23 Quotes by Frédéric Martel‏

Gay life in Amman, as in Havana, Damascus, Tehran, Riyadh, Cairo, Mumbai, and Beijing, is a marginal, dangerous, and marvelous underground counterculture: a fear and a promise. The phrase “one thousand and one nights” has never seemed to me both so unsettling—and so gay-friendly.

Let my pussy free.” On a sign, I also read: “Gay Pride sent to Siberia in chains” (an allusion to one of Pussy Riot’s punk prayers).

Culture has become one of the last elements of our identity. We have to act in favor of cultural diversity abroad as well as at home, we need strong cultural diplomacy but we have to create it.

Today, nobody cares about European culture. We have a tradition, a vision, a culture of the past, we have legacy, but we don’t have a present culture and we don’t have a future.

There is no debate whether we need a cultural policy or not. We do need it, but there are different ways of doing it.