Bidoun
Issue 10, TECHNOLOGY, now in stores
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The spring issue of Bidoun takes on technology in its myriad forms. In these pages, Anand Balakrishnan ponders the relevance of the 1965 sci-fi epic novel Dune given our current historical juncture, Binyavanga Wainana takes on technology as grand gesture in Africa, Eric Fassin deconstructs the Dutch governments peculiar equation of sexual freedom and democracy, and Marwa Elshakry traces the rather cultish origins of the Suez Canalin 19th century France, no less. Also, Hassan Khan and Haytham El-Wardany revisit a science show on Egyptian National Television in the 1970s; hosted by an enigmatically zany host named Dr Mustafa Mahmoud, the program magically reconciled the worlds of faith and sciencefor everyone from spellbound schoolchildren to housewives and stoners.
In the architecture section, Neyran Turan maps the North Sea as a bold new (liquid) territory.
In the film section, Tirdad Zolghadr lends a Gombrichian reading to the new James Bond, wondering if it is in fact a break from the blockbuster leitmotif. And Bruce Hainley looks at the body as technology in the popular high school American drama Friday Night Lights.
In the music section, Sukhdev Sandhu writes about musician Sushil K Dade, better known as Future Pilot AKAand en route steps through the genre-mashing stylistic frottage that is the Scottish music scene. Michael C Vazquez explores the perils of the decidedly un-politically correct in the works of Seattle-based music label Sublime Frequencies.
And we have our usual installments of exhibition reviews and previews, columns devoted to artist profiles, works in progress, museums, curatorial issues, and arts infrastructure. Here, Elizabeth Rubin accompanies artist Jill Magid as she penetrates various closed systems through her practice, Magali Arriola takes on Los Angeles-based artist Yoshua Okons elaborate staged life performances, curator Mirjam Shatanawi looks at the fate of ethnographic museums in Europe, and Sean Dockray recuperates the very lost history of Kingdom of the Dollsa museum once built of miniature models in the California desert.
In our exhibition reviews section: Claire Fontaine/Sensorium/Wael Shawky/Amir Fallah and Ala Ebtekar/The Exotic Journey Ends/Melik Ohanian/Akram Zaatari/The Maghreb Connection/Camp Campaign/Nazgol Ansarinia/Rokni Haerizadeh. Book reviews: Reading Legitimation Crisis in Tehran (by Danny Postel) and Chicago (by Alaa Al Aswani).
Plus, cooking by Shirin Aliabadi and Farhad Moshiri.
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