This Being Human

Charles Kettaneh and Nicolas Fayad are the founders of EAST Architecture Studio. Their work is innovative and intellectual, with projects that take into account local history, culture, and encourage a connection with nature. They are among the winners of the 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. They won for their renovation of The Niemeyer Guest House, a project begun by renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer as part of an international fair in Tripoli, Lebanon, which was abandoned during the civil war. They talk about what it was like to try to revitalize the vision of one of the world's most famous architects, how Lebanon's built environment has shaped the country's imagination, and they offer a vision for rebuilding Beirut in the wake of the 2020 explosion.

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Additional resources:

See more projects by EAST Architecture Studio on their website:

https://www.eastarchitecture.net/

Read more about the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the other winners here:

https://the.akdn/en/how-we-work/our-agencies/aga-khan-trust-culture/aga-khan-award-for-architecture/aga-khan-award-for-architecture-2022-winners

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Anida Yoeu Ali's art mixes humour, public confrontation, and science fiction to explore issues of identity. As a Muslim Khmer woman, Anida is a minority whether she's in her native Cambodia or in the United States, where her family relocated to escape the regime of Pol Pot. She talks about her work across disciplines, from absurdist poetry to public performances such as the Buddhist Bug, where she meets the public, dressed as a large, orange worm-like creature.

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Virtuoso sarod player Soumik Datta blends classical Indian music with genres like R&B, drum and bass, and European orchestral music. He talks about the fluke incident that set him down a musical path, working to empower refugees through the arts, and what it was like performing with Jay-Z and Beyonce. Soumik is one of the winners of this year's Aga Khan Music Awards.

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Malak Mattar was born and raised in the Gaza Strip. She started to paint as a teenager while taking shelter from an attack on her city. Before long, her paintings were being sold and exhibited around the world. She talks about her drive to document life in Gaza, access to art in Palestine, and how leaving her home country affected her work and perspective.

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Yazz Ahmed's trailblazing music blends new strains of jazz with music from the Gulf. She has released several acclaimed albums as a trumpeter, flugelhornist and band leader, as well as working with artists including Radiohead, These New Puritans, The London Jazz Orchestra and Lee "Scratch" Perry. She talks about being introduced to jazz by her grandpa, the women who inspired her, and finding her way to her roots through music.

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Karimah Hassan is a London-based artist whose work includes murals, paintings, poetry, NFTs and community events. She talks about using art to create connections during lockdown in her project The Strangers Yearbook, her connection to her ancestors, and her recent experiments with NFTs.

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Tasneem Alsultan is a photographer whose work has captured major changes in Saudi culture. She has worked with The New York Times, National Geographic and others. But she also documents the more ordinary aspects of life. She won first prize in the 2017 World Photography Organisation Awards for Saudi Tales of Loves, a series showcasing love stories of all kinds, from divorcees and widows to happily married couples.

In this conversation from spring of 2021, she talks about breaking stereotypes, capturing intimate moments and going undercover to get the perfect photo.

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Brothers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant have composed some of the biggest anthems in India, as the film composing duo Salim-Sulaiman. They've also produced major pop songs, devotionals, a sports anthem, and remixed Lady Gaga.

We revisit our conversation from 2021, where they talk about the chance meeting that led them from a career writing jingles to scoring movies, why they take issue with the term Bollywood, and what it's really like to work with a sibling.

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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is one of the directors of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel. We revisit our 2020 interview, where she talks about her earlier career, exposing social injustices in unflinching documentaries like Saving Face and A Girl in the River. It's a journey that took her from a childhood in Karachi, Pakistan, to the offices of The New York Times, to winning two Academy Awards.

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Uzma Jalaluddin reimagines classic loves stories in a contemporary, urban, distinctly Muslim setting. She is the author of the novels Ayesha at Last and Hana Khan Carries On, both of which have been optioned to be made into movies. Uzma talks about the enduring qualities of romance stories, why she has no plans to quit her day job as a high school teacher and what her students think when she tells them she's in business with Hollywood star Mindy Kaling.

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