The International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA)’s new Dialogues series brings together scholars and practitioners from across varied disciplines for a discussion of critical contemporary issues that interrogate the boundaries between architecture, art, anthropology, archaeology, and history. The inaugural instalment, held as a webinar hosted by IJIA Assistant Editor Hala Auji (EUME Fellow 2021/22) in January of 2021, brought together video artists and filmmakers Ali Cherri (Beirut/Paris) and Panos Aprahamian (Beirut). The conversation addressed the intersections between art, film, history, and heritage in the contemporary socio-political contexts of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Armenia. This contribution is an edited excerpt from the original conversation.