Miscellanea

Miscellanea

Celebrating Sanctuary

Reem’s recipes, as demonstrated at Celebrating Sanctuary, Bernie Spain Gardens, London on 17 June 2012.
Click here to download Reem's recipes for:


- 'Quick' Mousakhkhan pastries
- Pumpkin Moutabbal dip
- Helou el-Qizha (flapjacks full of goodness)


Beyond the dunes: an anthology of modern Saudi literature By Mansur Ibrahim Hazimi, Ezzat Abdulmajeed Khattab, Salma Khadra Jayyusi

Translation by Reem Kelani and Chris Somes-Charlton.
Published by IB Tauris.

Panel discussion on women and the arts in the Middle East, with particular focus on Kurdish and Palestinian women

Organised by Nusaybin Arts Centre in south east Turkey, as part of the Festival of Women, 24 October 2009.
Alongside Reem, panel speakers were: Berfin Emektar (festival director) and Mezgin Tahir (Syrian Kurdish singer). Chair was Silan Dora.

Debatable: "Cultural diversity initiatives reinforce stereotypes rather than remove them"?

Is there a place in a 21st century city like London for cultural events that focus primarily on "diverse" cultures?
Debate and panel discussion presented by Cultural Co-operation as part of World City 2009 - 2014, The Tabernacle Notting Hill, London, 20 October 2009.
Chaired by Wesley Kerr, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund London Committee, the panel comprised:
Munira Mirza, the Mayor of London's Director of Policy, Arts, Culture and the Creative Industries
Ranjit Sondhi, a senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham & BBC Governor
Ansel Wong, a Trinidadian cultural and political activist & former Chair of the Notting Hill Carnival Board
Reem Kelani
Mike Phillips, writer and broadcast journalist of Guyanese descent
Valerie Synmoie, Head of Diversity at the Arts Council, London
Click here to read the full transcript.

The Financial Times: Traditional Palestinian cooking with Reem Kelani

'On my television screen earlier this year I watched a woman squat in front of a small portable gas cooker, ignoring the news journalist talking to camera. She scooped cabbage leaves out of the boiling water, and I knew she was softening the leaves in order to stuff them. This Gazan woman was cooking a proper, even elaborate, meal in the bare classroom where she and her family had taken refuge from the bombing.
I called my Palestinian friend, jazz singer Reem Kelani, to ask if she would show me how to prepare a few typical Palestinian dishes and tell me more about her people’s food.' Anissa Helou
Click here to download Anissa's feature article in the Financial Times, 23 May 2009

Art Museum, Sharjah: Lure of the East

Reem contributed as a panelist in a debate about Orientalism and art at the Sharjah Art Museum, 7 March 2009
Chaired by Andrea Rose, Director of Visual Arts, British Council, the panel comprised:
Reem Kelani
Jack Persekian, Artistic Director of the Sharjah Biennial
Antonia Carver, editor-at-large of the Middle Eastern arts quarterly Bidoun
Elisabeth Kendall, Director, Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World, Edinburgh University
George Katodrytis, Associate Professor of Architecture, American University of Sharjah
Click here to download the Sharjah panel debate flyer
Click here to read The National's preview of the visiting Lure of the East exhibition

Pera Museum, Istanbul: Lure of the East

Reem participated in Cultural Question Time at the Pera Museum, 12 November 2008
Chaired by Andrea Rose, Director of Visual Arts, British Council, the panel comprised:
Reem Kelani
Hugh Pope, author and Turkey Representative of International Crisis Group
Vasif Kortun, international curator
Edhem Eldem, Turkish historian
Claudia Roden, food writer
Click here to download an account of the debate

WOMAD Taste the World

Reem’s recipes, as demonstrated at WOMAD Charlton Park on 29 July 2007
Click here to download Reem's recipes for:


- 'Quick' Mousakhkhan pastries
- Pumpkin Moutabbal dip
- Rose Punch with Pine Nuts & Rose Petals