1. Conferences and debates

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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

#ArabSpring four years later. Session 2

Seminar on “Citizen entrepreneurship, political participation and artistic expression among Arab youths.” SESSION 2: PROJECTS AND ECONOMIC INITIATIVES “The businesspeople of the revolution.” Samir Karam, entrepreneur and founder of Startup Megaphone “Creating jobs amid the crisis.” Youssef Fennira, project leader, Tunisian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry “The State’s fragmented economies and society.” Adil Sadoq, an expert on microfinance and field project manager, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) Moderated by: Olivia Orozco, Casa Árabe’s Training, Economics and Governance Coordinator. More information: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/arabspring-cuatro-anos-despues

Published at 02 17,,, 15 2015
#ArabSpring four years later. Session 1

Seminar on “Citizen entrepreneurship, political participation and artistic expression among Arab youths.” SESSION 1: PARTICIPATION AND POLITICAL DIALOGUE “New forms of participation and objection.” Zied Boussen, member of Jeunes Démocrates Indépendants (Tunisia). “Religious and political movements.” Nader Hashemi, director of the Center for Middle East Studies and an associate professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. “The fourth and decisive branch of power: the media.” Fátima El-Issawi, a researcher at the Middle East Centre of the London School of Economics The event will be presented and moderated by Karim Hauser, who is responsible for the Governance Area at Casa Árabe. More information: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/arabspring-cuatro-anos-despues

Published at 01 17,,, 15 2015
#ArabSpring four years later. OPENING SPEECH

Seminar on “Citizen entrepreneurship, political participation and artistic expression among Arab youths.” OPENING SPEECH The people’s entrepreneurial spirit and the future of the Arab Spring. Maryam Jamshidi, lawyer and political scientist, Muftah.org More information: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/arabspring-cuatro-anos-despues

Published at 59 17,,, 15 2015
Journeys of the music from Al-Andalus

Casa Árabe has organized this “illustrated conference”, as its performers refer to it, in order to provide music lovers and fans with some of the keys to understanding what the musical legacy from Al-Andalus consists of and why it is so closely linked to our history. With the help of Luis Delgado and César Carazo, we will take a musical tour whose starting point lies in the origins of Arab music and its journey to the Iberian Peninsula. We will become familiar with the main schools existing today in the Maghreb, the characteristic instruments, and the classical and modern performers. More information: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/los-viajes-de-la-musica-andalusi

Published at 53 17,,, 15 2015
Medios de comunicación y transición en Oriente Medio (ENG)

Conferencia a cargo de Ayman Mhanna, director ejecutivo de la Fundación Samir Kassir, celebrada el 6 de marzo de 2015 en la sede de Casa Árabe en Madrid. En ella, Mhanna analiza la situación actual de los medios de comunicación en los países de Oriente Medio, su papel en las primaveras árabes, así como su cobertura del conflicto Sirio y del Estado Islámico (EI). Más información: http://www.casaarabe.es/eventos-arabes/show/medios-de-comunicacion-y-transicion-en-oriente-medio

Published at 51 12,,, 15 2015