Ahmad Swaid on Dazed MENA issue 02: ‘It’s our most potent edition so far’

‘Nightlife. Performance. Rituals.’ This is the theme of Dazed MENA’s latest issue. Even without knowing that, its visual language pulsates with energy. It is a celebration of life, one that persists, even in the face of hardship. “Each edition of Dazed MENA sort of starts the same way,” explains Ahmad Swaid, editor-in-chief of Dazed MENA. “I set a theme, and we explore it together as a team. I found myself listening to a lot of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme while working on this issue, and revisiting albums like Ray of Light by Madonna, thinking about what it means to hold on to a belief, which is why it’s called nightlife. It’s all about the possibility of what the morning after or the future can bring.” 

Dazed MENA issue 02 features actress, model and activist Indya Moore, shot by Zora Sicher, Mayah Alkhateri and Salvador Navarrete, who make up the genre-defining duo Kiss Facility, photographed by Ibrahim Elhinaid. There are also two covers focusing on Beirut and its sacred Sporting Club, shot by Yasmina Hilal, along with covers on the beauty of dance in Sufi rituals, shot by Robbie Lawrence, motorbike culture in Africa and its diasporas by Kwabena Sekyi Appiah-nti and ancient equestrian rituals in Egypt by Dexter Navy. “It’s our most potent edition so far,” Swaid tells me. “I would even go as far as to say our most important.”

While each story in Issue 02 is different, they are all bound by a common thread: love. “Not the kind of love sold to us in slogans. Love as faith. Love as hope. Love as resistance. Love as authenticity. It is a love that asks us to imagine,” Swaid asserts. “One important story is ‘Al Natara’ by photographer Maen Hammad. It’s about the night watchers in Palestine who stay awake to keep their homes from being taken by settlers and IOF soldiers. Maen encountered the IOF while shooting this story; he got a shot of them while he was being questioned.” Within the issue, several politically significant features are highlighted, with another one focusing on queer visibility and safety, particularly in Saudi Arabia. 

“Each issue is a milestone in us furthering our universe and the possibilities of what Dazed MENA is and can be,” Swaid explains. He doesn’t have a favourite cover; it’s too hard to pick, as each represents something special and intentional. However, he does want to spotlight Moore’s cover, which he states is perhaps their most important one. “I remember the day I saw her post about going to Palestine and declaring she had converted to Islam. I wept profusely,” he confesses. “I saw a potent declaration of queerness, faith, beauty and love all embodied by Indya. It struck something deep within me, and it sparked a very important conversation for many of us, both as a team and externally. I had important conversations with my very Muslim father about transgender and queer issues and the interconnectedness of faith and Islam. I wanted to celebrate her for who she is and everything she has always been about, and also to recognise our own complicity. This won’t be the last time we work with her.” 

Dazed MENA issue 02 is out now.