In the city of Varamin, some 50km southwest of Tehran, lies the Shrine and Mausoleum of Emamzadeh Yahya, a site of pilgrimage and veneration for Shi’i Muslims. During the nineteenth century, all of the shrine’s luster tiles, including its mihrab, were stolen and then dispersed to museums worldwide. The focus of this podcast is the project, supported by The ... Show More
May 25
S6E5: The Shrines of Alexandria’s Lake Maryut region, with Ismael Awad
On the periphery of Alexandria in the surrounding countryside is the Lake Maryut region, a vast expanse of flat agricultural land that used to be Lake Maryut, now just 18% of its earlier size. The lake separated the city of Alexandria from the rest of the country further south. Y ... Show More
29m 58s
Apr 2
S6E3: Through Uzbekistan: Histories of the Persianate World, with Fuchsia Hart
This month’s podcast episode takes us through Uzbekistan along the route that The Barakat Trust took on our trip to the country in November 2025. We begin in Tashkent before moving to Samarkand and finishing in Bukhara, exploring a number of architectural sites, crafts and tradit ... Show More
37m 21s
Jul 2024
Confluence with Sultan Al Darmaki
In this episode, Deena is joined by her friend and groundbreaking designer, Sultan Al Darmaki. He is the first contemporary Middle Eastern designer to have his work displayed at the V&A Museum in London. In this episode, Sultan and Deena begin by discussing how Sultan paved h ... Show More
39m 13s
Apr 2023
Ep 3: Hassan Hajjaj - Music and Ritual
What are the ways in which identity gets stereotyped and commodified in visual media? Can art draw on diverse histories to express solidarities in the present? To find out, listen this episode, recorded before Sharjah Biennial 15 opened, where Hassan Hajjaj is in conversation wit ... Show More
29m 23s
Oct 2024
Making Arabic Art Great Again | Gaith Abdulla, UAE / Lebanon
Discover the vibrant world of Arab art with Gaith Abdulla, co-founder of Bayt Al Mamzar, an independent gallery and art residency in Dubai. In this captivating episode, Gaith shares his journey from art enthusiast to gallery owner, offering invaluable insights on how anyone can s ... Show More
50m 31s
Dec 2023
Zeina Arida and Local Art
A series of conversations with Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and people who have been part of Qatar’s architecture & culture development journey. In this episode, Her Excellency is joined by Zeina Arida, the Director of MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Art, in Doha. Zei ... Show More
39m 27s