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The seventh edition of Aswan International Women Film Festival ( AIWFF) will honor the great Tunisian director, producer and politician Selma Baccar for her tremendous influence in the cinematic field being the first female Tunisian director who directed a feature-length film.
Her works include Fatma 76 (1976), The Fire Dance (1995), Flower of Oblivion (2005), El Jaida (2017), among others.
The seventh edition of AIWFF will kick off from March 5-10, 2023.
Dr Azza Kamel, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Aswan International Women Film Festival said that Selma Baccar is a great filmmaker not only in Tunisian cinema, but also in Arab cinema, as her films conveyed the concerns of Tunisian women in different historical stages, in addition to her historical postion as the first Tunisian director to present a feature film.
Kamel stressed that the festival decided to honor Baccar as it seeks to honor creative women who have contributed to the portrayal of women’s issues from all over the world.
Kamel pointed out that Baccar’s struggle for women’s issues wasn’t limited to cinema screen, as a director or as a producer, but she was strongly present in the Tunisian political scene, as a member of the National Constituent Assembly to draft the constitution after the Tunisian Revolution, in addition to her work as a member in the Tunisian parliament defending rights and freedoms, stressing that honoring Baccar is a tribute to Tunisian cinema, which in recent years has achieved great successes at the international level by producing acclaimed films that support women.
The seventh edition of Aswan International Women Film Festival ( AIWFF) announced that it will honor veteran Egyptian actress dubbed Egypt’s first star Nabila Ebeid, acclaimed TV presenter Dorria Sharaf Eldin and the award-winning Dutch director, screenwriter and producer Mijke De Jong.
Manar al Jahwari won Saudi Arabian Innovation Hackathon award for her project Royal Filament.
Oman’s own Manar al Jahwari competed against 24 projects (shortlisted out of 700 total projects) in the final round of the Saudi Arabian Innovation Hackathon award, where her project was chosen along with three others as the most promising project.
Her project aimed at restricting the use of plastic filaments in 3D printing, and she fashioned 3D printing filament out of seaweed and other environment-friendly materials. She is currently in talks with government agencies to make her project a viable business, and she hopes to attract numerous local and international investors.
The Saudi Arabian Water Technologies Hackathon is a competition held virtually that lasts for two days, October 21 and 22, and involves three challenges that need to be solved within the given two days.
The second challenge was to control the excessive growth of algae in Jeddah’s desalination facilities, for which Al Jahwari came up with the innovative solution of “Royal Filament.”
The EGMO is an international competition in mathematics targeting female high school students whose commitment to mathematics goes beyond the usual school curriculum
To participate at the EGMO, students must qualify first at a national competition, after which they, together with their advisors, form their respective national delegations
Two Saudi girls have achieved advanced positions in the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad 2023, which is being held in Slovenia from April 13-19.
The EGMO is an international competition in mathematics targeting female high school students whose commitment to mathematics goes beyond the usual school curriculum.
To participate at the EGMO, students must qualify first at a national competition, after which they, together with their advisors, form their respective national delegations.
“Saudi Arabia, represented by King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba) and the Ministry of Education won two medals in the EGMO 2023 in Slovenia,” Mawhiba tweeted on Tuesday.
The young talents have raised Saudi Arabia’s medal tally to 26 in all editions of the EGMO, in which 213 students representing 55 countries are currently participating.
Saudi students Jana Ali Saad Al-Dosar from the Eastern Region and Fatimah Hassan Mohammed Bu Ali from Al-Ahsa won a bronze medal and a certificate of appreciation, respectively.
Mawhiba’s Secretary-General Dr. Amal bint Abdullah Al-Hazzaa congratulated the winners and expressed gratitude to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their support of higher education, which led to these achievements.
Al-Hazzaa noted that the students’ successes embody the integration between Kingdom’s institutions and its commitment to advancing young talents through education and training in line with international standards.
She also praised the cooperation between Mawhiba, the Ministry of Education, and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a partnership that aims to develop Saudi human capital and increase competitiveness in the labor market in line with the National Transformation Program and Saudi Vision 2030.
The Saudi girls participating in the EGMO 2023 have undergone intensive training to develop their scientific skills and were nominated to participate based on the results they achieved in the training forums held by Mawhiba.
The EGMO was initially launched in the UK, which hosted its first edition in April 2012 with 19 participating countries.
The international competition aims to motivate more female students to participate in the International Mathematical Olympiad, where girls currently constitute only 10 percent of the participating students.
This is Saudi Arabia’s 11th participation in the EGMO. The Kingdom has achieved two gold medals, six silver medals, 12 bronze medals, and six certificates of appreciation.
The EGMO 2023 awards are scheduled to be distributed on Wednesday during a final ceremony.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Fatimah Hassan Mohammed Bu Ali and Jana Ali Saad Al-Dosar. (Twitter/Mawhiba)
Americans born in or with ancestral ties to Arab-speaking countries have made countless significant scientific, medical and engineering contributions.
While Americans born in or with ancestral ties to Arab countries have made countless significant scientific, medical and engineering contributions, most have never made it into record books. From cryptography, to the artificial heart, to the iPod, here are a few examples of some of the major advancements by Arab Americans.
1. Television Transmission and LCD Screens
Born in Nabatieh, Lebanon in 1895, Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah studied and then taught mathematics at the American University of Beirut before immigrating to the United States in 1921. After a brief stint studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Al-Sabbah earned a master’s degree in engineering sciences from the University of Illinois, says Lujine Nasralla, communications specialist at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
“In 1923, General Electric (GE) hired him to work in its Engineering Laboratory under a contract that awarded him a dollar for each of his patents,” Nasralla explains, noting that between 1927 and 1935, he applied for patents for 52 of his inventions while working at GE. Some of the patents Al-Sabbah was awarded during his time at GE include three for innovations in television transmission technology (granted between 1928 and 1930), and two for cathode ray tubes (1935).
Though Al-Sabbah died in a car accident 1935, GE engineers continued to rely on the technology he invented, including developing the liquid crystal display (LCD) based on one of his patents. Al-Sabbah made numerous other significant contributions to science, technology and engineering, especially in the field of solar energy.
2. Emotion Recognition Technology
RANA EL KALIOUBY, CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF AFFECTIVA, SPEAKING DURING THE NEW WORK SUMMIT, CALIFORNIA, 2019. / DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES
While Rana El Kaliouby was completing her doctoral research at the University of Cambridge in England in the early 2000s, she never felt as though she could ever truly connect with her loved ones back home. “Away from her family and friends in Egypt, El Kaliouby wished her computer could better convey her emotional state,” Nasralla says. That’s when she decided to find a way to make more emotionally intelligent technology.
After earning her doctorate, El Kaliouby took a position as a research scientist in the Affective Computing group in the MIT Media Lab. There, she was part of a team that developed an “emotional hearing aid,” as well as a pair of eyeglasses that could read emotions, along with social cues. Officially known as “the Emotional-Social Intelligence Prosthesis,” El Kaliouby and a colleague created the wearable technology in 2006 for people living with autism who have difficulty identifying and processing other people’s emotions as they communicate.
In 2009, El Kaliouby and the same MIT colleague co-founded a company called Affectiva, which used deep learning, computer vision, speech science and vast amounts of real-world data to develop emotion recognition technology. “Her pioneering technology accurately reads minute changes in facial expressions that convey emotions,” Nasralla says, adding that El Kaliouby is a member of the Women in Engineering Hall of Fame.
3. The iPod and iPhone
TONY FADELL, WHO OVERSAW THE DESIGN OF THE IPOD AND IPHONE, PHOTOGRAPHED IN SINGAPORE, 2019 / WEI LENG TAY/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES
There was a time in the not-so-distant past when listening to music outside of your home meant bringing the physical album with you on a record, audio cassette or compact disc. And while portable MP3 players existed before 2001, none were popular enough to make the device the standard way of listening to music on the go. That is, until Apple CEO Steve Jobs hired Arab American inventor Anthony “Tony” Fadell and put him in charge of a new special projects group within the company tasked with doing exactly that.
The result was the iPod, which launched in 2001. Fadell, who is now known as “ the father of iPod,” went on to oversee the first 18 iterations of the device before Jobs gave him his next assignment: to create a mobile phone with many of the same features as the iPod.
This time, the end product was the iPhone, which essentially allowed people to carry a highly compact computer with internet capability around at all times, and, in the process, changing the way people access information. Fadell was involved with developing the first three generations of the iPhone.
4. Developments in Surgery
HEART SPECIALIST DR. MICHAEL DEBAKEY, C. 1994. / F. CARTER SMITH/SYGMA/GETTY IMAGES
Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1908 to Lebanese immigrants, Michael DeBakey (the Anglicized form of Debaghi) grew up spending time in his father’s pharmacy and enjoyed sewing, gardening and learning how motors and other machinery work. He earned his medical degree in 1932 and served in the Surgical Consultants Division of the Army Surgeon General’s Office from 1942 to 1946.
It was during this time that DeBakey and his colleagues developed special units dedicated to providing surgical care to soldiers wounded near the front lines. They were first deployed in 1943, though are best known for their work during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, when they were known as the Mobile Auxiliary Surgical Hospital (MASH) units.
DeBakey’s surgical contributions continued for the next several decades and included performing the first successful removal of a blockage of the carotid artery (1953), developing the concept behind coronary bypass surgery (1963), pioneering the field of telemedicine with the first demonstration of open-heart surgery transmitted overseas via satellite (1965), and being the first to use a partial artificial heart (1966).
5. Internet Security
While internet security is top-of-mind now, that wasn’t the case when Egyptian-born cryptographer Taher Elgamal began his pioneering work in the field in the 1980s. “Elgamal published a paper in 1984, ‘A Public Key Cryptosystem and a Signature Scheme based on Discrete Logarithms,’ which became the basis of the Elgamal Digital Signature algorithm,” says Richard Gardner, a software developer and CEO of Modulus. This work was then utilized in the development of the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA).”
Elgamal’s work became even more influential after the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) adopted it as the Digital Signature Standard (DSS). “Like the name implies, it became the standard for electronic signatures,” Gardner explains.
And according to Abdulrahman Henedy, an Arab American entrepreneur and founder of Financeive , Elgamal’s invention of the discrete logarithm was also an important milestone in cryptography. “His work inspired other encryption variations and paved the way to create more advanced algorithms, like Advanced Encryption Standard,” he explains.
In addition, Elgamal was the driving force behind the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), a protocol that keeps online communications like email and instant messaging secure. Because of this major technological development, he is known as the “father of SSL.”
6. The Waffle Cone
Though it may not be the most high-tech invention on the list, the waffle cone stands out not only because it’s delicious, but because not one, but four different Arab Americans claimed to have invented it. And what’s perhaps even more bizarre, is that in an origin story with so many inconsistencies, all four of the men contend that their ice cream innovation was born at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition—better known as the Saint Louis World’s Fair.
According to Nasralla, Ernest Hamwi, Nick Kabbaz, Abe Doumar and Leon B. Holwey each had their own story about how they came up with the waffle cone in 1904. “We give credit to all four of them, but we don’t recognize any of the stories as more plausible than the others,” she explains. “It remains a mystery to this day!”
But that mystery extends beyond which of the Arab American vendors (if any) deserves credit for the waffle cone. That’s because on top of these four narratives, there are several other origin stories , including some that took place prior to 1904. And though we may never know who first devised a handheld edible ice cream container, it’s safe to say that the 1904 World Fair and its Arab American dessert vendors did have a hand in popularizing what we now know as the waffle cone.
source/content: history.com (headline edited) / Elizabeth Yuko
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HEART SURGEON DR. MICHAEL DEBAKEY. CREDIT: BETTMANN ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
Mariam Saleh Binladen took just four hours to make the crossing from the Saudi island of Tiran to the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
A Saudi dentist and endurance swimmer has set a new women’s world record time for swimming across the Red Sea.
Mariam Saleh Binladen took just four hours to make the crossing from the Saudi island of Tiran to the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
She was accompanied in the water on her 9-kilometer swim by Lewis Pugh, a British South African endurance swimmer and UN patron of the oceans.
Pugh was on the first leg of his campaign to raise awareness about the destruction of oceans and coral reefs in the run up to the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) due to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh next month.
Binladen told Arab News: “During the final moments of the swim, I felt elated, a sense of jubilation, and blessed to have achieved my goal with my body intact.
“I had concerns before embarking on the swim, namely the weather conditions and sharks. As the last moments approached, I thanked Allah that the team had made it safe and sound through what were quite hazardous conditions.”
Due to high winds and rough seas the swim had to be staggered over two days.
She said: “We completed the swim in two segments and fed less often to minimize the risk of shark attacks. I would say that the most challenging aspect was at the midway point when the sea became very turbulent.
“We had also agreed to swim without protective cages, so those sharks were always at the back of our minds.”
Binladen has been involved in open water endurance swimming professionally since 2012.
“I train hard at least three times a week. Over my weekends, I alternate between four to six hours of swims to maintain momentum. I maintain a dedicated fitness regime, and I keep to a physically gruelling schedule when I am preparing for a challenge,” she added.
Her first major world record-breaking swim was in London’s River Thames in 2016, but she pointed out that the Red Sea attempt was for a greater cause.
“I agreed to join this challenge as the cause is near to my heart. These challenges are not for the faint of heart; you really need to be disciplined with your training and build up your physical and mental strength. Those two things are what will keep you going and be the key to success,” she said.
Long-distance swimming, she noted, was physically and mentally challenging and it was only with the support of a sports counsellor and her family that she was able to prepare herself.
“We sift through any fears and concerns together. I cannot stress enough how important it is to always work with professionals and to surround yourself with the right people.
“I’m blessed to also have the support and reassurance of a loving family without whom I could never have embarked on this journey,” she added.
Binladen’s charitable work has included offering support to refugees.
She said: “I am primed and physically and mentally prepared to take on my next challenge.
“In terms of the future, I will continue to use my challenges to raise awareness of issues that concern me, my philanthropic work is ongoing, and I have my career, and I am very busy.”
She now has five world records to her name, including being the first Arab to complete the Dardanelles Strait open water race in Turkey from Asia to Europe, in August 2015, completing the 6.5-km distance in one hour, 27 minutes, and 26 seconds.
In September 2016, she became the first Saudi to complete an assisted swim across the English Channel of 39.7 km, a feat she did in 11 hours and 41 minutes.
And she was also the first swimmer to cross the Dubai Creek and Dubai Water Canal, clocking up a total distance of 24 km in nine hours and 10 minutes.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Saudi dentist and endurance swimmer Maryam Saleh Binladen. (Supplied)
The first in the ‘Arab News’ series focusing on contemporary Arab-American artists in honor of Arab-American Heritage Month .
Los Angeles-based artist Saj Issa was raised between two different worlds. As the child of Palestinian parents who fled the First Intifada in the Eighties, she grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and spent her summers in Palestine. “Each setting brought out a different part me,” she tells Arab News.
“At first, it took a minute for me to come to terms with that. I thought I wasn’t being authentic: The person that I was portraying myself as at school around my friends was different than the person I was portraying at home. But I realize that those are all parts of me. I don’t really see it as an issue so much now as I did when I was younger.”
Issa is an emerging visual artist, who obtained a Master’s in Fine Arts from the University of California and has had her work displayed in LA’s museums and art fairs. Her drive to create art began in childhood, marked by a tactile tendency to paint and make crafts.
“I grew up watching (creator of the US TV show “The Joy of Painting”) Bob Ross — America’s savior — and I was mimicking that action of holding a painting palette,” Issa recalls.
Her ceramic tile pieces juxtapose design elements that are omnipresent in both Eastern and Western cultures. She merges major Western company logos — such as Nike, Coca Cola, and Shell — with Middle Eastern geometrical and vegetal patterns.
“I’m interested in the consequences of globalization,” says Issa. “My choice of which brands make an appearance are based on which ones made a critical impact in the East. I utilize traditional tile work combined with corporate logos as a way to draw connections between the way that colonization seeps into the indigenous ways of life. Repetition is also a means to communicate habits of consumption, mass production and advertising.”
That geometrical ornamentation continues throughout her other series, such as “Convenience Store,” which was partly inspired by her immigrant father’s former job in a corner store. The series’ portraits of workers evoke a feeling of nostalgia and loss of identity in a quick-transaction environment; standing behind the counter, surrounded by daily items, the workers’ faces — or entire bodies — are obscured by receipts.
“I just want to build my own visual language through these mediums,” Issa says.
Since 1973, L’Oréal Paris supports each and every woman on her journey to success and self-worth. Through the “Women Of Worth” program, L’Oréal Paris honored 10 leading Lebanese women, who have overcome challenges and achieved greatness in their respective fields, in Lebanon and in the whole world. The awards were delivered during a gala dinner ceremony titled “Walk your Worth”, held on March 28, 2023 at the Middle East Airlines (MEA) Training Center in Beirut.
During the event, Mrs. Emilie Wahab Harb, Managing Director of L’Oréal Liban, said: “As a brand that has always taken on the cause of women’s worth, L’Oréal Paris is proud to recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of 10 exceptional Lebanese women who have overcome challenges and achieved greatness in their fields. Their accomplishments inspire future generations and contribute to the development of the Lebanese society, thanks to their passion, dedication, and commitment to excellence.” Moreover, she asserted that “L’Oréal Paris firmly believes that all women are worth it, whereas it’s evident to support their journeys and recognize their successes”, asking all women and those present at the ceremony, to “recognize the power of beauty as a catalyst of self-worth”. She further added: “We are entirely convinced that women’s causes should be celebrated and highlighted. That is the reason why we founded “Women Of Worth” which gathers us tonight, as we follow a journey we started 50 years ago, and which we will firmly continue because women are worth it.”
The honored Lebanese women were chosen by L’Oréal Paris not only for their accomplishments, but also for the values they embody, namely self-confidence, perseverance, resilience:
–Mrs. Nayla Tueni – CEO of An Nahar Newscorp and Editor in Chief of Annahar newspaper. Awarded under the Media category, Mrs. Tueni is a prominent Lebanese journalist.
–Dr. Hiba Al Kawas – President of the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music. Awarded under the arts category. Dr. Kawas is a Lebanese composer, opera singer, scholar, and pioneer of Arab Opera.
–Mrs. Ghida Anani – Founder & Director of ABAAD – Resource Centre for Gender Equality. Awarded under the Social Responsibility category, Ms. Anani led a number of public opinion campaigns, notably the #Undress522 which resulted in the abortion of the article 522 of the Lebanese penal code.
–Captain Rola Hoteit – Airline Pilot at MEA. Awarded under the bravery category, Mrs. Hoteit is an Airbus A320 and A330 Captain, and the first Lebanese female airline captain.
–Mrs. Mireille Hayek – Founder & Owner of Em Sherif: Awarded under the Culinary Category, Mrs. Hayek is well known among the Lebanese and Arab society for her passion for cooking, her dedication and leadership in her restaurant that revives the Lebanese tradition, and which has been a success in Lebanon and abroad such as in London and Monaco.
–Mrs. Yola Zard Noujaim – Architect, Founder of Jabalna Festival & Owner of Al Fundok Hotel. Awarded under the sustainability category, she restored the old school of Maasser el chouf in an understated rural style to become Al Fundok boutique Hotel. This eco hotel is a non-profit community project, which encourages local tourism, creates a sustainable income for the community and promotes environmental, cultural, and culinary estate preservations.
–Mrs. Fadia ElMendelek – Hair Consultant. Awarded under the beauty category, Mrs. ElMendelek is a hair stylist whose talent and creativity earned her many European awards. With an online service and her own line “K by Fadia El Mendelek” of premium all-natural hair care products and extensions, she became the stylist to many celebrities and Arab Royalties.
–Mrs. Danielle Hatem – Founder & CEO of D Does Business. Awarded under the Digital Business category, Mrs. Hatem is an influential blogger who highlights strategic economical facts and figures, with the aim to create awareness about latest business headlines, while influencing and motivating the youth into entrepreneurship and business growth.
–Miss Rana Hayek, Electro-Mechanical Engineer & Car Mechanic. Awarded under the outstanding category, she’s Lebanon’s first female car mechanic. She is a diagnosis engineer at Sigma, the exclusive agent for Seat, Mitsubishi, and Ducati.
–Miss Aleen Sabbagh – Founder & Owner of The Concept. Awarded under the fashion category. What started as a personal devotion to fashion turned into a full-fledged clothing brand. Aleen Sabbagh, the young Lebanese face behind it all, goes from one factory to the other looking to constantly design drop trendy collections that always manage to sell out quickly.
The event was presented and moderated by Ms. Nadine W. Njeim, who discussed with each awardee her journey to success. It was attended by an audience of more than 150 invitees including public figures, the awardees’ families, journalists and representatives of various Lebanese media outlets, bloggers and social media influencers, as well as L’Oréal’s team and partners of L’Oréal Paris in Lebanon.
We were scouting impressive Arab female scientists and we realised that these visionaries need more spotlight.
Earlier this year, The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Middle East Regional Young Talents Program, now in its ninth year, recognized and supported five trailblazing women from the GCC region for their ground-breaking work in the fields of life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, and computer science.
The regional program is part of the L’Oréal-UNESCO’s global For Women in Science initiative, in partnership with Khalifa University of Science and Technology. The outstanding researchers were awarded funds totaling EUR 76,000 to advance their creative work in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Fostering and empowering upcoming female scientists and their ground-breaking research, particularly in the GCC region, where women scientists’ contributions are crucial to finding answers for pressing global issues including climate change, food shortages, pandemics, future technology, and cybersecurity.
The award winners stand for the most driven and ambitious women in the region who are unafraid to overcome obstacles in their quest to develop creative solutions to issues that have a social impact. They also serve as role models for young girls who are just beginning their careers in STEM.
UAE has achieved significant progress in ensuring equality and representation in all spheres, from the educational system to the forefront of important scientific and technical achievements led by women, which has improved its competitiveness on the world stage.
About the Middle East Regional Young Talents:
PhD student Hessa Ebrahim Ali Alfalahi (UAE): For her studies on the early identification and diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and depression utilizing smartphone data gathered in the outdoors using revolutionary Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms.
PhD student Ayesha Abdulla Alkhoori (UAE): For her work on the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into clean fuel to reduce global warming and address the energy problem.
Post-doctorate researcher Dr. Maha Zakariya Yahya Al-Riyami (Oman): for her investigation of somatic mutations in type 1 diabetes, which may open up new research directions in the study of autoimmune diseases.
Post-doctorate researcher Dr. Raefa Abou Khouzam (UAE): For her research on examining innovative treatments to thwart the development and spread of pancreatic cancer.
Post-doctorate researcher Dr. Fatiha M. Benslimane (Qatar): For her work on creating a quick, dependable, and affordable microbiological analysis procedure that would enable real-time diagnosis.
Tunisian artist Safia Farhat was not only a dynamic tapestry creator, but had an impressive resumé including ceramicist, educator, women’s rights activist, and publishing pioneer. She was a woman who accumulated a list of historic firsts in her lifetime.
She contributed to the growth of visual culture in independent Tunisia under the progressive leadership of President Habib Bourguiba. Farhat designed national stamps, had her fiber art displayed in the country’s banks, hotels, and schools, and worked with expert weavers and artisans in her studio.
Farhat was born in the harbor city of Rades in 1924 and raised in a well-to-do family. It was her maternal aunt, who was skilled in knitting and crochet, who cultivated Farhat’s love of art. She went on to study at the Tunis Institute of Fine Arts and was reportedly just the third Tunisian woman to enroll there.
She later became the institute’s first female director in 1966 — remaining in the role for more than a decade. She encouraged female students to take part in the institute’s programming. Farhat also founded Tunisia’s first magazine for women, “Faiza,” delving into feminism and decolonization, among other social issues.
Her colorful, thickly lined tapestries depict animals, plants, and men and women wearing traditional clothing. “When I saw her work, I was really fascinated by its sculptural elements, the color, the various techniques that were embedded in it — and by their stories,” Jessica Gerschultz, a professor of African studies at the University of Kansas, told Arab News.
“She seems to really play on self-referentiality,” she continued. “Her works are referring to her other works, so there are many symbols — lots of triangles and zigzags — integrated into her weavings and other works that she did in ceramics and iron.”
Farhat, who died in 2004, is a name still recognized by some older people in her homeland, but she has been generally overlooked, ironically, by young art students in Tunisia. “At the institute, maybe students know her name, but they’re not very familiar with her,” noted Gerschultz. “Maybe they don’t know her at all.”
International interest in Farhat, however, was boosted last year as a result of her works being showcased at the Venice Biennale. “It’s wonderful to see her contributions now being viewed more widely,” said Gerschultz.
Dubai – Dubai is the also the most record-breaking city not just within the country but also across the Mena region.
The UAE is far ahead in achieving the Guinness World Records regionally as the country boasts 425 GWRs with 34 of them were achieved in 2020 alone.
Dubai is the also the most record-breaking city not just within the country but also across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
“The UAE is currently home to 425 Guinness World Records titles, making it the biggest record-breaking country in the Mena region… Dubai has the lion share of titles in the country with around 60 per cent of the overall number,” said Danny Hickson, senior events production manager at Guinness World Records Ltd in Dubai.
Global Village, a multicultural family entertainment destination, achieved two records in November alone. The first record was set by having the most LED lights ever on a car. The vehicle had 36,676 LED lights. The feat began two weeks ago as the park achieved the record for the most videos in a music medley video following the Rockin’1000 Season 25 opening concert.
Global Village aims to break 25 records this season as part of its Silver Jubilee anniversary celebrations.
Emirati shipbuilder Obaid Jumaa bin Majid Al Falasi also made it into the history by building the world’s largest dhow, a wooden Arabic boat, measuring 91.47-metre long and 20.41-metre wide. That is equal to the length and almost half the width of a standard American football field floating over the Indian Ocean.
Dubai’s Nakheel Mall, too, recently broke the record for the world’s largest fountain, measuring a whole 7,327 m2. The record breaking fountain named The Palm Fountain was designed a with tricks including colour and brightness controls.
The emirate is also home to the world’s tallest hotel – 75-storey Gevora Hotel, measuring 356.33 metres tall from the group level to the top.
Danny Hickson said Saudi Arabia comes second with 96 Guinness World Records titles, while Egypt is not far in the third place with 93 titles.
On September 23, Saudi Arabia achieved the Guinness World Record for the largest fireworks display in multiple cities as the display consisted of 962,168 fireworks.
“What’s brilliant about breaking world records with brands in the UAE is that there is almost a chance to do something different with the heritage. Brands and individuals think it is impossible to be break world records, but we believe everyone is amazing in his own way, and we are here to make their achievement Officially Amazing!,” said Hickson.
“We have seen the tallest house of cards build in 12 hours, sat on top of a washing machine, to demonstrate its reduced vibrations and noise levels; and an iconic car brand celebrated its 80th anniversary by breaking the record for the largest loop the loop in a car! Would we find amazing talents among Khaleej Times readers?,” concluded Hickson.
