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Introduction

workshops and talks held

on-line documentation of a selection of the objects, stories and images

WORKSHOPS & TALKS

Friday 14th March, 7.30-9pm
Kurdish music
Hussein Zahawy
An introduction to Kurdish music and its rhythm, form and tonality and the differences within the various forms of music. Hussein is the musical director of both the Living Fire Ensemble, which brought musicians from all over Kurdistan with the aim of uniting the many diverse regional musical style, and the Zahawy ensemble. He is currently studying ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Saturday 15th March, 3-5pm
Music performance and workshop
Ahmed Mukhtar
A workshop dealing with the historical background of the Oud, which is considered to be the most important instrument in Arabic music. He will suggest a few simple tips for playing the Oud and general appreciation of the instrument. Mukhtar is an Oud player and composer. He studied at the Institute of Fine Art in Baghdad. He has been a performer and teacher for ten years and has performed in the Middle East and London, Paris, Vienna and Geneva and many other European cities. His playing evokes the cafes, alleys and minarets of Baghdad.

Sunday 16th March, 3-4.30pm
Cinema and screening of extracts
Ziad Al-Khuza'l
He will be speaking about the history and development of Iraqi cinema with a political analysis of the various trends. Ziad is a film critic and is working for Al Hayat Newspaper and Al-Wasat Magazine. He writes extensively about Arabic Cinema. His first book is called The Preview; Aspects of Short Arabic Film and Cinema of the Video, published in 2001. He was also the head of the jury of the Independent Arabic Cinema Festival, 2000.

Sunday 16th March, 5-5.30pm
Music performance and songs
Sahira Hussain
Sahira will perform traditional Iraqi songs and play the Oud. She is a graduate of Baghdad University and was a member of a band called Iraqi Babylon. She studied the Oud from 1995. From 1990 until now she has performed in countries in Europe and the Middle East.

Friday 21st March, 7.30-8.30pm
A talk on Iraqi poetry
Fadhil Assultani
Fadhil will be comparing modern Iraqi poetry with Arabic, English and French poetry in his talk and discussion. He is a poet and journalist and is currently editor of the literary section of Ashsharq Al-Awsat newspaper. He has published 3 books of poetry and translated several books of poetry and short stories. He also translated an anthology of British Poetry 1950-2000, which is to be published this year.

Friday 21st March, 8.30-9pm
A talk on Iraqi literature
Haifa Zangana
Haifa will look at the social and political role of the Iraqi writers in exile and in Iraq. She is a writer who has published three novels and four collections of short stories. She edited Halabja, a collection from Iraqi and Arab writers and poets condemning the massacre committed against the Kurds in 1988. She is a co-founder of Act Together.

Sunday 23rd March, 2-3.30pm
A talk on architecture in Iraq
Maysoon Al-Damluji
This workshop will discuss the anonymous architects who, throughout the history of Iraq, have designed ziggurats, mosques, public buildings, private dwellings and shops in the desire to create their ideal cities. Maysoon is a practicing architect, a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a graduate of the Architectural Association in London and Baghdad University Department of Architecture.

Sunday 23rd March, 4-6pm
Printmaking workshop
Rashad Salim
Printmaking using cylinder seals, a method used since early Mesopotamian civilization. He is interested in a dialogue between this analogue art form and contemporary digital art.

Saturday 29th March, 3-4.15pm
Calligraphy workshop
Khulood Da'ami
A discussion about the central role of calligraphy amongst Iraq artists and practical calligraphy workshop. Khulood is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad. She has lived and worked in London since 1983. She has contributed to many group exhibitions as well as her own one woman exhibitions as a ceramist. She has work displayed in the public collections of the British Museum, and National Gallery of Jordan.

Saturday 29th March, 4.30-5.30pm
A talk on Arab Marsh Lands, reed boats and the future.
Rashad Salim
A talk on the now near extinct Arab Marsh Lands, the reed boats that are used for transport and the future of the communities there. Rashad is a graphic artist and sculptor. He studies fine art at Baghdad University and St Martin's School of Art (London). His artwork relates directly or indirectly to Mesopotamian culture.