More rain...

Some more late afternoon photos of flooded streets...

Rain and traffic in Abu Dhabi

Today's rain in Abu Dhabi is creating traffic havoc! More photos to come...

Happy Hanukkah!

I wish all of you who celebrate tonight a Happy Hanukkah!

Early morning in Khalidiyya

Early morning views over Abu Dhabi, taken from my Khalidiyya window.

Roses are red...!

More flowers from my husband (but not today).

Zayed vaults and domes

Back outside the mosque, in the enormous courtyard.

Photo contest!

National Geographic has a photo competition for 2009 here - check it out and vote!

Istanbul people

Orhan Pamuk is a previous favourite of mine and has again pulled off a magnificent novel of Istanbul (another master here is Elif Shafak of course) - I dare venture this opinion after just a chapter or two. Read it and review here.

Ceiling lamps

You have seen the massive ceiling lamps before!

Zayed entry hall

Floral decorations on the floor and wall of the entry hall of the Zayed mosque.

Pillars

Zayed minbar

The heart of the mosque.

Historic photos of the Orient

Web-magazine Qantara published this article on Historic photos of the Orient, from the Middle East and Central Asia up until 1970.

Also on the theme of photos: UNHCR's "refugee photo of the day".

Wall decorations

Further sumptuous walldecorations from the great hall of the Zayed mosque.

Cairo renovation

I showed photos earlier this year of the renovated area in old Cairo, north of Khan el-Khalili. This set of flickr-photos from Al-Masry Al-Youm also highlights the renovation project, with all it's question-marks.

Inside the mosque

You've seen interiors before, I know, but I do think it so understatedly elegant (UAE-wise at least) that I am showing you again.

Zayed mosque again

On a humid hazy July morning, the Zayed mosque looked like this

Iran photos

Newsweek this week has a photo gallery from Iran, along with an article on one of their reporter's prison ordeal lately.

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

I've blogged previously about the coming Louvre in Abu Dhabi - now the adjacent Guggenheim (also a really cool architectural creation too) is exhibiting here.

Alongside the Indian exhibition Spectrum is shown.

I hope to see both shortly.

PS Not all is shimmering with the coming museums though - read also Human Rights Watch.

Backlog

I have an entire memory card I cannot empty right now, which holds me back from showing you more photos, not least of the Abu Dhabi sheikh Zayed mosque. As soon as this is resolved, I hope to give you much more than I recently have been able to...

Troy - Anatolian fire

I saw the new performance Troy from the Turkish dance troop Ates anadolu (Fire of Anatolia) last night here in Abu Dhabi.

It was more story line (a sort of Turkish reclaim of the myth of Troy perhaps?) and less straightforward modernised Anatolian folkdancing than I remember of their original show, but impressive nonetheless of course. More technical than sensual though...

Armistice day

Today, 91 years ago, the First world War ended. In Sweden the picture of the war in confused and dominated by bloody trench stalemate on the western front, even if historian Peter Englund recently tried to familiarize a Swedish audience with a wider view.

For me, with the Middle East as prime reference, the First World War has very different and more dramatic connotations, with wide upheaval of a historic order of affairs and a total redrawing of the regional map, geographically and politically.

Remember also all those who have died in wars since, and who fight for values again today.

View of the mosque

I guess it pretty much speaks for itself, this view of the Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed mosque.

Photos of a Turkish family

Swedish photographer Stefan Bladh, whose photos, taken over several years, of a Turkish Alevi family in Gaziantep and Istanbul have been exhibited in galleries in Sweden, has now published a book of his photos, simply called The Family. The photos are powerful images of people and poverty in Turkey, just see how he uses the light and let's images of people speak for themselves.

Abu Dhabi by night

Views from the Corniche at night.

Islamic art museums

See a virtual Islamic Art museum (supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation, I believe) online.

I would still very much like to visit the Doha Islamic Art Museum, and was hoping for an opportunity next week - however, it will have to wait.

I recently showed you photos from the Sharjah museum, though.

Concert on the beach!

Assorted photos from the crowds at last weekends concerts at the Abu Dhabi Corniche!









Finally, a blurry shot of Ragheb Alama in the Friday night concert.



And Mohammed Hamake playing on Saturday night.

Gaza Graffiti

The Stockholm Ethnographic Museum shows Swedish photographer Mia Gröndahl's exhibition Gaza Graffiti, including with a seminar on Saturday.

The photographer blogs occasionally, here, on the Middle East and living in Cairo.

Internet freedom

I have written previously on Global Voices and today they have launched a new website Threatened Voices for bloggers under pressure. Also check the Committe to Protect Bloggers.