1. Conferences and debates

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Aula Árabe 3.16. Post-Petroleum Museum and soft power, between crisis and “second life” Play

Aula Árabe 3.16. Post-Petroleum Museum and soft power, between crisis and “second life”

Published at 59 22,,, 22 2022
On Monday 28 March, the sixteenth conference of the Aula Árabe Universitaria programme will take place in Madrid, given by the art curator Morad Montazami. The session will also be available on Casa Árabe's Youtube channel in Spanish and English. After the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, the National Museum of Iraq was looted in 2003. In the ensuing chaos, over fifteen thousand items were stolen from Baghdad's collections of ancient artefacts, not even counting pieces pilfered from archaeological sites in the vicinity. 16 years after the theft, more than half the loot has since been tracked down, recovered and returned to the museum's collection, where the items can now be viewed by the Iraqi public. The first photographs of the damage show Iraq's pre-Islamic cosmopolitan heritage (Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian etc.) reduced to dust and ashes. In enlightening contrast, the “digitized” version of Mesopotamia and pre-Islamic arts at the Louvre Abu Dhabi represents a reenacting mirror of that archaeological heritage. Crossing the looks of archaeologists, 3D engineers, as well as the customs agents who contributed in recovering the objects, how can we account for soft power museums and nomadic collections in this critical context ? The curator, editor and art historian Morad Montazami will be giving this conference, organised by Casa Árabe in collaboration with the Degree in History of Art and the Master's Degree in History of Spanish Art, UCM. Presented by Susana Calvo, lecturer in History of Art at the university. Moderated by Nuria Medina, Casa Árabe's Cultural Programmes Coordinator. Morad Montazami is an art historian, a publisher and a curator. As director of the platform Zamân Books & Curating, he is committed to transnational studies of Arab, Asian and African modernities. He published several essays on artists such as Zineb Sedira, Walid Raad, Latif al-Ani, Bahman Mohassess, Michael Rakowitz, Éric Baudelaire... He was a curator for Bagdad Mon Amour, Institut des cultures d’Islam, Paris, 2018; New Waves: Mohamed Melehi and the Casablanca Art School, The Mosaic Rooms, London; MACAAL, Marrakech; Alserkal Foundation, Dubai, 2019-2020; Monaco-Alexandria. The Great Detour. World-Capitals and Cosmopolitan Surrealism, Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, 2022. Photo: Joanne Farchakh-Bajjaly, National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad: the looted museum, 2003. Copyright JFB Further information: https://en.casaarabe.es/event/post-petroleum-museum-and-soft-power-between-crisis-and-“second-life”-from-the-iraqi-national-museum-of-baghdad-to-the-louvre-abu-dhabi Credits for the images shown in the presentation: Alessandro Balteo-Yazbeckin collaboration withMedia Farzin.Detailof Alexander Calder’sperformingmobile Orange Fish (1946) atthe TehranMuseum of ContemporaryArt, 2008. Fromthe series‘Cultural Diplomacy: An Art WeNeglect’ (detail), 2007–09. Photo:Ehsan Behmanesh.CourtesyofGalerie Martin Janda, Vienna Collection Petite Planète, éd. Seuil, numéro Iran, 1957 Design graphique et concept de Chris Marker M. Nakhai, Le Pétrole en Iran, éd. Félix, 1938 Anonymes, Faculté des Beaux-arts de l’Université de Téhéran occupé par les groupes étudiants marxistes, 1970-1980 modernité Musée de la Défense sacrée, Téhéran, 2014, Photo Sajed Avini Musée de la Défense sacrée, Téhéran, 2014, Photo Sajed Avini Joanne Farchakh-Bajjaly, Pillages du Musée de Bagdad, 2003 Catalogue du Musée de Bagdad, Département des antiquités, 1975-1976 Catalogue du Musée de Bagdad, Département des antiquités, 1975-1976 (salle centrale) LostTreasuresfromIraq database, Universityof Chicago, Oriental Institute, 2003-2008 Vues d’exposition Bagdad mon amour, Institut des cultures d’Islam, Paris, 2018 LatifAl Ani (Irak), HatjeCantz, 2017 LatifAl Ani, publié dans Iraq Petroleum, années 1970 LatifAl Ani (Irak), HatjeCantz, 2017 Mohamed Melehi, Biennale de Bagdad, 1974 JilaDejam, TehranMuseum of ContemporaryArt, Iran, 1977-1979 Louvre Abu Dhabi, Emirats Arabes Unis, 2017- Manifestation contrele mal logementdevantle muséedu Louvre, Paris, 2019

ALL VIDEOS IN THIS CATEGORY

  • IV Arab-Christian Day: Christian archeology on the Arabian PeninsulaShow video

    IV Arab-Christian Day: Christian archeology on the Arabian Peninsula

    Conference given on April, 13th at Casa Árabe in Madrid, by Julie Bonnéric, a researcher at the French Near East Institute (IFPO)
    Published at 53 19,,, 16 2016
  • IV Arab-Christian Day: Christian tradition in the Gulf countries. Conference on "Christianity today"Show video

    IV Arab-Christian Day: Christian tradition in the Gulf countries. Conference on "Christianity today"

    Conference given on April, 13th at Casa Árabe in Madrid, by Michael O’Sullivan, Financial Administrator at the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia on "Christianity today"
    Published at 48 18,,, 16 2016
  • Islam and Politics: Mythological constructs, past customs and current practices (French)Show video

    Islam and Politics: Mythological constructs, past customs and current practices (French)

    Casa Árabe and Casa de Velázquez have organized this conference with a view to analyzing the political changes in the Middle East since the Arab Springs. Both directors, Pedro Villena, the General Director of Casa Árabe and Michel Bertrand, the director of the Casa de Velázquez participated in this round table along with Makram Abbes, a professor of political philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon; Nabil Mouline, a professor and researcher at the Institut d'Études Politiques in Paris; Karima Dirèche, director of the Institut de Recherche sur le Maghreb Contemporain (IRMC) in Tunisia, and Éric Gobe, a researcher with the Institut de Recherche sur le Maghreb Contemporain (IRMC). More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/islam-and-politics-mythological-constructs-past-customs-and-current-practices
    Published at 47 14,,, 16 2016
  • Arts and Culture: shelter or reflection? (SP/ENG/FR)Show video

    Arts and Culture: shelter or reflection? (SP/ENG/FR)

    Casa Árabe hosted a round table on the role of artists and cultural producers from the Arab world with regards to the current affairs affecting the region. With the participation of Zineb Sedira, artist and founder of ARIA (Artist Residency in Algiers); Ammer Abo Bakr, street artist; Rachida Triki, art critic, curator and Professor specialized in Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art; and Nuria Medina, coordinator of Culture at Casa Árabe. This round table frocused on the role of artists and cultural producers from the Arab world with regards to the current affairs and uncertainties that are affecting the region. We tryed to seek answers to questions such as: where do we stand today, after five years of Arab uprising?; what are the most important issues affecting cultural institutions and artists across the region?; which are the perspectives for the youth, and among them, many artists? Although obstacles, extremism and censorship are increasing and affecting many critical intellectuals and artists in some countries, are there signals of a cultural revolution happening behind the headlines? In this regard, how determinant is being the technological change and global connection? In this context of change and instability, how artists and cultural producers deal with the tradition and memory of their cultures? More information: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/arts-and-culture-shelter-or-reflection
    Published at 40 25,,, 16 2016
  • Arab Dawn: Arab youth and the demographic dividend they will bringShow video

    Arab Dawn: Arab youth and the demographic dividend they will bring

    Conference given by Bessma Momani, associate professor of the Political Science Department at the University of Waterloo. During the event, Momani was accompanied by Haizam Amirah Fernández, main researcher for the Mediterranean and Arab World at the Real Instituto Elcano, and Leila Nachawati, a professor of Communication at the Universidad Carlos III of Madrid and co-founder of the portal Syria Untold. The event was presented by Karim Hauser, who is responsible for the Governance Area at Casa Árabe. Though it may seem implausible to some readers, despite the wave of negative news reaching us from the Middle East and North Africa, many youths who went out in the streets to demonstrate in 2011 continue to campaign for change. Their efforts seldom make it into the Western news, but there are stories which demonstrate the will of these generations to continue transforming the societies in which they live, from Saudi women publishing YouTube videos of themselves driving in Riyadh to an Egyptian television star exposing cultural hypocrisy by using hidden cameras. They are much less dramatic stories than the downfall of a dictator at the hands of the raging masses, but they may end up having a greater social impact. Though the wars in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq lead some to see nothing but a lost generation, the Arab world today is an undeniable source of creativity. In her book Arab Dawn, Momani challenges negative stereotypes of the region and proposes a series of positive changes, as well as discussing the hidden potential of Arab youths. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/arab-dawn-arab-youth-and-the-demographic-dividend-they-will-bring
    Published at 26 28,,, 16 2016