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Is Arabic difficult to learn?
In some ways Arabic is a difficult language for English speakers to learn. For a start, there's a different alphabet. On the plus side, though, the grammar has few irregularities and is relatively straightforward – far less complicated than Latin and probably simpler…
Introduction to Arabic
Arabic is usually ranked among the top six of the world's major languages. As the language of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, it is also widely used throughout the Muslim world. It belongs to the Semitic group of languages which also includes Hebrew and Amharic, the main…
Introduction
Although Arab theatre - in the sense of stage plays - did not develop until the 19th century, the region has other dramatic traditions dating back hundreds of years. These include puppetry, storytelling and Ta'ziyah - a type of religious passion play performed in Shi'a communities.
For…
Until the 1990s almost all television channels in the Arab countries were government owned and rigidly controlled. These channels still exist but the situation began to change in the 1990s with the spread of satellite television. Privately owned and non-governmental channels introduced livelier…
No people in the world manifest such enthusiastic admiration for literary expression and are so moved by the word, spoken or written, as the Arabs. Modern audiences in Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo can be stirred to the highest degree by the recital of poems, only vaguely comprehended, and by the…
Introduction
"Arab music" is music created by Arabs. Beyond that, it is difficult to say precisely what makes it "Arab". As in other parts of the world, its development is the result of multiple influences.
"It is an amalgam of the music of the Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula and the music of all…
Pre-Islamic literature
The structure of the Arabiclanguageis well-suited to harmonious word-patterns, with elaborate rhymes and rhythms. The earliest known literature emerged in northern Arabia around 500 AD and took the form of poetry which was recited aloud, memorised and handed down from one…
Henna
Skin decoration in the Arab world is practised mostly by women and takes the form of designs on hands and feet using henna, which fades away over a period of days or weeks. Increasingly, street artists in resorts such as Marrakesh and Sharm el-Sheikh also provide henna decoration of varying…
General information
Dance styles in the Middle East
Middle Eastern dance rhythms
Explanation and examples
Dance of the Seven Veils
A European invention (shira.net)
El-Funoun
Website of a Palestinian dance troupe that founded thePopular Art Centrein the West Bank
Dance in Oman
Oman Centre for…
The Arab cinemas are both the product and the expression of a long and unresolved struggle for the control of the image, for the power to define identity. That identity is clearly rooted in the crossroads of culture of the region, extending as it does between Europe and Black Africa, between the…
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
