A Symposium of Cultural and Academic Exchange
Over the course of the 20th century, cultural activity in Iraq has encompassed a full range of expressions, but two major arenas have played an important role in defining the country’s arts: resistance and memory.
Iraqi artists, writers and musicians have often chronicled or creatively represented many forms of resistance to the catastrophic experiences of imperialism, totalitarianism, and military occupation which have defined the modern experience of Iraq. Whether as voices of marginalized communities or as part of a cultural vanguard, Iraqi artists have often found themselves as the personification of resistance, as much as political or religious leaders have. At the same time, cultural activity in Iraq has provided the framework for the preservation of social memory, in the face of successive systems that have been dedicated to the erasure of aspects of that memory.
In this way, cultural activity in Iraq has often been a significant reservoir for the remembrance of the past, when official systems or encompassing catastrophes have led to the destruction of artifacts, archives and other elements constituent of memory.
This symposium aims to be an opportunity to present dialogue and discussion between cultural producers and scholars on the theme of “Iraq, Resistance, Memory”. Prominent cultural figures will present short talks on aspects of their own work or the work of other Iraqi cultural figures, in discussion with scholars and critics with an expertise in modern Iraq.
Anticipated participants will include Sinan Antoon, Saadi Youssef, Gulala Nouri, Hussain al-Mozany, Rasoul Saghir, Betool Kheidari, Kamran Rastegar, Lamia al-Gailani, Stephan Milich, Najde al-Ali, Amal al-Khedairi and Marilyn Booth.
Schedule of speakers
9.00-9.30 Coffee
9.30-9.45 Introduction and welcome, Kamran Rastegar
Panel 1. Visual Culture
9.45-12.00
Maysoon Pachachi, “Open Shutters Iraq”
Lamia Al-Gailan, “The Private Photographic Archive of Iraq’s Royal Family”
James Longley, “Filmmaking: ‘Iraq in Fragments’”
Rashad Selim, “The Post-invasion Iraqi Art Scene: “Mapping” Formal and Informal Networks Inside and Out of Iraq”
Panel Chair: Kamran Rastegar
12.00-1.00 lunch
Panel 2. Poetry
1.00-3.00
Stephan Milich, “The Dialectic of History and Memory in the Poetry of Kamal Sabti (1955-2006)”
Gulala Nouri, “The Vision of Iraqi Poets of Iraq’s Last War, in Comparison to the American Vision”
Rasoul Saghir “On Iraqi Poetry and Theatre (title TBA)”
Panel Chair: Marilyn Booth
3.00-3.15 coffee break
Panel 3. Resistance and Memory
3.30-5.30
Hussain al-Mozany, “Unwelcome Return”
Sinan Antoon, “Iraq, Mourning and Nostalgia”
Saadi Youssef “On Culture in an Occupied Country”
Panel Chair: Stephan Milich
5.30-5.45 – Concluding remarks, Marilyn Booth
For more information please visit the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies website: http://www.imes.ed.ac.uk
This is a free event but if you would like to attend please RSVP m.ghorbankarimi@sms.ed.ac.uk