For Sharjah Biennial 12, Chimurenga continues its research on FESTAC 77, the 2nd World Festival of Black and African Arts and Culture in Lagos (1977), developing a special Arabic edition of the Chronic that addresses ‘Afro-Arab relations and trans-Saharan exchanges’. Arguably the largest cultural event ever organised in postcolonial Africa, FESTAC 77 serves as a historical touchstone for the special issue, which spans an era of optimism and new alignments in the 1960s and 1970s, the rise of petro-states and the deployment of wealth-power through culture, and present-day uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Ghana and Senegal.

This Arabic language edition of the Chronic – Chimurenga's quarterly gazette that covers current events, art, literature, food and sport – launched as part of Sharjah Biennial 12 and was distributed in the United Arab Emirates and North Africa. Contributors include, Andrew Apter, Rasheed Araeen, Sophia Azeb, Ziad Bentahar, Mongo Beti, Nisreen Kaj, Jamal Mahjoub, Dominique Malaquais, Hassan Marsh, Marcia Lynx Qualey, Rayanne Tabet, Cédric Vincent, Helmi Sharawy Wendell and more.