😍 lucky @vanessahlarson.bsky.social for getting to see this gorgeous show. wapo.st/41RSLQw

I wrote for @washingtonpost.com about “All Manner of Experiments,” a sweeping show on Iraqi art and the influential Baghdad Modern Art Group at Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies, with many works on view in the U.S. for the first time: wapo.st/46oxfnZ

Some personal news: I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting. Thread incoming. substack.com/@karenattiah...

“Most people did not assume that there is a modern, contemporary culture and artists working” in Iraq, said Nada Shabout. @vanessahlarson.bsky.social in the @washingtonpost.com washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2025/09/11/baghdad-modern-art-iraq-war-bard-college/?itid=sf_style_toptable_1_0

For @washingtonpost.com I wrote about Pakistani-born artist Shahzia Sikander's mesmerizing video installation “The Last Post” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, on the legacies of British colonialism in South Asia and China: wapo.st/4eTBMme

As the Smithsonian and National Museum of African American History and Culture in particular come under attack, I reviewed “In Slavery’s Wake” at NMAAHC — which explores the horrors of enslavement alongside the struggle for freedom and justice — for @washingtonpost.com: wapo.st/42qxBbN

Today, hundreds of tech workers at The Washington Post publicly announced their union @wapotechguild.bsky.social and requested voluntary recognition. ✊ We’re so proud of our members and all the solidarity received from the @postguild.bsky.social along the way!

The battle over Columbia has sadly given me a ton of deja vu of the Erdoğan government's takeover of Turkey's Boğaziçi University in recent years. @abuaardvark.bsky.social has nicely drawn that connection here -- and reminded us of the importance of student and faculty resistance:

For @washingtonpost.com I reviewed “Maximal Miniatures” — a splendid showcase of 13 contemporary Iranian artists inspired by traditional Persian miniature painting, at the Middle East Institute's gallery in D.C.: wapo.st/3QlN6fa

Everyone's apparently an "expert" on the Ottoman slave trade now too 🤦‍♀️

Solidarity with @klong.bsky.social, who is now being attacked by Musk and MAGA for having done her job as a journalist. Reporting on public officials isn't "doxxing."

I interviewed D.C.-born Ethiopian American artist Tsedaye Makonnen for @washingtonpost.com about her new show “Sanctuary: Mekdes” at Smithsonian’s African Art Museum — a powerful tribute to Black victims of violence and migrants who died trying to reach Europe: wapo.st/40hpflJ

Turkey’s intelligence service, MIT, has forcibly repatriated more than 118 Turks in exile — mainly in the Gülen movement — drawing from the post-9/11 “war on terror” playbook, @gregpmiller.bsky.social reports in @washingtonpost.com front-page story today: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

Turkish artist Inci Eviner says Qatari museum removed her video work "Harem" from its show at the last minute: www.artnews.com/art-news/new...

Kitabım Türkçe çevirisiyle çok yakında raflarda! The Turkish translation of my book is coming out very soon!

International postcards are still truly snail mail: Just received (in D.C. area) a postcard friends mailed from Mexico ... over a month ago! When I lived in Turkey it once took 7 weeks for a postcard to reach me from India📬

Killed, maimed, displaced & forced to work: war is exacting a heavy toll on Lebanon's children. Over the past month we visited sites where kids were killed in airstrikes, hospitals treating the injured & displacement shelters. Here are some of their stories: wapo.st/3AXiKLZ

The all-important Türkiye starter pack is up. Some of the most interesting accounts from ye olde Turkish Twitter are here ⬇️

Yes! Turkish Twitter is still going strong and that’s why I am not deleting my account 🤷🏻‍♀️

Welcome to my brilliant @washingtonpost.com colleague @leloveluck.bsky.social!

I wrote for @washingtonpost.com about “An Epic of Kings” at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, showcasing a gorgeous 14th-century manuscript that brings to life the Shahnama, the Persian national epic: wapo.st/3YxICas

One former Istanbullu (@vanessahlarson.bsky.social) gives thumbs up to the book by another former Istanbullu (@achristiemiller.bsky.social). A 3rd former Istanbullu sees a city she recognizes in the writing of both. www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/1...

Gift link. This book looks great!

For @washingtonpost.com, I reviewed @achristiemiller.bsky.social’s finely written “To the City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul,” one of the best journalistic accounts so far of the past 15 years in Turkey: wapo.st/3ZZPJcG

D.C.! Turkish-American digital artist Refik Anadol's “Dvorak Dreams” has its U.S. premiere at the Kennedy Center Reach — mesmerizing “data sculpture” is inspired by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak and created using AI; on till Sept. 24. My @washingtonpost.com story: bit.ly/47kStTC

For @washingtonpost.com I reviewed “Ethiopia at the Crossroads” at Baltimore's Walters Art Museum — a sensory feast of an exhibit showcasing more than 9 centuries’ worth of the “amazing cultural production that came out of Ethiopia”: bit.ly/3RRZofY

D.C.! Don't miss “The Land Carries Our Ancestors,” closing Jan. 15. The National Gallery of Art’s 1st exhibit on contemporary Native American artists since 1953 (!) features nearly 50 artists working in varied media; my @washingtonpost.com story: wapo.st/40eicti

I managed to get a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca into Webster's dictionary and my life feels pretty fulfilled now :) — from my recent Washington Post story on the revamped Asian and Islamic art galleries at the Walters Art Museum wapo.st/3tvuUry

Some counterprogramming: For @washingtonpost.com, I covered new Islamic and Asian galleries at Baltimore's Walters Art Museum, including Ottoman Sultan Mahmud I's jeweled gun; a 17th-cent İznik tile of Mecca's Great Mosque; ancient Buddhas; and a Thai pulpit once owned by Doris Duke: wapo.st/3tvuUry

The museum’s ultimate aim should be its own disappearance: “It’s the opposite of a regular museum, whose collection will continue to expand. With this one, we hope its collection will shrink, as items are recovered one by one.” www.theguardian.com/world/2023/o...

Hello and merhabalar! Trying to keep my online Turkey community going on a new platform.