ABSTRACT
Arab cultural expression is a complex formation that has become the subject of much misguided debate since the early millennium, when cultural rhetoric in the wake of 11 September 2001 came to the fore of international debates. With the rise of the anti-Islamic xenophobia that has subsumed the international relations arena, a number of initiatives and individuals have utilized cultural practices in response to an enhanced interest in the Arab world and the Middle East more widely. Examples of these initiatives are broad and include the work of Cynthia Schneider – an American cultural ambassador currently a distinguished professor at Georgetown University – who has collaborated on programs such as the Post War Art and Culture Festival (2009) in Iraqi Kurdistan, and most recently an American Idol-style television programme for women in Egypt. Similarly, philanthropist Vanessa Branson was quoted at Art Basel 43 as saying that she founded the Marrakech Biennale, the only trilingual Biennial in the world, in order to counter the anti-Islamic attitudes that have dominated the international media.1
