women
This month, we’re excited to be joined by Yemeni photographer, writer, educator, and storyteller Thana Faroq. Thana left her home in Sana’a, Yemen as a refugee in 2016, and now lives and works in the Netherlands. As well as working as an award-winning photographer and writer, she is currently lecturing at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.
Welcome to The Grapevine – a monthly series from Pink Jinn where we pass the mic to artists, thought leaders, influencers and pioneers from across the Middle East, North Africa and the global diaspora. We’ve got a fabulous edition of the Grapevine for you this month, including beauty recommendations from the woman who literally wrote the book on eyeliner! Journalist and author Zahra Hankir has joined us to share the art and music that inspires her, recipes and places woven into her family history and much more.
Welcome to The Grapevine – a monthly series from Pink Jinn where we pass the mic to artists, thought leaders, influencers and pioneers from across the Middle East, North Africa and the global diaspora. They’ll be sharing their top arts, culture and lifestyle picks with all of us – from the books and podcasts shaping the way they think, to the music, food, places and brands that bring magic to their everyday. This month, the fabulous best-selling author and journalist Alya Mooro is sharing her insider secrets and hot tips with us, from the book she couldn’t be without to the women who inspire her.
As a daughter of the diaspora, my feet have touched the soil of many lands and crossed their boundaries; forming temporary homes wherever I settle. Aside from the quiet nests I have created throughout my life, I have also gained something else; an inner grasp of geographical narratives on global issues. More particularly, the case of the U.S invasion of Iraq: through the lens of the East and the West.
It’s Women’s History Month, and here at Pink Jinn there’s nothing we love more than celebrating the achievements of incredible women. To mark the occasion, we’re going on a trip through history to highlight the stories of 6 awe-inspiring women from the Middle East and North Africa who we should all know more about. From warriors, freedom fighters and activists to pioneers in the fields of healthcare and even aviation, this is a pretty amazing collection.
This year has been anything but easy, but a host of stellar movie releases from the Middle East made 2022 a remarkable year for filmmaking across the region. We’re ending this year by looking back through these triumphs of cinema, so that you can start 2023 with a ready-made list of outstanding and poignant films to watch. Bear witness to the horrors of the Nakba with Farha, gain a sense of the struggles faced by artists and filmmakers working under Iranian censorship in Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, see life through the eyes of a Syrian family starting a new life in Belgium in My Paper Life, follow Yusra and Sara Mardini’s perilous journey to safety in The Swimmers, and feel true fear with Reem, a Palestinian woman whose life is plunged into disaster in Huda’s Salon.
Following in the footsteps of her mother, renowned tatreez artist Feryal Abbasi-Ghnaim, Wafa Ghnaim of Tatreez & Tea is on a mission to preserve and promote tatreez, proudly claiming this beautiful textile art form for Palestinians across the globe and encouraging new generations of embroiderers to practice this age-old art.
Scent is one of the most powerful aspects of personal adornment. It lingers in the air long after a person has left, it brings back memories of places we’ve been or people we’ve loved, and it has a proven influence on our state of mind: from soothing lavender to pick-me-up rosemary, the powers of fragrance have been known and used for millennia. The use of fragrance goes well beyond that of beautification.
This week, we’re celebrating ten incredible Yemeni women making waves in the worlds of journalism, food, activism, photography, art, music and even paleoanthropology. From a filmmaker documenting the realities of living through the war in Yemen to an explorer uncovering the secrets of human evolution on Socotra, you need these fearless women on your feed!