Culture Bites

With Ramadan on its way, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews take inspiration from the cultural happenings in the UAE and the region to reflect on the most important traditions of the holy month.

They give a preview of Alserkal Avenue’s coming Interrupting Patterns programme, which features poetry, theatre and film as platforms for community building and contemplation. They also discuss the role of Ramadan TV entertainment in bringing people together. The hosts pay tribute to the power of community in the UAE and the charitable initiatives it brings out in people.

A new animation coming to Amazon Prime Video this April has already stirred up a buzz. #1 Happy Family USA, created by Egyptian-American actor and director Ramy Youssef, is an animated satire that centres on a Muslim family in the early 2000s trying to adapt toa post-9/11 America. Enas and Farah comment on the power of comedy and animation in particular to portray the struggles of Arabs and Muslims in the diaspora and to engage diverse audiences who otherwise may not have been exposed to their stories.

In this week’s episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews discuss a new video game about the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, talking about how gaming can be used to tell historical stories. The upcoming Dreams on a Pillow follows a Palestinian mother called Omm who, in the chaos of being forcibly removed from her home, mistakenly grabs a pillow instead of her child.

Meanwhile, the Bafta TV awards delivered some big surprises this year, with Mikey Madison taking Best Actress and Conclave winning both Best Film and Best British Film. The hosts picked their highlights from the awards ceremony, while looking at the global influence of it.

Listing their weekly recommendations, Farah picked Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, which hit UAE cinemas a few days ago, and Enas picked Bashy's Being Poor is Expensive album, which was announced as Best Album at the Mobo Awards after recording the episode.

In this week’s episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews unpack the comedy and tearful moments of the second season of the Netflix series, Mo.

The National's Arts and Culture Editor, William Mullally, shares insights from his conversation with Mo Amer, the creator and lead actor of the show. He talks to the hosts about some of the most powerful moments in the hit series about the life of a Palestinian family living as refugees in Texas waiting for their asylum case to be resolved. They discuss some of the most powerful scenes from the new season, and the show’s mission to realistically portray the bittersweet experience of Palestinians in the diaspora and at home.

Enas and Farah spotlight two major biennials currently taking place in the Gulf. The Sharjah Biennial 16 kicked off this week, under the theme 'To Carry', exploring what people treasure most and what cultural traditions they preserve in new environments. In Jeddah, the Islamic Arts Biennial features a selection of striking historical pieces alongside contemporary works to offer a fresh perspective of what constitutes Islamic art.

After Beyonce finally won her long-awaited Best Album award at the Grammys, the hosts look back at all the times she was snubbed for this particular accolade. They talk about the criticism the Grammys had faced for not honouring Beyonce’s extensive and diverse catalogue until now, and why this turning point in the artist’s 25-year career is so significant.

In this episode of Culture Bites, co-hosts Enas Refaei, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal look forward to some of the most highly anticipated talks, performances and experiences at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature taking place this week.

From Laaleen Sukhera’s celebration of 250 years of Jane Austen and The Bethlehem Banquet, hosted by chef and author Fadi Kattan, to a family-friendly event with Daniel Handler, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events, there is something for everyone to explore.

Before the Reel Palestine film festival in Dubai comes to a close, Maan sits down with filmmakers Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi to discuss their documentary A State of Passion, which follows British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah in the emergency rooms of Gaza during the most recent war. The film documents his experience working under bombardment and his motivation for risking his life despite the toll it takes on his family.

This February marks the 50th anniversary of Umm Kulthum’s passing, and the hosts honour this anniversary by reflecting on the artist’s work and legacy. They highlight her one-of-a-kind singing style, rooted in Arabic tradition and blended with western orchestral instruments. They reminisce about her ever-present sound in Arabic homes and trace her influence on artists across the region, where she became a symbol of pan-Arab unity.

In this week’s episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal look ahead to the 12th Quoz Arts Fest, which starts this weekend.

The cultural festival celebrates a variety of art, music, food and more, all coming together at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai’s Al Quoz district. Running alongside the event will be Reel Palestine, a Palestinian film festival. Movies being shown include Passing Dreams, about a young boy on a mission to find his missing bird, and A State of Passion, which follows the experience of Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah in emergency rooms during the war in Gaza. The hosts also reflect on how the festival has flourished over the years.

In the US, comedian Dave Chappelle's Saturday Night Live monologue has been widely shared across social media. Speaking on Saturday, he made a plea to US President Donald Trump to have empathy for displaced people, whether they're in “in the Palisades or Palestine”. The hosts take this moment to contemplate the effect of Chappelle’s message, his past controversies and the evolution of SNL as an influential platform over the past 50 years.

The first Sotheby’s auction is coming to Saudi Arabia on February 8, when works by the likes of Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol will be featured alongside local and regional artists. Farah, Enas and Maan discuss some of the items expected to fetch the highest sales such as Rene Magritte’s L'Etat de veille and Man on Horse, a bronze sculpture by Fernando Botero.

The Culture Bites team is back, kicking off with a preview of anticipated arts and culture events lined up for 2025.

Enas Refaei, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal share some of the most exciting concerts, art fairs and book releases that they’re adding to their calendars this year. From Sting on stage and Sharjah Biennial 16 to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's new book, this cultural season sets off with a promising start across the region and beyond.

With season three of Dubai Bling now streaming, the hosts dissect the show’s anatomy and discuss the evolution of reality TV as an entertainment genre. As it gains popularity in the Arab world, they debate the merits of shows that blur the lines between real life and staged drama.

Maan visits Jameel Arts Centre where the exhibition Three Tired Tigers is showcasing works that envision cities and landscapes from the perspective of animals and the geographies that humans share with them. He speaks with the curator about the themes that artists explored in their pieces, including the inspiration for the exhibition itself: Dubai’s street cats.

As 2024 draws to a close the Culture Bites team dedicates their final episode of the year to celebrating the moments that left a significant imprint on them.

Enas Refaei, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal look back at some of their favourite cultural experiences within the UAE and around the world. From NYU Abu Dhabi’s Between the Tides: A Gulf Quinquennial exhibition to the Andy Warhol exhibition in Dubai, they reflect on the diverse platforms that helped make art more accessible in the region.

The hosts share the books, series and films that won their hearts this year. They also highlight their most memorable music experiences, from concerts to DJs and even a TikTok karaoke channel.

This week’s episode of Culture Bites centres on Syria’s art scene at this delicate moment in the country’s history following the fall of president Bashar Al Assad.

Hosts Enas Refaei, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal discuss Syria’s rich cultural heritage that dates back centuries. They discuss the impact of the civil war on its creative talents and how it might shape the art they create in the aftermath of so much pain and suffering.

A documentary about the Nabataean civilisation had its international debut at the Red Sea International Film Festival last week. Lost Worlds with Bettany Hughes: The Nabataeans explores the deserts of Petra in Jordan and AlUla in Saudi Arabia where the ancient civilisation flourished on trade between the fourth and second centuries BC. The hosts talk about the insights into the Nabataean way of life that can be drawn from deciphered rock inscriptions.

With the holiday season in full swing, Enas, Farah and Maan turn their attention to this year’s slate of Christmas films. They review their favourites, including new ones such as That Christmas, an animation based on children’s books by writer-director Richard Curtis, and Our Little Secret, a holiday rom-com starring Lindsay Lohan. They also remember the classics such as The Holiday and Love Actually.

This week on Culture Bites, Enas Refaei, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal take a moment to appreciate the Emirati and Arab traditions being considered for Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage lists this year.

Established in 2008, the lists aim to preserve and promote cultural heritage, including practices that may be in urgent need of safeguarding. Several rituals from the region have been added to the list including henna and Palestinian Nabulsi soap-making. Another contender submitted by the UAE and other Arab countries is coffee, with all the social customs that surround it.

The hosts then look at the way Gen-Z pop culture has shaped how we speak, and the slang vocabulary that has become part of mainstream language. Terms like “brat” and “brain rot” have even been crowned words of the year by the Collins Dictionary and Oxford University Press respectively, while “holding space” has become a buzz term in the Wicked promotional campaign.

Finally, the three hosts discuss a significant coin auction taking place this month. Two rare, ancient minted coins being auctioned by Numismatica Genevensis SA in Geneva, highlighting significant moments in Roman and Islamic history. One is a memento of the assassination of Julius Caesar and is expected to break a world record at auction. The other is a gold dinar that pays tribute to Medinah during the Umayyad era. The hosts tell the captivating stories behind them and the power they held in their times.