Best of the Web, April 15

The Controversial Sharjah Biennial Dismissal; First homosexual caveman found; Inside Dubai’s only Government Mental Hospital; A New Arab Generation Finds its Voice; Hospital Is Drawn Into Bahrain Strife

April 14, 2011 2:07 by shafeer

The Controversial Sharjah Biennial Dismissal

The dismissal of Jack Persekian, Director of the Sharjah Art Foundation over controversial and possibly offensive artwork displayed in the 10th edition of the Sharjah Biennial by Algerian artist, journalist and activist Mustapha Benfodil has been met with much criticism in the art world, so much so there has been an online petition drawn up against the dismissal; but as this article in The National shows the petition is not without its critics who claim the petition misleading and inflammatory, but before you make up your mind on the matter why not read what the artist himself has to say about the installation in question.

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Hospital Is Drawn Into Bahrain Strife

This feature from The New York times covers an aspect of the ongoing protests in Bahrain not covered in the local press- and that is “an assault on the healthcare system and the people who practice in it” with an intention to instill terror in doctors, so they will not care for wounded demonstrators.

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Inside Dubai’s only Government Mental Hospital

This article from Gulf News takes you inside Dubai’s only government hospital dedicated to treatment of psychiatric and addiction patients to give you a glimpse of what life is like inside there.

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A New Arab Generation Finds its Voice

Kipp likes this artsy video feature from the New York Times titled “A New Arab Generation Finds its Voice” The New York Times interviewed more than two dozen of Arab youth from Morocco to the West Bank, to find out how they consider their moment in history and their generation’s prospects for the future.

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First homosexual caveman found

Archaeologists in the Czech Republic has claim the remains of a 5,000-year-old male in a grave might have belonged to the world’s oldest known gay caveman–the reasoning behind this one being, the man in question was discovered buried in a way normally reserved only for women of the Corded Ware culture in the Copper Age that is with its head pointing eastwards and surrounded by domestic jugs, rituals only previously seen in female graves.

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Dubai State of Mind

And Kipp couldn’t help but sneak in this track we heard just this morning from Mo Mansour ft. Emma Hayes titled ‘Dubai State of Mind’ which is essentially a track about the wonders of living in Dubai in the tune of Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z feat Alicia Keys