The sophomore Dazed MENA 100 list has arrived – and it is as exciting as it is disruptive. Carefully selecting the most innovative, provocative creatives, those with their ear to the ground and finger on the pulse, the list, curated by Dazed MENA’s editorial team, champions those redefining change in their own cadence.
Featuring fashion designers, experimental filmmakers, and youth collectives across the SWANA region, our list pans from the Rick Rubin of Saudi thrifting, to Grammy-nominated cinematographers, we have artists who produce work on wigs and out of used make-up, with writers whose words move far beyond the page. What our 100 creatives have in common – they tell their stories, their way.
From the visionary behind Mamdani’s monumental campaign visuals, to beloved digital platforms archiving and uncovering histories across Syria, Libya and more – this list is not exhaustive: it’s a careful, curated selection of individuals and groups whose work sidesteps the tired tropes that stifle art and raw change-making.
Carrying forward from our inaugural list, this list moves forward a movement that ensures the celebration and advancement of creatives who, in changing times and landscapes, continue to refuse, resist and re-imagine.
