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

  • Debate: "Journalism and Transitions in the Mediterranean" [VO español/inglés]Show video

    Debate: "Journalism and Transitions in the Mediterranean" [VO español/inglés]

    The quarterly journal afkar/ideas (published in French and Spanish by IEMed and Estudios de Política Exterior) has followed change in the Mediterranean throughout the last decade. International journalists and analysts have analyzed the main geostrategic, political, socio-economic and cultural developments in the region in the more than 40 issues which have come off the press since 2003. As of 2011, the journal has applied a journalistic, analytical approach to providing in-depth explanations of the obstacles and successes in the transitions which arose with the Arab Spring. It is a new stage in the region's history which has made clear once again all of the challenges faced by journalism as a profession and by the media. This debate, on the occasion of the journal's tenth anniversary, is an attempt to discuss the key factors in the role played by journalists and the media in the current political era in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East. With the participation of journalists Ethar El-Katatney (Al Jazeera), Carla Fibla (Aish) and Luis de Vega (ABC). More: http://en.casaarabe.es/news/journalism-and-transitions-in-the-mediterranean
    Published at 21 14,,, 14 2014
  • Conference: "The Geometry of Light in the Islamic World", by Sabiha al KhemirShow video

    Conference: "The Geometry of Light in the Islamic World", by Sabiha al Khemir

    On Tuesday, October 29th, Sabiha al Khemir, scientific director and curator of the exhibition Nur: Light in the Art and Science of the Islamic World, offered a conference at our headquarters in Madrid, at which she discussed the symbolism of light (Nur in Arabic) in the artistic contributions of the Muslim world. On the occasion of the official opening of the international exhibition organized by the Focus-Abengoa Foundation, this expert on Islamic art gave the presentation The Geometry of Light. Introduction to the International Exhibition of Art from the Islamic World in Seville: Nur. For more information please visit: http://en.casaarabe.es/news/the-geometry-of-light-in-the-islamic-world
    Published at 10 14,,, 14 2014
  • Conference: "Contemporary Arab Art" and "Mudejar Art in the Americas". [V.O inglés/español]Show video

    Conference: "Contemporary Arab Art" and "Mudejar Art in the Americas". [V.O inglés/español]

    Series of events titled "Amrika: Arabs in the Americas," which Casa Árabe, Casa de América and Casa Mediterráneo are organizing from March 24 through June 11, offering round table discussions, film screenings and conferences to analyze the presence of the Arab world and culture in Latin America. In this context, Princess Wijdan Al Hashemi, President of the Royal Society of Fine Arts Jordan, offers a presentation entitled "Contemporary Arab Art". Followed by Rafael López Guzmán, Professor of Art History, University of Granada with his speech "Mudejar Art in the Americas." More: http://en.casaarabe.es/news/“amrika-arabs-in-the-americas”
    Published at 06 14,,, 14 2014
  • Conferencia: Traducir las sociedades árabes: realidades y desafíos [V.O. francés / español]Show video

    Conferencia: Traducir las sociedades árabes: realidades y desafíos [V.O. francés / español]

    El acto, organizado por Casa Árabe y Transeuropéennes, cuenta con la participación de Franck Mermier, director de investigación del Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Milagros Nuin Monreal, traductora de árabe en la Oficina de Interpretación de Lenguas del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Nathalie Bontemps y Marianne Babut, traductoras, y Pedro Rojo, presidente de la Fundación Al Fanar para el conocimiento árabe. Modera: Bahira Abdulatif, académica y traductora. A más de tres años de la llamada "Primavera árabe", el futuro de las sociedades al sur del Mediterráneo es cuestionado de forma cotidiana. En un contexto en el que la esperanza y la resignación, la comprensión y la incomprensión están entrelazadas, ¿cómo se define nuestra percepción de estas realidades? Más info: http://www.casaarabe.es/eventos-arabes/show/traducir-las-sociedades-arabes-realidades-y-desafios
    Published at 04 26,,, 14 2014
  • Conference by Ilan Pappé: The Semblance of Peace in PalestineShow video

    Conference by Ilan Pappé: The Semblance of Peace in Palestine

    On Monday, May 13, 2013, Ilan Pappe, Director of the European Center for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) gave a conference at Casa Árabe's headquarters in Madrid. The event was presented by Musa Odeh, the Ambassador of Palestine in Spain, and Eduardo López Busquets, the General Director of Casa Árabe. During his conference, Professor Ilan Pappe analyzed the efforts which have been made in the peace process since 1967, focusing his hypothesis on the idea that these efforts have been based on a false paradigm which has ignored the Israeli strategy concerning the Palestinian Territories. Pappe analyzed this viewpoint and the implications it has for the future of the region. This conference, held with the cooperation of the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Spain, has been organized on the day of the Nakba (May 15), the date on which Palestinians commemorate the partition of the Palestinians' territories under the British Mandate in 1948, and their indigenous population was dispersed until today. Ilan Pappe Born in Haifa in 1954, Mr. Pappe is the Director of the European Center for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. He forms part of a group of Israeli academics known for their work on historic revisionism, especially in relation with the events that took place in 1948. He is the author of 15 books, several of which have been translated into Spanish, with the titles La limpieza étnica de Palestina (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Crítica, 2008); Historia de la Palestina moderna: un territorio, dos pueblos (History of Modern Palestine: One Territory, Two Peoples, Akal, 2007); Gaza en Crisis (Gaza in Crisis, with Noam Chomsky, Taurus, 2011). For more information: http://en.casaarabe.es/news/the-semblance-of-peace-in-palestine-2
    Published at 39 12,,, 14 2014