The Levant means ‘where the sun rises’: the eastern Mediterranean Levant is a geographical word, free from associations with race or religion. It is defined not by frontiers but by the sea.
Author: Philip Mansel
Was Salonica a Levantine City?
The conference reflected on the Levantine identity, as captured throughout history, art, architecture, music and cuisine, as well as the history of cosmopolitanism and commerce that enabled this vibrant culture to thrive. Panelists who share Levantine heritage examined its influence on their careers and lives as well as gave testimony to the uniqueness of the Levantine identity.
The program was followed by an evening concert performance with the original composition, Levantine Symphony N°1, by Ibrahim Maalouf.
The New Levant Initiative was honored to present distinguished trumpeter and composer Ibrahim Maalouf in the world premiere of his impassioned composition, Levantine Symphony N°1.
NLI is proud to support projects and institutions that bring about initiatives, tools, and experiences to further educate the public about Levantine arts, culture, and history.
NLI supports the Humanities Research Center (HRC) at Rice University and their sustainable, multi-tiered, and data-driven Levant Carta initiative. The Levant Carta is dedicated to the production of a cartographic platform that will bring together scholarly networks and enable the production of temporally accurate and illustrated maps of Levantine cities. For this initiative, the HRC will interconnect a series of activities, meant to act as bridges across disciplines, schools, and universities both in the US and abroad.
January 7, 2019 Adam Forrest / Independent
Google’s latest Doodle celebrates the life of Fahrelnissa Zeid, the renowned Turkish artist best known for blending Islamic and Byzantine traditions with influences from the West. Tate Modern, the British gallery that organised a major retrospective of the late painter in 2017, called her “one of the greatest female artists of the 20th century.” Ms Zeid created her own distinctive […]
January 6, 2019 Sophie Prideaux / National
The Middle East continues to establish itself as a global hub for emerging talent, and regional fashion designers made waves internationally in 2018. A host of A-list celebrities turned to creatives from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait and Bahrain to dress them for their red-carpet moments, while off-duty models showed their street-style prowess in […]
January 3, 2019 The Media Line / YnetNews
Comedians in the Middle East play an important role in combating all forms of extremism, a veteran Jordanian comedian has said, amid a widening controversy over streaming giant Netflix’s decision to yank an episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj in Saudi Arabia. “The biggest enemy of extremism and fundamentalism is comedy,” Nabil Sawalha, who […]
January 2, 2019 Ahmad Melhem / Al-Monitor
Le Trio Joubran, cited among the world’s best-known Palestinian musicians, maintain that the two essential components of Palestinian culture — the oud and the verses of great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish — are central to their works. “The oud, the music and the poems of Mahmoud Darwish have become an integral part of the Palestinian culture. We feel that we are […]
December 30, 2018 Olivia Cuthbert / MEE
Slowly shaping each letter with a bamboo tool dipped in plant-based ink, calligrapher Joumana Medlej finds a meditative calm amid the chaos of modern life. “In this time of constant distraction, it reacquaints you with the practice of total focus,” she says, as she writes in ancient kufic calligraphy, named after the city of Kufah in […]
December 11, 2018 Giuseppe Mancini / Al-Monitor
“Every work of art is beautiful and meaningful in the place where it belongs.” In a statement that is also a political manifesto, Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy welcomed back 12 fragments of precious Roman-era mosaics on Dec. 8. at the Zeugma Mosaic Museum in the southeastern city of Gaziantep. They were illegally excavated in […]