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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An Iraqi-British playwright's exercise in teasing out inner turmoil through humour

Digital Editor Dalia Al-Dujaili sits down with playwright Jasmine Naziha Jones to discuss why she wrote an absurd tragic-comedic play for the Iraqi diaspora; at once a deeply personal experience, and a publicly political act of resistance to the narrative around the country’s history of conflict and colonialism.

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Through music, astrology and sexuality, Reggaeton DJ Manuka Honey embodies fluidity

Following on from her performance at Le Guess Who? Festival’s 15th Anniversary in Utrecht, Digital Editor Dalia Al-Dujaili sat down with Marissa Malik–who goes by the DJ & producer name Manuka Honey–to hear about the artist’s upbringing in rural America, her ‘nerdy’ sensibilities, and how much she enjoys messing with people’s perceptions of her identity and her music-making.

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Battling Injustice in the Fight for Reproductive Rights

Ana Maria Monjardino explores intersectional approaches to abortion rights through the experiences of Black and Brown women and non-binary people in Northern Ireland and Ireland. Moving chronologically from the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar in 2012, through the referendums of 2018 and 2019, to the present day, Monjardino considers how much has changed for women and non-binary people of colour seeking abortions since then and what still needs to be done.

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Esraa Warda is decolonising dance and reviving the rebellious roots of Rai

Digital Editor Dalia Al-Dujaili was lucky enough to sit down with renowned Algerian-American dancer Esraa Warda in her Brooklyn apartment. She tells AZEEMA about the origins of her subversive rai dancing, her long-standing musical partnership with icon Cheikha Rabia, and her excitement about a rare and special upcoming performance during this year’s Le Guess Who? Festival.

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Shaymaa: The fraught relationship between daughter and immigrant mother

Complicated mother-daughter relationships are often heightened between immigrant mothers and their daughters, where cultural conflicts add fire to existing generational and familial disconnections. After watching the short film Shaymaa – an exploration of the complications of immigrant parenthood – Italian-Egyptian writer Aya Mohamed meditates on her own tenuous but joyful relationship with her mother.

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Celebrating the joy of open-water swimming with our Muslim community and Nike Swim

Water is a healer. It’s the element that not only most of our bodies are made up, but that most of Earth is also made up of. Swimming outdoors has, for many years, been hailed as medicine for the mind and body. For our open water swimming shoot with Nike, we wanted to explore the effects that swimming can have on our friendships, our interdependent relationship with nature, and the gratitude we feel for our bodies.

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