This group of five young folk musicians became the voice of Morocco in the 1960s and beyond. Martin Scorsese called them “the Rolling Stones of North Africa,” but to Moroccans they were the sound of an entire generation in a charged moment of global pop culture.

In the March/April 1992 issue, writer and photographer John Feeney took AramcoWorld readers on a walk through the streets of Cairo during Ramadan.

Saudi couture designer Tima Abid merges contemporary fashion with Arabian heritage. Her glamorous collections are earning recognition from Paris to Riyadh. With her latest designs Abid not only is making her mark on the runways, she is redefining bold elegance amid changing times in the Arabian Gulf.

The exhibition Dining With the Sultan, on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, offers a feast for the eyes—and is the first to consider historical Islamic art within the context of serving fine food in various Muslim empires, according to curator Linda Komaroff.

The late Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz favored nuanced portrayals that focused on how his characters handled events political and personal, and this contention is clear in the first English translations of his nonfiction writings from 1974 to 1994 reviewed here.

A 1,500-year-old gem-encrusted Byzantine bracelet reveals more than just its own history; it symbolizes an empire’s narrative.

Adel Abidin, winner of the fifth edition of the Ithra Art Prize, is making an impression with his intricate tapestry that weaves figurative threads of selective memory to tell the tale of the fragility of history.

“In the Marshes of Iraq” — November/December 1966

For centuries iso-polyphony, a style of folk singing, has chronicled Albanian life. The songs are part of a rich tradition, vital to weddings, funerals, harvests, festivals and other social events. Indeed, a Ministry of Culture official dubs it “the autobiography of a nation,” a means for the preservation and transmission of different stories.  Recently, crowds gathered for the National Folklore Festival in the  “stone city” of Gjirokastër, demonstrating that interest in iso-polyphony remains high. The challenge is getting younger generations to engage. But some are taking up the call.