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Xanith is Arabic slang for males with effeminate characteristics,' writes Ahmad Makia. 'Under Islamic scholarship, they are depicted as a unique people with innate qualities: men who resemble women in voice, features, and gait. Islamic judgment decrees that, since xanith have 'inherited' these qualities, they are not guilty of their...

Ahmad Makia reviews <em>Hassan Matar</em> by Liantian Xie, at the Grey Noise Gallery. This exhibition examines Dubai's public narratives from a variety of angles: that of the state-sanctioned 'public', 'the parachuting journalist looking for the next sensational story,' and, here, through a constellation of objects and references.

This paper is part of the research project 'The Pan-Arab Hangover', which focuses on the lingering ruins of Arab nationalism and how it plays out in the region's contemporary cultural production. It looks at Arabism's parent ideologies – notably German romanticism and idealism – and how 'unified Arabism' in art,...