Where to be this Christmas in the Middle East

What can be said about Christmas and the holiday season that hasn't already been said a million times? Everyone is frustrated by the traffic, obnoxious music and overpriced events and restaurants.

Yet, in true Lebanese fashion (Stockholm Syndrome), we still make the effort to do it all.

Unlike the holiday drama, you’re under no obligation to participate in this week’s events. But like the holidays themselves, they’re well worth the effort.

Every Thursday, L’Orient Today, in partnership with The MYM Agenda, guides you through events across the Middle East that are actually worth your time.

What to do this weekend in Beirut:

Armenian artists are in the spotlight at Aramé Art Gallery's collective exhibition, “The Art of Celebration,” now showing at its Zaitunay Bay branch.

The pieces are curated to turn the artists' inner monologues into screams, translating their divergent stories of love and identity into bold, colorful paintings.

While some invite you to look deeper ("What did the artist mean?), others ask you not to take yourself that seriously, keeping you guessing.

For more information, click here.

If you're still looking for last-minute gifts (no shame), Gemspace in Gemmayzeh is featuring over 50 mural artworks and 80 artistic projects for its Christmas show “L'Art en Fete."

Artists from Beirut Boutique and Artists of Beirut have picked their best paintings, photographs, collages, mosaics, digital art, sculptures and decorative objects in ceramics, wood, fabric, metal and paper-mâché to make your life easier.

For more information, click here.

What to do this weekend in Manama:

Art Center Bahrain is asking you to listen to "The Sound of Water," translated from liquid to audio by multimedia artists from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Inspired by water as a universal language, the exhibition thrives through the artists' diverse styles and techniques.

For more information, click here.

What to do this weekend in Cairo:

Abstract painter Moataz Kamal is exhibiting "Uninhabitable" this weekend at Samah Art Gallery. While many argue that our planet is the only one suitable for life because of the order brought to us by its various natural elements, Kamal instead revels in its chaos, attempting to bring all facets of life together into one big, uninhabitable canvas.

For more information, click here.

What to do this weekend in Abu Dhabi:

Opera speaks Arabic in "Antar wa Abla," now showing at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi.

Reimagined as an authentic grand opera by Lebanese composer Nadim Tarabay, the legendary Arab love story is transformed into a new experience that matches its scale and drama.

For more information, click here. For our deep dive into the performance, click here.

Didn't find what you were looking for? Stay up to date with all these events and more everywhere in the Arab world through the MYM Agenda, available on our website here.