LONDON - Iranian artist Ali Nedaei’s exhibit at the Contemporary and Modern Art (CAMA) gallery in London is titled Silent Myths, but the 23 pieces on display there come across as anything but quiet.

CASABLANCA, Morocco - Book bag in tow, Wissale Elhaial, 20, pins her eyes straight ahead as she strides past cafes where men congregate in Casablanca’s downtown area.

Vendors entice customers to their halal stands; some call out for her, but not to tempt her with the spiced aroma of falafel.

“Hey, sexy.”

“Praise God! You’re so beautiful!”

“Come here! I would just like to talk to you!”

AMMAN - In an outdoor restaurant on a warm evening in Amman, Jordan, Palestinian-Canadian activist and filmmaker Rifat Audeh talks to Middle East Eye about how he came to be a survivor of the deadly attack on the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla that was headed for Gaza in 2010.

DUHOK, Iraq - For the last few days, Halima has spent most of her time curled up under a heavy duvet, trying to ward off a chill and the memories of the unspeakable horrors she has seen.

The 21-year-old Yazidi woman is being kept under observation at the psychiatric unit of Duhok’s Azadi Hospital in Iraq's Kurdish region for five days.

"As soon as I close my eyes, I see IS [Islamic State militants] strangling me,” says Halima, her eyes wide open and panicked.

BAGHDAD - The walls of Al-Ribat theatre in central Baghdad resonate with lively music as a ballet performance gets under way.

Sixteen-year-old Massa Tayseer is dancing with her partner, Maisara Salam, 19, during an April show. Together they glide towards one another in effortless grace.

A dry wind blows black smoke out of a garbage can. A couple crosses a bridge over a crumbling canal. Piles of rubbish lie in their way. It is summer.   

"Take pictures. Show the world what Basra has become," swears one old man, holding his nose. 

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Eman Hashem was recently elected the first female leader of the council in the rebel-held region of rural Aleppo.

For the 38-year-old Arabic literature graduate and former teacher, it was the culmination of six years of working to provide services to people in a war zone and helping build up a civic administration where one was lacking.

It has been a difficult and dangerous journey. The council had to be relocated from Aleppo city in late 2016 following a brutal offensive to retake rebel-held areas by government forces.

CAIRO - In a region marred by political and economic instability, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is keen on branding itself as one of the world’s happiest countries – a strategy that is arguably working.

LONDON - The Jungle, a makeshift camp in the northern French port of Calais that housed thousands of people from all over the world until it was demolished in 2016, has become a symbol of the times we live in.

Here, in a corner of Western Europe, people who had fled war and terror gathered, hoping to cross the English Channel to build a new life. Hundreds still live in the area the camp once occupied, their lives in limbo. 

CANNES - The Doha Film Institute (DFI) started out as an unsophisticated newbie in the MENA region, struggling to find its identity and a distinctive place in the Arab film ecosystem. Nine years on, it has single-handedly transformed Qatar's film scene and the projects it supports have won some of the highest international accolades.