As the photo of Fairouz talking to French President Emmanuel Macron spread around the world, many asked if Arabs today had any contemporary stars of Fairouz's standing. In this essay for Qantara.de, Khaled Al-Khamissi answers this question and asks whether there is a place for up-and-coming stars in a world that is so hostile to creativity and originality
Where are the new Arab icons?
As the photo of Fairouz talking to French President Emmanuel Macron spread around the world, many asked if Arabs today had any contemporary stars of Fairouz s standing. In this essay for Qantara.de, Khaled Al-Khamissi answers this question and asks whether there is a place for up-and-coming stars in a world that is so hostile to creativity and originality
Why haven t we seen any stars take the place of the Arab greats like Fairouz, Taha Hussein, Umm Kulthum and Muhammad Abdel-Wahhab? Do we have today any short storytellers of Youssef Idris stature? Or any novelists to match Naguib Mahfouz? Or anyone in theatre who can compare with Tawfiq Al-Hakim?