June 2016. The Cinema Ritrovato Film Festival, Bologna, Italy. A rare retrospective of films directed by famous Iranian filmmaker and writer Ebrahim Golestan (here being interviewed by Ehsan Khoshbakht). It is as if all the Iranians in Italy came to …

June 2016. Tate Modern, London, UK. The new display of the modern collections includes more and more “Middle East/North Africa” works; they demonstrate the tensions between figurative and abstract art in the context of the Cold War. On these walls …

September 2014. In the studio of artist sculptor Mohammad Hossein Emad, Tehran, Iran. Without doubt one of my favorite artists in Iran, this “wise man” had the great kindness to invite me into his studio to give me a demonstration …

March 2015. Art Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In the “modern” section of the fair, in a display case on the stand of the Meem gallery (Dubai), which is presenting works by the great Syrian artist, Marwan Kasab Bachi (1934-2016), I …

Avril 2015. Abu Dhabi Art Fair, United Arab Emirates. My first encounter with the work of Gebran Tarazi on the stand of the very famous Agial Art Gallery, Beirut. Immediately struck by the radicality and dizziness of this geometrical and …

March 2015. Hotel room, Doha, Qatar. My first visit to these parts to discover Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and its already famous collection. I notice a phenomenon that will be repeated in all the hotel rooms I stay …

September 2014. In the office of Ali Dehbashi, editor of the review Bokhara, Tehran, Iran. I have come to talk to him about our project for a monograph on Bahman Mohassess. Dehbashi knew Mohassess well. Their correspondence was even published …

August 2015. The bookshop Les Colonnes, Tangier, Morocco. Legendary bookshops can be counted on the fingers of one hand these days: José Corti in Paris, City Lights in San Francisco, Les Colonnes in Tangiers, Moroccan home to the Beat Generation, …

March 2015. Christie’s Dubai, “Middle East” Auction, United Arab Emirates. A painting by Behjat Sadr (1924-2009) is on sale. When I see the price rise from one second to the next, I think back with irony to the monograph we …

November 2016. Exhibition space at Birzeit University in Ramallah, Palestine. A group of remarkable curators, including Vera Tamari and Yazid al-Ani, launched an exhibition programme a few years ago focusing on Palestinian cities. I am lucky enough to see the …