Natalie Shooter

Freelance Journalist, Editor of Lebanon Traveler Magazine

Lebanon

Natalie Shooter is a British writer and editor based in Beirut. As a freelancer she writes about everything from music and cinema to public space and censorship. She's also editor of Lebanon Traveler – the first magazine about eco and rural tourism, nature and the environment in Lebanon (www.lebanontraveler.com). On the side, she's an active member of the Beirut Groove Collective, a group of vinyl-only DJs that throw monthly funk and soul parties – bringing an underground alternative to Beirut's nightlife scene.

Portfolio
Audio Kultur
03/18/2015
Shamstep

Rooted in the shaabi sounds of the Levant, The Palestinian London-based band 47Soul evolve the region’s musical heritage

Audio Kultur
10/29/2014
The old colossus

Beirut continues its tradition as a haven for artists in the region, incubating Syrian music talents

GOOD Magazine
12/07/2015
Tania el Khoury

Meet the Lebanese live artist testing the limits of public space

Brownbook
The fishermen of Raouche

An intrinsic part of Beirut’s iconic seafront, a little-known community of Lebanese fishermen face a rocky future

Audio Kultur
04/19/2015
The Resilient Resistance

Behind the sleepy village of the Bekaa Valley’s Anjar, home to the biggest population of Armenians outside Beirut, is a spirited resistance

Foreign Policy Magazine
Things they carried

The make up artist... Hala Ajam (Text by Natalie Shooter, Photos by Roland Ragi)

REORIENT
Filming on the Fringe

In the midst of a nascent film industry, a handful of female filmmakers have emerged in the Arabian Peninsula, pioneering film and using it as a tool to fight for change

Brownbook
The Eternal Modernist

Architect, educator and thinker, George Arbid is archiving the architecture of a lost era at the newly-opened Arab Center for Architecture

Audio Kultur
12/02/2014
Not just another wedding massive

The DIY electro chaabi scene that arose from the Egyptian suburbs and found its audience on the wedding circuit, crosses into the mainstream

Audio Kultur
09/11/2014
Meditations of Mulatu

The pioneer of Ethio jazz, Ethiopian composer and musician Mulatu Astatke lives up to his legacy

Now Media
Shattered faces

The work of Kurdish-Syrian artist, Ahmad Kleige, based in Beirut for the past 17 years, and Lebanese artist Sandra Issa gives voice to ordinary people that often, between the handshakes of politicians and the faces of gun battles, don't always make it to the media

Audio Kultur
01/08/2015
Without a prefix

Lebanese guitar ensemble Omarkestra revive Egyptian legend Omar Khorshid’s magic guitar melodies

Frieze
09/25/2013
Postcard from Morocco

Morocco's young arts scene has experienced a boom in the last few years, growing from the bottom up through independent initiatives, DIY exhibition spaces and innovative artist residencies

Brownbook
The Magic of mate

Drunk by both Pope Francis and Che Guevara, the South American drink of mate has strong roots in the Middle East

Brownbook
Fruits of the land

Yasmina and Jean-Pierre Zahar’s olive oil project, Bassatin Baanoub inspires a closer relationship with Lebanese lands

Brownbook
Heading inland

A custom built housing project for the fishermen of Tyre in South Lebanon is an unlikely space for a community on the edge

Brownbook
Old for new

Small, independent and with focus on minimalist mid-century furniture, Cinema House is part of the growing scene of Lebanon's young designers

Now Media
Re-writing the past

"I don’t worship heritage at all. What I’m trying to do with classical Arabic music is to create a contemporary scene. It’s the only way to keep the genre living," says musicologist, musician and composer Mustafa Said

Brownbook
All ears on Iran

As a broadcaster, sound artist and DJ, the Iranian born, London-based Fari Bradley has her ear to the ground, transmitting an alternative side of Persian culture

Brownbook
The slaughterhouse

An abandoned slaughterhouse may be an unlikely venue for an arts collective, but in Casablanca it’s become a second home for the city’s alternative scene

Brownbook
Creating narratives

From its humble beginnings as cafe discussions, Mashallah News has become a regional online platform for alternative news and shared experiences

Audio Kultur
04/19/2015
Bourj Hammoud City Guide

Bourj Hammoud first started out as a camp when survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide arrived to Lebanon, now it's a hub for the city's artisans

The National
05/28/2013
Dreaming of pop at the edges

Maii and Zeid release Moga, the new album from the emerging Egyptian talent Maii Waleed and the prolific underground Lebanese producer and musician Zeid Hamdan