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

Conference: "Tea with Nefertiti"

Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, the co-founders Art reoriented, a multidisciplinary curatorial platform based in Munich and New York, talk about their critically acclaimed exhibition Tea with Nefertiti, currently on show at IVAM, Valencia after a successful run at Mathaf, Doha and IMA, Paris. Through discussing the curatorial premise and methodology behind the show, they highlight the ways through which an artwork acquires different meanings and agencies when it travels through time and place. Through employing the Nefertiti bust as a metaphorical thread, and by interrogating the contested history of Egyptian Museum collections from the 19th century onwards, Bardaouil and Fellrath explore how an artwork can become a tool for the writing of much-contested narratives that serve as frameworks through which an image of another culture can be imagined and consequently fixed. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/news/tea-with-nefertiti-the-creation-of-images-of-culture-through-the-arts

Published at 36 12,,, 14 2014
Conferencia: "En primera persona", por Afif Safieh [V.O inglés/español]

Ponencia inaugural de la Semana de Palestina en Casa Árabe, a cargo de uno de los diplomáticos palestinos más experimentados. Afif Safieh ha servido en las tres capitales de mayor importancia política: Londres, Washington y Moscú. Musa Amer Odeh, embajador de Palestina en España, y Eduardo López Busquets, director general de Casa Árabe, presentan el acto.

Published at 36 12,,, 14 2014
Ministerial Debate Forum on the Future of Tourism in the MENA Region

Casa Árabe and the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) organize a Ministerial Debate Forum on The Future of Tourism in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA according to its acronym in English) with the cooperation of Casa Mediterráneo, as well as the support of IFEMA and Fitur 2014. The forum brings together the Tourism Ministers of the countries which receive the most tourism in the region and will be devoted to analyzing the future prospects of the tourism industry in the region. The official opening is presided over by the State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Gonzalo de Benito Secades, the General Director of Casa Árabe, Eduardo López Busquets, and the Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization, Taleb Rifai. More: http://en.casaarabe.es/news/ministerial-debate-forum-on-the-future-of-tourism-in-the-mena-region-

Published at 36 12,,, 14 2014
Conference: "Microfinance in the Arab World", by Tawfiq Nassar

Conference given by Tawfiq Nassar. Since the earliest experiments carried out in the 1970's to provide small loans to people or groups with few economic resources (usually excluded from the traditional financial system), micro-loans have grown exponentially and have now become a sophisticated industry. However, experiences in the Arab region vary greatly from one country to the next. In terms of products, scale and inclusiveness, microfinancing still has a great deal of potential to be developed in this area. More: www.casaarabe.es/noticias-arabes/show/microfinanzas-en-el-mundo-arabe

Published at 34 12,,, 14 2014
Conference: "New Art Market Scenarios: The Emerging Scene in Saudi Arabia

What characterizes the emerging art scene in the Gulf region? What place does Saudi Arabia hold, and more specifically the cities of Riyadh and Jeddah, in its development? In what direction are the artists, collectors and managers who work in the region looking? Taking advantage of the special moment provided by the ARCO International Contemporary Art Fair and the exhibition by Ayman Yossri in Madrid, Casa Árabe and Madrid's Sabrina Amrani Gallery are organizing a round table discussion with role-players who have first-hand knowledge of this cultural reality, which is not commonly experienced within our country's art scene. Visual artist Ayman Yossri converses with collector Basma Al Sulaiman, the founder of Basmoca, Saudi Arabia's first virtual art museum, and with Sara Raza, an art curator and expert on art from Central Asia and the Middle East, with a great deal of experience in the Gulf region. More: en.casaarabe.es/news/new-art-market-scenarios-the-emerging-scene-in-saudi-arabia

Published at 34 12,,, 14 2014