Straddling a cultural divide

Open a copy of the new arts and fashion magazine Skin and you'll see Iranian photographer Shirin Neshat's Women of Allah photo series alongside an article about the Traina sisters, the socialite daughters of Danielle Steele.

The stark contrast between photos of veiled Muslim women and those of champagne-swilling, scantily clad debutantes is odd, but purposeful.

"We wanted to do that whole crossing borders thing where you're bridging the gap not just between West and East but between countries in this region, because there are so many divides culturally and religiously," said Alia Abu Nowar, 27, the magazine's editor in chief.

Published in Amman, Jordan, Skin is aimed squarely at readers in the Muslim world who want their arts and fashion coverage to be a little bit more about them, but still relevant to the world.

"There's a sort of divide between West and East; there's a real tension there. But at the same time, there's so much interest. There's a fascination, and I think we could be tapping into that in a really positive way," said Nowar.

According to Nowar, the goal is to showcase Middle Eastern artists and creative types, as well as bring the best of Western fashion and design to readers in the region. While fashion magazines such as Vogue are available in Amman, they are expensive and sometimes hard for Middle Eastern women to identify with, Nowar said.

The hefty 250-page first issue of Skin features a tribute to Moustafa Akkad, the filmmaker who was killed in a recent terror bombing; photos of fashion week in New York and London; and a profile of Lebanese-Canadian installation artist Marya Kazoun. A literary section excerpts the works of three Middle Eastern authors.

As with any publication intended for distribution in the Middle East, Skin will have to battle not only censorship, but regional taboos.

"There are issues of censorship in the region to contend with, and eventually we'd like to be able to publish two issues, one for the West and the slightly more liberal countries, like Lebanon, but when we publish in Saudi Arabia, we won't be able to have the same content," Nowar said.

For now, the magazine targets more liberal Arab nations, with distribution in Jordan, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates and Iraq. The magazine plans to expand its distribution to London in six months, and the West later. But even in more liberal Arab countries, showing the female form can be quite contentious, especially on the fashion pages.

New York-based fashion editor Ishraq Zraikat (the magazine also has fashion editors in London and Beirut) says she's betting that readers will be able to handle the photo spreads. "I'm hoping readers will be mature enough to realize that the way you show things is not about women, but about the photo shoot," said Zraikat.

Nonetheless, she's heard from some readers who were taken aback by the content.

"I've had comments from someone who felt a little bit uncomfortable in looking at the magazine because they were expecting it to be a little bit more conservative in the models," Zraikat said, describing an exchange with a woman who is an architect and wears the hijab, the traditional Muslim woman's head scarf. "But sometimes it's about beautiful images and beautiful fashion, it's not about us saying, 'This is how we think women should behave in public.'"

So what's in the name?

"The word skin suggests the surface of things. It is the common element in fashion, art and design, the outer layer, form and appearance, identity." Nowar said. "It also has a human and cultural element to it, as in ethnicity."

Ethnicity is something Nowar has a unique perspective on. Half-Jordanian and half-British, Nowar is a product of the two worlds her magazine hopes to capture.

"I've lived in both countries; I've been brought up two different ways, with two different religions, and I've really benefited from it." Nowar said. "I've always taken the good from both and I think that's really what's behind Skin, is that we're trying to see people in both worlds."