The new and refreshed Vox Populi page has officially relaunched as of 21 August 2017. In the rejuvenation process, we focused on building on our existing mission but made some adjustments in order to ensure sustainable content. Each month, Vox Populi (voxpop.jadaliyya.com) will focus on a different thematic subject, which we will analyze through the variety of pieces and roundups we produce that month. Below is our mission statement: 

Vox Populi features popular artistic and aesthetic expressions that emanate from the Middle East. It seeks to highlight silenced, underrepresented, and/or subversive cultural forms and conduits while challenging hegemonic and mainstream cultural production and narratives about the region. This is accomplished by exploring the actual conditions of reception and consumption of cultural products among popular cultures in the Middle East as they relate to questions of inequality, power, and difference. In addition to showcasing the independent work of ordinary citizens and groups, the page aims to capture new and changing forms, spaces, and avenues of political and social transformations. Through interviews, analysis, individual and institutional profiles, video snippets, films, music videos, visual art, and street art, Vox Populi communicates and showcases important trends about/from the region that are often left out in what is otherwise serious analytical treatments.
 

For our re-launch, we decided to focus on dissecting our namesake, voice of the people, and produced a series of pieces that begins to encapsulate what that idea means to us. We recognize that the collection of pieces below are heavily centered on the Levant region, however, in our roundup you may find material that brings in the peripheries of the region, which we are committed to showcasing as a Vox Populi team. We look towards building a more holistic regional representation of the artistic and aesthetic scene in our future issues to come. For now, please enjoy the selection of pieces in our re-launch: 

The Changing Face of Street Art in the MENA Region: Diminishing the Voice of the People?
Camille Reynolds

Anti ISIS Music in Iraq
Dima Yassine 

George Wassouf: the People`s Champ
Moe Ali Nayel

ماذا شاهد السوريون/ات خلال رمضان ٢٠١٧؟ 
Katty Al Hayek 

لقاء مع فنان الغرافيتي والكوميكس العراقي سجاد عباس
Dima Yassine 

Vox Populi Roundup (August)

We welcome all submissions and feedback from the community, feel free to contact us at voxpopuli@jadaliyya.com!  

Sincerely,

The Vox Populi Team