In 2025, organizers expect fashion labels from 10 countries to take part, with a schedule of masterclasses, workshops and panel discussions also on the agenda.

Think Fashion and Miral Destinations are partnering to host the event, with Liam Findlay, CEO of Miral Destinations, commenting: "Hosting the 10th edition of the Modest Fashion Week on Saadiyat Island Abu Dhabi, a globally recognized event in the fashion industry, is a significant milestone.”

The event will draw star power in the form of Aden, Mohamed and Idrissi, who have hit the catwalk for luxury brands during their careers.

Aden has walked the runway at New York Fashion Week multiple times and was also a member of the judging panel at the 72nd Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador in 2023.  She shot to fame for being the first woman to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant in 2016, where she was a semi-finalist.  

Mariah Idrissi will attend this year's Modest Fashion Week in April. (File/ Getty Images)

Somali Norwegian model Mohamed, who has an eyewear campaign with Italian label Dolce & Gabbana under her belt, has worked with brands like Boss and H&M and is also a regular on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet in France.

Mohamed walked the Roberto Cavalli show in Dubai in 2024 and previously told Arab News that she “sort of stumbled into modeling” after a mutual friend put her in touch with her manager while she was at university studying for a degree in behavioral analysis and healthcare.

Mohamed said: “I went to a fashion show in Oslo at the end of 2018 where I met my manager. He told me about what they were doing and I went to his office for a meeting and I said I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a model but I wanted to work in fashion.”

Born in north west London to Moroccan and Pakistani parents, model Idrissi made headlines when she became the first hijab-wearing model to front a major fashion campaign for H&M in 2015.


Elyanna fronts Coach’s Ramadan campaign

Elyanna fronts Coach’s Ramadan campaign
Updated 26 February 2025
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Elyanna fronts Coach’s Ramadan campaign

Elyanna fronts Coach’s Ramadan campaign

DUBAI: Palestinian Chilean singer Elyanna is the face of Coach’s Ramadan 2025 campaign.

In the campaign, Elyanna is seen against a desert-inspired backdrop, styled in pieces that blend contemporary fashion with cultural influences. 

She is seen carrying Coach’s signature handbags, each featuring gold chain accents and the brand’s signature “C” clasp.

In one image, she wears a dark oversized coat with black trousers and knee-high boots, accessorized with a muted sage green handbag.

Another image captures Elyanna in a black long-sleeve top and a voluminous pink skirt. Her hairstyle incorporates braids with metallic embellishments, and is holding a black Coach handbag with gold detailing.

Elyanna has been normalizing Arabic lyrics in the Western world throughout her career, taking inspiration from artists including Lana Del Ray and Beyonce, as well as Middle Eastern legend Fayrouz.

The Los Angeles-based singer’s music is a mix of Arabic and Western beats, which she attributes to her multicultural upbringing.

Last month, Elyanna performed live with British band Coldplay during their four-show run in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The music sensation has previously hinted at upcoming projects this year, stating: “The sunrise and the rebirth of the ‘Woledto’ project is just (the) start for the next chapter of 2025. Arabic is the music of the soul and the sun. Grateful for all the talented people that believed in this project and helped with the vision to come to life this tour (sic).”

Elyanna’s debut album “Woledto” featured nine songs: “Woledto,” “Ganeni,” “Calling U,” “Al Sham,” “Mama Eh,” “Kon Nafsak,” “Lel Ya Lel,” “Yabn El Eh” and “Sad in Pali.”

Before releasing the album, she wrote to her Instagram followers: “This album is the embodiment of pride to be an Arab woman, to be from Nazareth, to be from the Middle East.” 


Football star Mohamed Salah’s daughter stars in Ramadan TV series

Football star Mohamed Salah’s daughter stars in Ramadan TV series
Updated 25 February 2025
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Football star Mohamed Salah’s daughter stars in Ramadan TV series

Football star Mohamed Salah’s daughter stars in Ramadan TV series

DUBAI: Liverpool FC star Mohamed Salah’s daughter Makka is set to make her on- screen debut in Egyptian Ramadan TV series “Kamel El Adad 3.”

Born in 2014 in London, Makka’s role in the series was announced by director Khaled El-Halafawy, though details about her guest appearance remain under wraps.

The show is returning for its third season this Ramadan and sees stars Dina El-Sherbiny and Sherif Salama as Layla, a woman working in the cosmetics industry, and her husband Ahmed Mokhtar, a cosmetic surgeon. They live with eight children and the series follows the trials and tribulations faced by the household.

The Egyptian footballer surprised the cast of the show with a video call during filming, according to ET Bil Arabi.

Othe cast members include actors Hussein Fahmy, Engy al-Mokadem, Mariam al-Khost, Youssef Omar, and Amr Saleh.

Salah and his wife Magi share two daughers, Makka and Kayan, who was born in 2020.