😍 lucky @vanessahlarson.bsky.social for getting to see this gorgeous show. wapo.st/41RSLQw

Review | A look at the beauty of Baghdad’s modern art — and the cultural cost of war

Much of Iraq’s modern art vanished after the U.S. invaded. A show of Baghdad’s 20th-century modernists helps fill in the record.

wapo.st

I wrote for @washingtonpost.com about “All Manner of Experiments,” a sweeping show on Iraqi art and the influential Baghdad Modern Art Group at Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies, with many works on view in the U.S. for the first time: wapo.st/46oxfnZ

Review | A look at the beauty of Baghdad’s modern art — and the cultural cost of war

Much of Iraq’s modern art vanished after the U.S. invaded. A show of Baghdad’s 20th-century modernists helps fill in the record.

wapo.st

Some personal news: I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting. Thread incoming. substack.com/@karenattiah...

The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.

I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.

substack.com

“Most people did not assume that there is a modern, contemporary culture and artists working” in Iraq, said Nada Shabout. @vanessahlarson.bsky.social in the @washingtonpost.com washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2025/09/11/baghdad-modern-art-iraq-war-bard-college/?itid=sf_style_toptable_1_0

Review | A look at the beauty of Baghdad’s modern art — and the cultural cost of war

Much of Iraq’s modern art vanished after the U.S. invaded. A show of Baghdad’s 20th-century modernists helps fill in the record.

washingtonpost.com

For @washingtonpost.com I wrote about Pakistani-born artist Shahzia Sikander's mesmerizing video installation “The Last Post” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, on the legacies of British colonialism in South Asia and China: wapo.st/4eTBMme

Review | Shahzia Sikander mesmerizes at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Shahzia Sikander’s “The Last Post,” a video installation at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, mesmerizes as an abstracted examination of colonialism.

wapo.st

As the Smithsonian and National Museum of African American History and Culture in particular come under attack, I reviewed “In Slavery’s Wake” at NMAAHC — which explores the horrors of enslavement alongside the struggle for freedom and justice — for @washingtonpost.com: wapo.st/42qxBbN

Review | At NMAAHC, ‘In Slavery’s Wake’ lays bare the long road to freedom

The Smithsonian’s “In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World” uses artifacts, art, audio and video to explore the horrors of enslavement alongside the struggle for justice.

wapo.st

Today, hundreds of tech workers at The Washington Post publicly announced their union @wapotechguild.bsky.social and requested voluntary recognition. ✊ We’re so proud of our members and all the solidarity received from the @postguild.bsky.social along the way!

The battle over Columbia has sadly given me a ton of deja vu of the Erdoğan government's takeover of Turkey's Boğaziçi University in recent years. @abuaardvark.bsky.social has nicely drawn that connection here -- and reminded us of the importance of student and faculty resistance:

Abu Aardvark@abuaardvark.bsky.social · last yr.

Columbia and the next front on the war on academia - it’s not just punishing students. Trump’s demands that a private university adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism and put MESAAC into receivership would do damage far beyond one campus. My new piece. abuaardvark.substack.com/p/columbia-a...

For @washingtonpost.com I reviewed “Maximal Miniatures” — a splendid showcase of 13 contemporary Iranian artists inspired by traditional Persian miniature painting, at the Middle East Institute's gallery in D.C.: wapo.st/3QlN6fa

Everyone's apparently an "expert" on the Ottoman slave trade now too 🤦‍♀️

Solidarity with @klong.bsky.social, who is now being attacked by Musk and MAGA for having done her job as a journalist. Reporting on public officials isn't "doxxing."

Judd Legum@juddlegum.bsky.social · 2y ago

Free speech absolutist Elon Musk calls for the firing of a journalist who revealed that one of the people Musk hired for DOGE bragged about being racist on social media

I interviewed D.C.-born Ethiopian American artist Tsedaye Makonnen for @washingtonpost.com about her new show “Sanctuary: Mekdes” at Smithsonian’s African Art Museum — a powerful tribute to Black victims of violence and migrants who died trying to reach Europe: wapo.st/40hpflJ

Review | A D.C. artist’s glowing monuments to Black lives

Tsedaye Makonnen’s ethereal pillars at the African Art Museum pay tribute to victims of violence and the perils of migration.

wapo.st

Turkey’s intelligence service, MIT, has forcibly repatriated more than 118 Turks in exile — mainly in the Gülen movement — drawing from the post-9/11 “war on terror” playbook, @gregpmiller.bsky.social reports in @washingtonpost.com front-page story today: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

Turkey exploits post-9/11 counterterrorism model to target critics in exile

Turkey has drawn extensively from the U.S. counterterrorism post-9/11 playbook to go after exiled political enemies, in particular the Gulen movement.

washingtonpost.com

Turkish artist Inci Eviner says Qatari museum removed her video work "Harem" from its show at the last minute: www.artnews.com/art-news/new...

Artist Inci Eviner Says Qatari Museum Censored Her Work About a 19th-Century Harem

Inci Eviner said that Qatar's Mathaf museum censored her work 'Harem' from a show about Jean-Léon Gérôme.

artnews.com

Kitabım Türkçe çevirisiyle çok yakında raflarda! The Turkish translation of my book is coming out very soon!

International postcards are still truly snail mail: Just received (in D.C. area) a postcard friends mailed from Mexico ... over a month ago! When I lived in Turkey it once took 7 weeks for a postcard to reach me from India📬

Killed, maimed, displaced & forced to work: war is exacting a heavy toll on Lebanon's children. Over the past month we visited sites where kids were killed in airstrikes, hospitals treating the injured & displacement shelters. Here are some of their stories: wapo.st/3AXiKLZ

Israel’s war on Hezbollah takes terrible toll on Lebanon’s children

At least 231 children have been killed and 1,330 injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

wapo.st

The all-important Türkiye starter pack is up. Some of the most interesting accounts from ye olde Turkish Twitter are here ⬇️

Yes! Turkish Twitter is still going strong and that’s why I am not deleting my account 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sarah J. Jackson@sjjphd.bsky.social · 2y ago

It is still an important platform for people outside the west. African Twitter, Palestinian Twitter, Ukrainian Twitter etc are one of the only convincing arguments imo for staying b/c they continue to make demands, inform us and connect w/ each other there. Not sure how long that can last though

Welcome to my brilliant @washingtonpost.com colleague @leloveluck.bsky.social!

Louisa Loveluck@leloveluck.bsky.social · 2y ago

Hello 🙋‍♀️ I’m a foreign correspondent with @washingtonpost.com, covering the war in Gaza, Lebanon and Israel. Over the past decade, my investigative work has focused on human rights abuses, corruption, and the plight of the most vulnerable in war.

I wrote for @washingtonpost.com about “An Epic of Kings” at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, showcasing a gorgeous 14th-century manuscript that brings to life the Shahnama, the Persian national epic: wapo.st/3YxICas

Review | A gorgeous manuscript shows the brilliance of medieval Persia

The Shahnama, the Persian national epic, comes to life in an intricate illustrated 14th-century text made under the Mongols, on view at the National Museum of Asian Art.

wapo.st

One former Istanbullu (@vanessahlarson.bsky.social) gives thumbs up to the book by another former Istanbullu (@achristiemiller.bsky.social). A 3rd former Istanbullu sees a city she recognizes in the writing of both. www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/1...

Review | The story of Turkey’s tumultuous present — and its long history

In “To the City,” Alexander Christie-Miller examines the modern lives of those who live alongside Istanbul’s ancient walls.

washingtonpost.com

Gift link. This book looks great!

Vanessa Larson@vanessahlarson.bsky.social · 2y ago

For @washingtonpost.com, I reviewed @achristiemiller.bsky.social’s finely written “To the City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul,” one of the best journalistic accounts so far of the past 15 years in Turkey: wapo.st/3ZZPJcG

For @washingtonpost.com, I reviewed @achristiemiller.bsky.social’s finely written “To the City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul,” one of the best journalistic accounts so far of the past 15 years in Turkey: wapo.st/3ZZPJcG

Review | The story of Turkey’s tumultuous present — and its long history

In “To the City,” Alexander Christie-Miller examines the modern lives of those who live alongside Istanbul’s ancient walls.

wapo.st

D.C.! Turkish-American digital artist Refik Anadol's “Dvorak Dreams” has its U.S. premiere at the Kennedy Center Reach — mesmerizing “data sculpture” is inspired by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak and created using AI; on till Sept. 24. My @washingtonpost.com story: bit.ly/47kStTC

Review | A mesmerizing ‘data sculpture’ remixes Dvorak at the Kennedy Center

Refik Anadol’s AI-assisted installation at the Reach is an impressive audiovisual show — and can’t help but feel a little removed from Dvorak’s works.

bit.ly

For @washingtonpost.com I reviewed “Ethiopia at the Crossroads” at Baltimore's Walters Art Museum — a sensory feast of an exhibit showcasing more than 9 centuries’ worth of the “amazing cultural production that came out of Ethiopia”: bit.ly/3RRZofY

Review | Finally, a sweeping look at Ethiopian art

The Walters Art Museum’s impressive “Ethiopia at the Crossroads” is an extensive survey of Ethiopian art and cultural production.

bit.ly

D.C.! Don't miss “The Land Carries Our Ancestors,” closing Jan. 15. The National Gallery of Art’s 1st exhibit on contemporary Native American artists since 1953 (!) features nearly 50 artists working in varied media; my @washingtonpost.com story: wapo.st/40eicti

Review | At the National Gallery, a belated corrective for Native American art

Curated by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, “The Land Carries Our Ancestors” showcases contemporary work by roughly 50 Indigenous artists.

wapo.st

I managed to get a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca into Webster's dictionary and my life feels pretty fulfilled now :) — from my recent Washington Post story on the revamped Asian and Islamic art galleries at the Walters Art Museum wapo.st/3tvuUry