Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 12:04
Maldives president says judges plotted to overthrow him
Warsaw (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 11:50
Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Beirut (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 10:57
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
Johannesburg (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 10:35
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
Beijing (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 09:45
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 09:17
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 09:16
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 09:13
German stock market tumbles 3.6 percent at open
London (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 09:12
European stocks slump at open as panic spreads
Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 08:36
Maldives' Nasheed asks India, US to help remove president
London (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 08:12
BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Tokyo (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 07:32
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 07:10
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
Jerusalem (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 07:07
Palestinian prime suspect in rabbi's murder shot dead: Shin Bet
Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 03:05
Maldives chief justice arrested: police
Tokyo (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 02:47
Tokyo's Nikkei index extends sell-off, dives 5%
Hong Kong (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 02:36
Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 01:10
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
New York (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 22:12
Dow ends down 4.6% after brutal session
New York (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 21:22
US stocks plunge further; Dow sinks over 5 percent
New York (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 20:37
Wall Street stock sell-off accelerates; Dow -2.0%
Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 20:07
Maldives police arrest ex-president Gayoom
Washington (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 19:40
US-led coalition says 'adjusting' down forces in Iraq
Stockholm (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 19:17
Sweden condemns China's 'brutal' snatching of Swedish bookseller
London (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 16:43
Trade barriers 'unavoidable' for UK after Brexit: Barnier
Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 16:18
Maldives president declares state of emergency: official
Chicago (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 16:13
Ex-US gymnastics doc sentenced to another 40-125 years
Nairobi (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 15:41
Two Kenyan TV stations shuttered by govt resume broadcasts
Jerusalem (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 15:12
Palestinian stabs Israeli dead near West Bank settlement: police
Paris (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 14:13
Broadcom makes improved, final offer for chipmaker Qualcomm
Beirut (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 13:31
Syria strikes kill 23 civilians in rebel area near Damascus: monitor
London (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 12:39
UK judges block US extradition of alleged hacker Lauri Love
The Hague (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 12:24
Dutch withdraw ambassador to Turkey as ties sour
Brussels (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 11:37
Paris suspect Abdeslam tells court: 'I put my trust in Allah'
Brussels (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 11:19
Paris suspect Abdeslam: 'My silence doesn't make me a criminal'
Paris (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 10:34
Amazon announces tax deal with French government
Kinshasa (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 10:06
23 killed in ethnic violence in DR Congo's Ituri: local official
Tokyo (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 09:49
Japan army helicopter crashes in residential area: local official
Brussels (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 09:31
Paris suspect refuses to answer questions at Belgian trial
Brussels (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 09:03
Belgian trial for Paris attacks suspect begins
Johannesburg (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 08:51
S.Africa's ANC to hold talks on Zuma's future: party official
Baku (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 08:36
Azerbaijani leader calls snap presidential election
Brussels (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 08:35
Paris attacks suspect Abdeslam arrives for Belgian trial: source
London (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 07:42
Ryanair says quarterly profits rise despite cancellations crisis
Seoul (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 07:20
South Korea appeals court frees Samsung heir
Fleury-Merogis (France) (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 05:17
Paris attacks suspect leaves French prison to stand trial in Brussels: source
Quito (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 02:24
Ecuador votes bar on presidential re-election in blow to ex-leader Correa
Nicosia (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 18:34
Cyprus president re-elected for second term: final result
Nicosia (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 17:14
Exit polls predict win for incumbent in Cyprus presidential run-off
Taipei (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 15:53
Shallow 6.1-magnitude earthquake hits off Taiwan: USGS
Washington (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 12:40
At least two killed in South Carolina train collision: US police
Jerusalem (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 11:05
Israel 'legalising' rogue settlement in response to murder: Netanyahu
Madrid (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 10:43
Bodies of around 20 migrants recovered from sea: Spanish official
Nablus (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 21:49
Palestinian shot dead by Israeli army during West Bank raid: health ministry
Macerata (Italy) (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 21:17
Italy shooting motivated by 'racial hatred': Interior minister
Beirut (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 20:36
Syria jihadists claim downing of Russia plane: propaganda arm
Peshawar (Pakistan) (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 18:23
11 soldiers killed in Pakistan suicide bombing: military
Damascus (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 18:20
Syria blasts US accusations on chemical weapons use as 'lies'
Moscow (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 18:19
Russia confirms pilot killed after plane downed over Syria
Ankara (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 18:17
Five Turkish troops killed in attack on tank in Syria operation: army
Beirut (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 17:46
Russian pilot killed after Syria rebels down plane: monitor
Beirut (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 16:25
Syria rebels down Russian plane, capture pilot: monitor
Moscow (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 14:53
Moscow denounces "anti-Russian" US nuclear policy
Rome (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 13:08
Four wounded in drive-by gun attack in Italy: media
New York (AFP) - 02/02/2018 - 22:07
Dow falls more than 650 points, down 2.6% in biggest drop since Sept 2015

Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 12:04
Maldives president says judges plotted to overthrow him
Warsaw (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 11:50
Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Beirut (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 10:57
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
Johannesburg (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 10:35
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
Beijing (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 09:45
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 09:17
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 09:16
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 09:13
German stock market tumbles 3.6 percent at open
London (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 09:12
European stocks slump at open as panic spreads
Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 08:36
Maldives' Nasheed asks India, US to help remove president
London (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 08:12
BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Tokyo (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 07:32
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 07:10
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
Jerusalem (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 07:07
Palestinian prime suspect in rabbi's murder shot dead: Shin Bet
Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 03:05
Maldives chief justice arrested: police
Tokyo (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 02:47
Tokyo's Nikkei index extends sell-off, dives 5%
Hong Kong (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 02:36
Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo (AFP) - 02/06/2018 - 01:10
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
New York (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 22:12
Dow ends down 4.6% after brutal session
New York (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 21:22
US stocks plunge further; Dow sinks over 5 percent
New York (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 20:37
Wall Street stock sell-off accelerates; Dow -2.0%
Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 20:07
Maldives police arrest ex-president Gayoom
Washington (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 19:40
US-led coalition says 'adjusting' down forces in Iraq
Stockholm (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 19:17
Sweden condemns China's 'brutal' snatching of Swedish bookseller
London (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 16:43
Trade barriers 'unavoidable' for UK after Brexit: Barnier
Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 16:18
Maldives president declares state of emergency: official
Chicago (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 16:13
Ex-US gymnastics doc sentenced to another 40-125 years
Nairobi (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 15:41
Two Kenyan TV stations shuttered by govt resume broadcasts
Jerusalem (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 15:12
Palestinian stabs Israeli dead near West Bank settlement: police
Paris (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 14:13
Broadcom makes improved, final offer for chipmaker Qualcomm
Beirut (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 13:31
Syria strikes kill 23 civilians in rebel area near Damascus: monitor
London (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 12:39
UK judges block US extradition of alleged hacker Lauri Love
The Hague (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 12:24
Dutch withdraw ambassador to Turkey as ties sour
Brussels (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 11:37
Paris suspect Abdeslam tells court: 'I put my trust in Allah'
Brussels (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 11:19
Paris suspect Abdeslam: 'My silence doesn't make me a criminal'
Paris (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 10:34
Amazon announces tax deal with French government
Kinshasa (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 10:06
23 killed in ethnic violence in DR Congo's Ituri: local official
Tokyo (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 09:49
Japan army helicopter crashes in residential area: local official
Brussels (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 09:31
Paris suspect refuses to answer questions at Belgian trial
Brussels (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 09:03
Belgian trial for Paris attacks suspect begins
Johannesburg (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 08:51
S.Africa's ANC to hold talks on Zuma's future: party official
Baku (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 08:36
Azerbaijani leader calls snap presidential election
Brussels (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 08:35
Paris attacks suspect Abdeslam arrives for Belgian trial: source
London (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 07:42
Ryanair says quarterly profits rise despite cancellations crisis
Seoul (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 07:20
South Korea appeals court frees Samsung heir
Fleury-Merogis (France) (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 05:17
Paris attacks suspect leaves French prison to stand trial in Brussels: source
Quito (AFP) - 02/05/2018 - 02:24
Ecuador votes bar on presidential re-election in blow to ex-leader Correa
Nicosia (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 18:34
Cyprus president re-elected for second term: final result
Nicosia (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 17:14
Exit polls predict win for incumbent in Cyprus presidential run-off
Taipei (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 15:53
Shallow 6.1-magnitude earthquake hits off Taiwan: USGS
Washington (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 12:40
At least two killed in South Carolina train collision: US police
Jerusalem (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 11:05
Israel 'legalising' rogue settlement in response to murder: Netanyahu
Madrid (AFP) - 02/04/2018 - 10:43
Bodies of around 20 migrants recovered from sea: Spanish official
Nablus (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 21:49
Palestinian shot dead by Israeli army during West Bank raid: health ministry
Macerata (Italy) (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 21:17
Italy shooting motivated by 'racial hatred': Interior minister
Beirut (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 20:36
Syria jihadists claim downing of Russia plane: propaganda arm
Peshawar (Pakistan) (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 18:23
11 soldiers killed in Pakistan suicide bombing: military
Damascus (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 18:20
Syria blasts US accusations on chemical weapons use as 'lies'
Moscow (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 18:19
Russia confirms pilot killed after plane downed over Syria
Ankara (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 18:17
Five Turkish troops killed in attack on tank in Syria operation: army
Beirut (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 17:46
Russian pilot killed after Syria rebels down plane: monitor
Beirut (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 16:25
Syria rebels down Russian plane, capture pilot: monitor
Moscow (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 14:53
Moscow denounces "anti-Russian" US nuclear policy
Rome (AFP) - 02/03/2018 - 13:08
Four wounded in drive-by gun attack in Italy: media
New York (AFP) - 02/02/2018 - 22:07
Dow falls more than 650 points, down 2.6% in biggest drop since Sept 2015

    News
  
Paris opens a door to exiled artists
        6
        Feb
        2018      

					    
					    AFP / Philippe LOPEZ
					    Afghan performance artist Kubra Khademi is one of about 200 artists who have found help at the Paris-based Studio of Artists in Exile after she fled her homeland
				    
It was when Kubra Khademi stopped the traffic in Kabul, and men began to throw stones at her and bay for her blood, that she knew she was going to have to leave the country.
The young performance artist had walked alone into one of the Afghan capital's busiest intersections wearing tin armour over her breasts and backside to highlight the harassment women face in the streets.
Even as she made her escape in a taxi, one of the mob touched her behind. 
"I had to hide out in Kabul until they could get me away," she told AFP of her flight to France.
Twice condemned to death for criticising the Khartoum government, Sudanese poet Moneim Rahma did not think twice when an unexpected chance to flee the country presented itself.
While Syrian director Samer Salameh knew he was putting himself at risk by making a film about his devastated Damascus neighbourhood of Yarmouk -- once described as "the worst place on earth" by aid agencies -- while serving as an army conscript.
All three eventually made it to the French capital, which a half century after it was last the prime destination for writers and artists fleeing oppression, is again becoming a haven for emigres.
Next to a cash-and-carry in a working-class district of northern Paris, a drop-in centre has been helping some 200 artists find their feet in France since October. 
The Studio of Artists in Exile does not pretend to be a panacea for the problems artists face when they suddenly find themselves "a fish out of water" in a new country.
- 'France is easier for artists' -
But, despite operating on a shoestring budget and in donated premises, it can help artists navigate the maze of relaunching their careers, said co-founder Judith Depaule.

					   
					   AFP / Philippe LOPEZ
					    Sudanese poet Moneim Rahma has been condemned to death twice for criticising the Khartoum government but is now a long way from his wife and four children after he took the chance to flee his country and ended up in Paris

				    
"In ways France is attractive for artists and easier for them to work in because, unlike Germany -- where you have either the underground or subsidised state art organisations, -- in France there is a lot in-between," she said.
"The system itself makes it easier here," she added. 
"Paris has historically always been a place where exiled artists came to. In the 1920s, we had the Russians and then the artists who fled the civil war in Spain to join Picasso," Depaule said.
While it has been nearly half a century since Paris, often dubbed a "museum city", was a major destination for artists, "the cycle is perhaps changing", Depaule insisted.
Last week French Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen publicly backed the studio, inviting its artists to her offices even as her government tightened rules making claiming asylum more difficult in France.
She praised the "extraordinary" way some in the arts had embraced the newcomers and urged others to follow their lead to "enlarge the way we see the world and open up our culture".
Nyssen also invited 15 exiled artists, including Khademi and Rahma, to show their work in her ministry.
Khademi, 28, has fully embraced her new life since arriving in the French capital two years ago, going back to university and being honoured by the government as a "knight of arts and letters".
- Backwards over the Pyrenees -

					    
					    AFP / Philippe LOPEZ
					    Syrian director Samer Salameh was able to finish his film showing the fate of the Yarmouk neighbourhood of Damascus during the war -- "194. Us, Children of the Camp", which has since been shown at festivals in Europe
				    
"I walk a lot in Paris and that is where I think about my art," she said.
In fact, she walked backwards over the Pyrenees to recreate the philosopher Walter Benjamin's escape from Nazi occupied France to Spain during World War II. 
With her work getting noticed, and a commission for a performance in the French Museum of Immigration, her career is taking off. 
For Rahma, 57, whose family is stuck in Ethiopia, the situation is more complicated.
With much of his energy devoted to trying to get his wife and four children away from "the long arm of the Sudanese secret police", he is less at ease.
Yet he has published a book with 10 French painters on what it is like to be a refugee, written "lots of poems" and is starting his third novel.
But his focus remains firmly on his homeland.
Getting to France allowed Syrian Palestinian Salameh to finish his film showing the fate of Yarmouk during the war -- "194. Us, Children of the Camp". It has since been shown at festivals in Europe.
Yet even for a 32-year-old, the adaptation to a new life has not been painless. 
"It is quite weird but even during a war your homeland can feel easier, softer, because it is your country, your language," Salameh told AFP.
"Here is quite tough. It's a big capital, you see people living in the street, it can be scary sometimes. There are lots of opportunities but a lot of competition as well. But I am OK, and I am starting to have some ideas to do films here now."

Home

News

Paris opens a door to exiled artists

6 Feb 2018

AFP / Philippe LOPEZ Afghan performance artist Kubra Khademi is one of about 200 artists who have found help at the Paris-based Studio of Artists in Exile after she fled her homeland

It was when Kubra Khademi stopped the traffic in Kabul, and men began to throw stones at her and bay for her blood, that she knew she was going to have to leave the country.

The young performance artist had walked alone into one of the Afghan capital's busiest intersections wearing tin armour over her breasts and backside to highlight the harassment women face in the streets.

Even as she made her escape in a taxi, one of the mob touched her behind.

"I had to hide out in Kabul until they could get me away," she told AFP of her flight to France.

Twice condemned to death for criticising the Khartoum government, Sudanese poet Moneim Rahma did not think twice when an unexpected chance to flee the country presented itself.

While Syrian director Samer Salameh knew he was putting himself at risk by making a film about his devastated Damascus neighbourhood of Yarmouk -- once described as "the worst place on earth" by aid agencies -- while serving as an army conscript.

All three eventually made it to the French capital, which a half century after it was last the prime destination for writers and artists fleeing oppression, is again becoming a haven for emigres.

Next to a cash-and-carry in a working-class district of northern Paris, a drop-in centre has been helping some 200 artists find their feet in France since October.

The Studio of Artists in Exile does not pretend to be a panacea for the problems artists face when they suddenly find themselves "a fish out of water" in a new country.

- 'France is easier for artists' -

But, despite operating on a shoestring budget and in donated premises, it can help artists navigate the maze of relaunching their careers, said co-founder Judith Depaule.

AFP / Philippe LOPEZ Sudanese poet Moneim Rahma has been condemned to death twice for criticising the Khartoum government but is now a long way from his wife and four children after he took the chance to flee his country and ended up in Paris

"In ways France is attractive for artists and easier for them to work in because, unlike Germany -- where you have either the underground or subsidised state art organisations, -- in France there is a lot in-between," she said.

"The system itself makes it easier here," she added.

"Paris has historically always been a place where exiled artists came to. In the 1920s, we had the Russians and then the artists who fled the civil war in Spain to join Picasso," Depaule said.

While it has been nearly half a century since Paris, often dubbed a "museum city", was a major destination for artists, "the cycle is perhaps changing", Depaule insisted.

Last week French Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen publicly backed the studio, inviting its artists to her offices even as her government tightened rules making claiming asylum more difficult in France.

She praised the "extraordinary" way some in the arts had embraced the newcomers and urged others to follow their lead to "enlarge the way we see the world and open up our culture".

Nyssen also invited 15 exiled artists, including Khademi and Rahma, to show their work in her ministry.

Khademi, 28, has fully embraced her new life since arriving in the French capital two years ago, going back to university and being honoured by the government as a "knight of arts and letters".

- Backwards over the Pyrenees -

AFP / Philippe LOPEZ Syrian director Samer Salameh was able to finish his film showing the fate of the Yarmouk neighbourhood of Damascus during the war -- "194. Us, Children of the Camp", which has since been shown at festivals in Europe

"I walk a lot in Paris and that is where I think about my art," she said.

In fact, she walked backwards over the Pyrenees to recreate the philosopher Walter Benjamin's escape from Nazi occupied France to Spain during World War II.

With her work getting noticed, and a commission for a performance in the French Museum of Immigration, her career is taking off.

For Rahma, 57, whose family is stuck in Ethiopia, the situation is more complicated.

With much of his energy devoted to trying to get his wife and four children away from "the long arm of the Sudanese secret police", he is less at ease.

Yet he has published a book with 10 French painters on what it is like to be a refugee, written "lots of poems" and is starting his third novel.

But his focus remains firmly on his homeland.

Getting to France allowed Syrian Palestinian Salameh to finish his film showing the fate of Yarmouk during the war -- "194. Us, Children of the Camp". It has since been shown at festivals in Europe.

Yet even for a 32-year-old, the adaptation to a new life has not been painless.

"It is quite weird but even during a war your homeland can feel easier, softer, because it is your country, your language," Salameh told AFP.

"Here is quite tough. It's a big capital, you see people living in the street, it can be scary sometimes. There are lots of opportunities but a lot of competition as well. But I am OK, and I am starting to have some ideas to do films here now."