Stack Awards: The Outpost

The winner of the Subscribers’ Choice category in last year’s Stack Awards was The Outpost, a Beirut-based ‘magazine of possibilities’ that looks at the opportunities of a changing Arab world.

Nine months in, entries for this year’s awards are now open. We look back with The Outpost founder Ibrahim Nehme on their highlights of 2016 so far, while they make a prediction ahead of the Stack Awards this year.

Where is your Stack Award now?
On my desk at home in Beirut. My desk overlooks the abandoned Tapline building. The building once housed an oil and gas conglomerate that flourished before the Lebanese Civil War. It’s located in the Hamra district of Beirut, which is the cultural and intellectual nerve-centre of the city.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFEV5XIgF7s/?taken-by=eebz

What have you been doing since last year’s awards?
I took a German course. Germany is one of our biggest markets and I’ve been also been spending a lot of time in Berlin, as it’s where our printer and distributor are based. All of these were enough reasons to get me started. Then I stumbled upon an article that talked about how learning a new language re-wires the brain, which sort of sealed the deal!

I met incredible people. I’m really always meeting incredible people, whether on the plane or on the dance floor, not to mention our writers, contributors and readers. Each incredible in their own way, but I think the common thread is that they’re free spirits trying to make this world a better place. If I were to choose one, I think it would be 90-year-old Lebanese poet, artist, and philosopher Etel Adnan (above) whom I interviewed in Paris in February.

I gave a workshop to a group of students in Miami, which was so inspiring. We tried to imagine how the future might look like post-capitalism.

I worked on my first publication in Arabic (above), which will be released with our new issue next month.

And I’ve started learning how to make electronic music and am currently tinkering with Abelton.

Which magazine should win the Subscribers’ Choice Stack Award this year?
I think we won the subscribers’ choice award because our Body issue was a package of surprise, which resonated with the subscribers, especially those who were new to the magazine. So based on that criteria — surprise — I would select a magazine that was such a pleasant surprise when I first encountered it: Benji Knewman.

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Entries are now open for the Stack Awards 2016 – head over to our awards page for all you need to know about taking part