There’s a lot of interest in the art and cultural map of the Middle East these days and we have a feeling ideas on Gulf Futurism, as proliferated by Sophia Al Maria, and Slavoj Žižek’s Living in the End of Times might have something to do with it (not mentioning Bidoun, those memes and the ‘Arab Spring’) . But there are plenty more impressions of the diverse region to be had, hence, the ICA‘s Off-Site: Cinema on The Steps:Contemporary Middle Eastern Film in London, running from Tuesday, August 20, to Thursday, August 22.
It features three nights of screenings curated by Abdellah Karroum, Alia Al Senussi and Abdullah Al Turki, and Ahmed Mater, including restored Egyptian classic The Night of Counting the Years (Al Momia), Manal Al Dowayan’s silent mash-up of belly dancing The Legends, and a talk by fellow contemporary artist and event curator Al Turki himself.
See the ICA website for details. **