Lebanon’s Tripoli Begins 2024 Celebrations as Arab Culture Capitalhttps://english.aawsat.com/culture/5024185-lebanon%E2%80%99s-tripoli-begins-2024-celebrations-arab-culture-capital
Lebanon’s Tripoli Begins 2024 Celebrations as Arab Culture Capital
The flags of Arab countries flutter in Tripoli, Lebanon (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati kicked off the “Tripoli the Capital of Arab Culture” celebrations at a formal event held at the Rashid Karami International Fair in Tripoli.
Attendees included Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, and Mohammad Wissam Mortada, Minister of Culture.
Ministers, deputies, ambassadors, and other notable figures also were also present at the ceremony.
Mortada told Asharq Al-Awsat that he believes the celebrations to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Lebanon and Tripoli.
“This is our chance to uncover Tripoli’s treasures in terms of people and landmarks. I’m stunned by the human and natural potential here. You’ll witness what makes Tripoli unique, and we’re doing it all with no funding,” said the minister.
Despite no budget, workers are determined to succeed. Young volunteers are eager to overcome obstacles and make the event a hit. Some see the coming months as Tripoli’s big chance to shine, while others feel funding issues should have delayed the festivities.
“Tripoli has suffered, but now, with activities starting, people will see what they've missed out on for years,” Mortada affirmed.
This year promises a packed schedule of cultural activities, some already underway for months. Organizations are competing to host programs, but the highlight could be cultural weeks organized by several Arab countries.
Qatar, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Palestine, Morocco, Syria, and Oman have confirmed plans.
For Mortada, the aim is for more than just temporary celebrations; he wants to establish Tripoli as a permanent cultural capital of Lebanon.
The minister is not just dreaming; he's building on reality.
Tripoli boasts the Rashid Karami International Fair, a stunning architectural marvel. Spread across 70 hectares, it features unique conference halls, integrated buildings, and an experimental theater.
UNESCO recognizes its significance but also flags maintenance challenges and development threats.
Tripoli’s vibrant markets and river make it a unique destination. Its port is crucial for trade, with an economic zone stretching to Europe.
Mortada believes Tripoli could become Lebanon’s cultural tourism hub, generating revenue for the country.
“Tripoli is ready to play a vital role,” he asserted.
Work to Save the Afghan Capital’s Crumbling Ancient Fortress Uncovers Archaeological Treasureshttps://english.aawsat.com/culture/5339160-work-save-afghan-capital%E2%80%99s-crumbling-ancient-fortress-uncovers-archaeological
In this photo provided by Aga Khan Trust for Culture foundation, the Bala Hissar fortress is seen in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 9, 2023. (Aga Khan Trust for Culture via AP)
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Work to Save the Afghan Capital’s Crumbling Ancient Fortress Uncovers Archaeological Treasures
In this photo provided by Aga Khan Trust for Culture foundation, the Bala Hissar fortress is seen in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 9, 2023. (Aga Khan Trust for Culture via AP)
Perched high above the southern edge of Kabul’s old city, the imposing fortress of Bala Hissar has endured centuries of invasions, uprisings and conflict that scarred Afghanistan and left the citadel crumbling.
Now, an extensive, yearslong project by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, or AKTC, is painstakingly conserving Bala Hissar. The aim is to turn the site into a public archaeological park, complete with landscaped gardens, restaurants and a museum.
Despite decades of neglect and war, archaeological treasures gradually unearthed within the walls of the strategic fortress in the Afghan capital are revealing more than two millennia of the country’s tumultuous history.
'Like a submarine coming out of the ocean'
The excavations are uncovering an astonishing wealth of finds, from evidence of ancient human habitation to the remains of a Buddhist monastery and the luxurious baths of a Mughal palace.
“We never thought we would find so much,” said archaeologist Babak Rafiei-Alavi, standing at one of Bala Hissar’s excavation sites as workers with trowels painstakingly sifted through the earth. “It’s like a submarine coming out of the ocean.”
Work in five separate trenches at the site has unearthed ancient coins, fragments of Buddhist statues, glazed Islamic ceramics, oil lamps, countless pieces of pottery and the remains of palaces, monasteries and dwellings.
“In some parts we were expecting something. But not this,” Rafiei-Alavi said of the discovery of remnants of a Mughal palace, complete with murals, a thronelike structure and a star-shaped pool carved into the rock at the top of the hill.
A view of the historic Bala Hissar fortress as it undergoes restoration, with a hillside neighborhood in the background, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP)
The location of Bala Hissar, which means High Fort in Dari, is key to its significance. Cascading down a prominent outcrop of the Kuh-e-Sher Darwaza mountain ridge, the fortress occupies a commanding position above the old city that helped it protect access routes to Kabul.
Bala Hissar also was an important religious settlement and political center of power along a crucial trade route connecting the Indian subcontinent to Central Asia and beyond. It was “part of a string of pearls of these types of cultural and human settlements,” Aga Khan Cultural Services Project Manager Mustafa Nouri said.
Through the ages, the site has served as a fortress, palace complex, arsenal, administrative center, prison and military garrison.
“Bala Hissar embodies every stage of Afghan history until the American presence and the post-American presence,” Nouri said.
Only traces remain of its royal palaces and Buddhist monasteries. But an enduring characteristic has been the site’s use as a strategic defensive location, from the first century BC to the Mughal empire, Anglo-Afghan wars, Soviet invasion, civil war and the US-led coalition. Part of the site’s lower areas are still used by the Afghan military.
“Effectively, whoever controlled Bala Hissar controlled Kabul, and controlled the region,” Nouri explained.
Workers carry out restoration work at the historic Bala Hissar fortress in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)
Destruction through the centuries
While Bala Hissar suffered repeated destruction and rebuilding through the centuries, the heaviest blow came when British troops avenged the 1879 killing of British envoy Sir Louis Cavagnari and his entourage inside Bala Hissar by destroying much of the complex.
Today, the sprawling site still bears the scars of years of neglect and Afghanistan's repeated conflicts.
Parts of its defensive walls have crumbled. The hulk of a rusting Soviet tank, one of several still within the walls, sits on the slope leading to the highest point of the fortress. At the foot of the hill, destroyed and decaying Soviet military hardware lies tangled in a rusty heap. Nearby, large-caliber weapons abandoned after the US withdrawal in 2021 stand in neat rows, now property of Afghanistan’s military.
Part of the site within the walls was leveled off in 2008 by US forces who “destroyed many archaeological layers,” Rafiei-Alavi said.
Ambitious plans
Planning for the AKTC’s ambitious conservation project began in 2017, with work starting the following year. Initial surveying and documenting, including with ground-penetrating radar and 3D laser scans, were followed by emergency stabilization to prevent further collapse of the historic fortifications.
The French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan was initially involved in excavations, but work temporarily halted after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The French delegation did not return. But the AKTC continued operating and has carried out its most extensive work since 2022, Nouri said.
Using locally sourced rock, parts of the defensive walls are being rebuilt. In keeping with international norms of conservation and restoration, new segments are deliberately distinguishable, slightly recessed or protruding from the original construction, Nouri explained.
Metal reinforcements now hold together one of the exterior towers, which had split open and was in danger of crumbling.
The main objective is to turn Bala Hissar into an archaeological public park.
Workers wash artifacts from the historic Bala Hissar fortress compound during restoration work in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)
The extensive site and ambition of the project, which includes a training program for Afghan archaeology students, is a “long-term commitment ... in terms of decades, due to the fact that it’s not only conservation works, but also it’s quite rich in archaeology,” Nouri explained.
One of the archaeological trenches is already 11 meters (36 feet) deep, with more to be uncovered.
“Everywhere in Bala Hissar when you dig you find something, because it’s inhabited for more than 2,000 years,” Rafiei-Alavi said.
Taliban government says committed to preserving history
Afghan authorities say they are keen to preserve the country’s cultural artifacts and historical sites, a radical departure from the previous Taliban rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
The current Taliban government says it is keen to safeguard the nation’s monuments.
“We recognize the importance of preserving the country’s ancient sites,” said Ministry of Information and Culture spokesperson Khubaib Ghufran. “We view these remnants of past civilizations as valuable sources of insight and lessons. We fully appreciate their significance.”
The government prioritizes restoring monuments facing threats, such as Bala Hissar, “ensuring that we can pass on the legacy of both past and present civilizations to future generations in a well-preserved state,” Ghufran said.
Yoshitomo Nara’s ‘Big-Headed Girls’ Take Over the Worldhttps://english.aawsat.com/culture/5339142-yoshitomo-nara%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98big-headed-girls%E2%80%99-take-over-world
Yoshitomo Nara’s ‘Big-Headed Girls’ Take Over the World
Yoshitomo Nara's figures, at turns haunting, delightful, or menacing, have made him an art world favorite (David Zwirner Gallery)
The big-headed, wide-eyed girls that made Yoshitomo Nara one of the most beloved Japanese artists of the 21st century are everywhere — if you know where to look.
They can be found on T-shirts, skateboards, plastered on water bottles as stickers, or blown up and rendered in monumental scale in the artist's sculptural works, according to CNN.
They can also be found scrawled by the artist himself in confident, graphic lines, on the walls of a Manhattan dive bar he visited in 2009.
Angry, spiteful, mischievous, bored, confused: Nara's figures are both enigmatic and instantly legible, recognizable both for the artist's distinct style and their punching emotional effect.
Now, Nara's characters are conquering new territory with a retrospective at David Zwirner Gallery, his first major solo show in New York City in close to a decade.
The exhibition, which dovetails with a show at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, features new, unseen works along with older pieces.
There are both tiny drawings on torn fragments of paper as well as huge, richly painted portraits whose luminescent eyes seem to follow you around the room.
At the Zwirner show's opening night last Thursday, Nara fans queued for close to an hour in a line that extended two blocks, some holding umbrellas to ward off the rain. It was a distinctly young and stylish crowd: There was no shortage of Labubus dangling from bags and tabi ballet flats.
A few subway stops away at Niagara — the East Village bar that Nara graffitied a decade ago — a steady stream of devotees made pilgrimages before or after the opening, a bartender said. There they found a series of graphic drawings, now protected behind plastic, of Nara figures rocking out.
These isolated, defiant figures have become a throughline for the artist's nearly four-decade career. They are, in Nara's telling, self-portraits of a sort, ciphers for his own emotions in the aftermath of Japan's wartime history and multiple environmental disasters.
For the waves of young fans who flock to Nara exhibits and emblazon his images on their belongings, they’re a representation of something different: The ennui and turmoil that has defined Gen Z's coming-of-age in a turbulent world marked by existential threats at every turn.
No matter how they’re perceived, the artworks have made Nara a significant name in the art world, with his work selling for millions, such as “Knife Behind Back,” a huge painting of a frowning girl, one arm tucked behind her back, which went for a whopping $24.94 million at an auction in 2019 (a record high for the artist).
It's classic Nara, featuring a figure who is both adorable and slightly menacing, resisting the reduction of herself to something simple and endearing.
Nara grew up the 1960s and 70s in rural northern Japan, during the delicate decades after World War II. The war haunts his work, said Mika Yoshitake, an independent curator specializing in postwar and contemporary Japanese art, and curator of the artist's 2021 LACMA retrospective and forthcoming 2027 exhibition at SFMOMA.
“There's lots of hidden messages about solitude and bearing the history of the loss that Japan had felt.”
Nara’s experiences in Germany, where he studied at the prestigious Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in the late 80s, further added to the political dimensions of his work (“Stop the Bombs,” an acrylic painting from 2019 later repurposed as a design for one of his collaborations with fashion designer Stella McCartney, is one example of the more literal political messaging of his art, what Yoshitake calls his “resistance to the system, or to war, or to things that he feels wrong in society.”)
Amanda Quach, a Los Angeles-based fashion and lifestyle content creator whose videos include a roll call of all her Nara merch, said she first discovered Nara's work at LACMA’s 2021-2022 retrospective. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, she felt isolated and disaffected.
In Nara's paintings and drawings, she saw younger versions of herself. He has a startling ability, she said, to “capture what it feels like to be a young girl with those complex, frustrating emotions, but looking so cute and innocent at the same time.”
The displayed items include stone tools, inscriptions, coins, pottery, jewellery, books, and historical photographs - SPA
The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has launched the “An Ongoing Story” exhibition in the AlJadidah Arts District, featuring a collection curated by 16 trainees as part of a training program in museum studies and exhibition curation.
The program was conducted in collaboration with SOAS University of London and supported by the British Council through the AlUla Grants Program, SPA reported.
The exhibition features 25 archaeological and heritage artifacts from the RCU’s collections, highlighting AlUla’s history and cultural heritage across four sections: “Pre-Writing,” “Enduring Words,” “Trade Routes,” and “Documentation and Memory.”
The displayed items include stone tools, inscriptions, coins, pottery, jewellery, books, and historical photographs.
The exhibition marks the practical outcome of the training program and contributes to developing local talent in the museum sector.
It also promotes community engagement in heritage preservation and public presentation, paving the way for the future opening of several museums in AlUla, in line with Saudi Vision 2030.
The exhibition is open to the public free of charge at The Workshop in the AlJadidah Arts District until December 5, 2026. Visiting hours are Wednesday to Sunday, from 3:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
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