From Falastin to the world! How artist Elyanna is bringing her cultural sounds to the global stage

Following her debut Coachella performance that drew global attention, Palestinian-Chilean artist Elyanna sat down with Deputy Editor Sunayah Arshad, reflecting on the life-changing decision her parents made in moving from Nazareth, Palestine to LA. Having overcome the challenge of singing Arabic in America, the talented artist is on the cusp of taking her cultural sounds to the global stage and isn’t going to stop until she gets there.

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Roopa Vyas on the Converse x Liverpool F.C. partnership, HerGameToo, and the game as a regenerative source of resilience and passion for women football fans

To celebrate the Converse x Liverpool F.C. partnership, AZEEMA spent a day with HerGameToo director and ambassador, Roopa Vyas, in Liverpool to learn about how the beautiful game informs her evergreen creativity and vibrant career prospects, as well as her affinities with the city’s football ancestry as a lifelong fan.

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The Rocky Road to Ramallah

Palestinian artist manager Christina Hazboun and musician Haya Zaatry share personal recollections and pensive reflections on touring Haya's debut album "Rahawan" in Palestine during a year full of colonial violence in an effort to tell the stories of music, women and borderless geographies.  

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R&B artist Sabrina Bellaouel’s lineage of female storytellers and “f*cking warriors”

The Algerian-French vocalist tells AZEEMA how trips to the motherland informed the way she makes music, whilst her French upbringing provides her with enough genre-contrast to conclude in a rich and effervescent musical identity which she continues to evolve today.

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“We have struggled for the bare minimum in this life” – Joyland's Alina Khan on the reality of being a Pakistani trans woman

Sara Hussain sits down with actress Alina Khan, the protagonist in Joyland – a tale of hardship and heartbreak which, despite receiving a ten minute ovation at Cannes Film Festival, was partly banned in Pakistan. Alina opens up about the struggles of the Pakistani trans community, the barriers she’s faced with acting and what this film truly means to her.

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Honouring the art of Turkish belly dancing

With the help of photographer Jasmine Engel-Malone, Ceren Yilmaz Dogan reminisces on a Turkish childhood spent both in awe of Oryantal belly dancing and told to be ashamed of it. Taking inspiration from the aesthetics of these traditional belly dancers, the creative team paired up to reassert the power and beauty of a dance which has been historically mocked, sidelined and exoticised.

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Separation, performance and the determination of the migrant worker in Sung-A Yoon’s documentaries

We sat down with South Korean filmmaker Sung-A Yoon to learn more about her recent film Overseas which documents the plight, will and toil of Filipino female migrant workers, often working throughout the Arab region, as writer Thea Sun explores the filmmakers wider body of work.

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How Marjana Jaidi is transforming the landscape of Morocco into an oasis of sound

Following the first edition of Oasis: Into the Wild, a two-day festival set against the tranquil backdrop of Dakhla, Editors Sunayah Arshad and Evar Hussayni caught up with its founder Marjana Jaidi. Touching on Marjana’s passion for festivals and the birth of her baby, Oasis, they took a step away from the festival madness to appreciate everything she’s built so far.

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