Cold Cuts is an independent publishing and cultural platform documenting queer and oblique cultures in Southwest Asia, North Africa and their diasporas, across photography, film, sound and text. It was founded in 2017 by artist and filmmaker Mohamad Abdouni. Its definition of queerness extends beyond sexuality and gender to include all that is marginal, underground, intimate and often absent from official memory, focusing on subcultures across the region. Cold Cuts works with artists, writers and communities to publish work that is visually bold, politically sharp and rooted in lived experience.

“Documenting an important time in Arab Queer Culture” — It’s Nice That

“Incredibly moving and compelling tales that would have otherwise been lost” — Dazed

“Abdouni is invested in chronicling not only the queer scene’s existence, but also its increasing wilfullness” — The Guardian

“An ambidextrous creative force” — L’Orient Le Jour

“An artistic, cultural and human mission that perfectly documents the queer culture of the Arab world” — Folkr

“This work is more important than ever” — ARTnews

“A different perspective on the Lebanese capital and its current state, exploring its social, cultural, political and religious climate” — Vogue

“Abdouni is making a militant archive in order to found the history of the Lebanese queer community” — Smithsonian Magazine

“A recognition and appreciation of history” — Agenda Culturel

“Abdouni writes the women back into a history that’s long excluded them” — huck