Kenaneya Farms: Connecting Community to the Source
Run by a young, second-generation farmer, Kenaneya Farm is located in Abdali, in northern Kuwait.
Mai Al-Farhan
Former Research Associate
Mai Y. Al-Farhan is a former research associate at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and a regular contributor to Millennial Gulf. She is a master’s student at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. Her thesis concerns reforms to the kafala sponsorship system and migrant labor in Bahrain and Qatar. She previously held research assistant positions at the United Nations Development Programme in Kuwait and Middle East Institute.
Her research interests are in the cyber applications of international relations, particularly the role nonstate actors play in exerting influence over nation states through cyber means. Beyond cyberpolitics, Al-Farhan is interested in the political economy of the Gulf Arab states.
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Ahaad al-Amoudi: Imagining Saudi Past and Future through Art
Saudi Arabia’s contemporary art scene is becoming more vibrant by the day.
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Boutiqaat: Creating a Social Commerce Market in the Gulf
Social commerce is a new phenomenon. In “The Social Commerce System,” it is defined as “the expansion of e-commerce in the social networks on the Internet, in which social factors are significant, and consumers use the right to create content through the media via forums, ratings, reviews, and recommendations on different platforms.” At its core, Boutiqaat is similar to other e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, and Souq.
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Ulafa’a: Reconciliation through the Arts in Bahrain
Ulafa’a is a Bahraini art collective that flourished in response to the 2011 Bahraini uprising.
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Ghaliah Tech: Running the Influencer Economy in the Gulf
Social media influencers pervade the Gulf. They grace billboards on Kuwait’s Gulf Road, stream on millions of people’s Snapchat and Instagram stories, and kickoff corporate events and social campaigns.
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Bisklayta: Pedaling through Hurdles in Saudi Arabia
Nadeemah Abulaynain started riding her bicycle in her Jeddah neighborhood and, through Instagram, slowly attracted other women to join her.
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Dar Al Aseel: Abaya Design for the Gulf Power Woman
One of Oman’s most acclaimed fashion designers, Amal Al Raisi, stumbled upon design after shopping for a wedding dress.
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WEORITU: Positive Social Change through Example
Where to? This is the question Taibah al-Qatami, a Kuwaiti millennial, was pondering as she thought of initiating WEORITU.
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U.N.-Saudi Youth Forum: A Calculated Message
Saudi Arabia has been sending bold messages domestically with the recent security crackdown on influential clerics, intellectuals, and other public figures, while simultaneously engaging in a global soft power projection, most recently through an event held in the heart of New York.
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The Bahrain Foundation for Dialogue: Promoting Social Reconciliation
The Bahraini uprising, and its aftermath, has left profound rifts six years on, in political views, sectarian relations, and even geography.
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Online Writing Platforms: Tackling Taboos
“If you don’t condemn homosexuality in traditional print outlets, you’re not going to get published.” This is one of the many reasons that led Shaikha Al-Bahaweed, a writer from Kuwait, to start writing for online writing platforms Manshoor and Raseef22.
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“Meet The Al Ameri’s”: The Everyday Life of a Young Emirati Family
After gaining wide popularity on Instagram for sharing inspirational and humorous posts about his everyday life with his wife and children, Khalid Al Ameri started “Meet The Al Ameri’s.” This vlog features Khalid and his wife Salama, and their two children, Abdullah and Khalifa.
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Gulf Curators: Expanding the Visibility of Gulf Artists
The career of curating is new to the Gulf, though the role of a curator is not.
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The Other Story: Highlighting Our Shared Humanity
Fatima Al-Banawi is known for her role as the protagonist in Saudi Arabia’s first ever rom-com movie “Barakah Meets Barakah.” But beyond acting in this story, she has started a project collecting other people’s stories in Jeddah.
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Never Never Land: Saudi Women Screaming for Entertainment
Arwa Al Neami is a self-taught artist who was born in the mountainous village of Rijal Alma in Saudi Arabia’s southern Asir province.
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twofour54’s creative lab: Nurturing Arab Media Talent
In April, the United Arab Emirates launched the Soft Power Council to enhance the country’s image regionally and globally.
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Raqib50: Keeping Tabs on the Kuwaiti Parliament
Exceptional among Gulf states, Kuwait’s National Assembly has a powerful role in decision making.
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Gulf Women with Altitude: Climbing Mount Everest
Altitude sickness, frostbite, and severe weather conditions are just a few of the obstacles climbers have to overcome en route to the summit of Mount Everest.
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Madeenah: Exploring Urban Development in Kuwait City
Madeenah was established to capture the fast-paced urban development in Kuwait that has flourished since the discovery of oil.
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Animation in Saudi Arabia: Shifting the Entertainment Agenda
Malik Nejer is one of Saudi Arabia’s top cartoonists and force behind the hit animated YouTube series, “Masameer.” He was drawing animations for an advertising agency, while producing animated videos for YouTube on the side, when floods claimed the lives of over a hundred people in Jeddah in 2009.