April Dump
I took a mini break from blogging and social media during Ramadan.
I shared the following on Instagram and decided to share it here too.
Not posted much lately, so here’s a photo dump as the young 'uns say.Spent most of Ramadan/Eid at home with family and also…
Made zines thanks to Andreas Laszlo Konrath’s online zine workshop organised by Tasweer Photo Festival. We still have a couple of more sessions and the end results will be exhibited in Doha later in May.
Multiple visits to Sharjah Biennial, including long road trips to visit the exhibitions on the East Coast. After going to all the venues my no. 1 favourite work from the biennial is Amar Kanwar’s 7 screen video installation The Peacock’s Graveyard (will write/share more about the biennial another time).
Not many new films released in cinemas during Ramadan but managed to watch a few new Indian films, Bheed was the standout, about the plight of migrants stuck at border checks during the early days of Covid lockdown in India revealing caste discrimination + randomly scheduled Godfather Part 2 and just before Eid started I watched John Wick 4, and Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant (that’s the actual film title I believe).
Regular visits to Khazzan Park for post iftar coffee + ice cream.
Night time swimming.
Watched Rotana and Mazzika music channels on TV right after iftar and realising Mazzika plays the same music videos between 7-8pm. Also lots of plastic surgery and veneers. And Elissa still popular as ever.
Watched one TV show: ابتسم أيها الجنرال / Smile, General
A Syrian TV series with a cast of exiled Syrian actors, filmed in Turkey and aired on a Qatari channel about a fictious Arab country ruled by an unelected totalitarian leader and the power struggles and betrayals within his inner circle. Lots of obvious comparisons to the Assad family. A daring albeit faulty melodrama that goes on longer than it needs to (would make a great film with the right budget and script). All 30 episodes are available on Al Araby 2’s YouTube Channel (without English subtitles).