“DisORIENTation. Contemporary Arab Artists from the Middle East” provides unusual insights into contemporary Arab art and culture.

For the first time, the young art scene in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon is being presented comprehensively in Germany. The Middle East, which is once again at the centre of global political attention due to the Palestine conflict and the events in Iraq, is becoming increasingly important internationally with its provocative art productions. Writers, filmmakers, musicians and visual artists reflect the complex living and working situations in the region in their works. However, this volume is not about a blanket portrayal of the Middle East, but rather about illustrating very individual positions in texts by, for example, Elias Khoury, Abbas Beydoun, Al-Mozany, Miral Al-Tahawi or the exhibition curator Jack Persekian. Authors reflect on the simultaneity of tradition and modernity, of conditions between appropriation by the West and the respective national culture, of the disruption of societies through war. A number of artists are presented in portraits and curators open up new perspectives on cultural developments.

• Contemporary Arab Artists from the Middle East
• Arab Cinema. Portraits of seven prominent filmmakers
• Life under many skies. Word program
• Songs of Orientation
• Between Documentation and Fiction. Performance program