ARK and UCL invitation to meeting of Iraqi artists

ARK: A Space in Ealing

Top Flat / Acton Town Hall / High Street / London W3 6NE

Tel: 0208 75 207 75 email: yousifark@yahoo.co.uk, www.arkspace.org.uk/ark

 Art, war and peace: responses to Iraq

Saturday 9/2/2013 ( 2 - 4pm )

How have artists and art institutions in the UK and beyond responded to the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq? How we might think about the entanglement of art, war and peace in light of these responses?

We would like to invite you to join a discussion of Iraqi artists who will discuss these issues at the Ark on 2-4pm Saturday 9th February, in preparation for a day-long set of talks, workshops and panels at the Mosaic Rooms in London, in which you are also invited to participate. The event, which will take place on Friday 22nd March 2013, will provide a platform for artists to talk about their own practice, and for artists, curators and writers to reflect on the broader issues raised by the responses of artists and art institutions to the war.

What themes and topics could this event address and develop? What kinds of workshops would allow a wider audience to explore these themes? Which curators, writers and commentators might be involved in the discussions? We would like the discussion group to consider these and other questions and to help formulate the programme. Attached is a short paper that provides some background for the discussions.

We suggest meeting to discuss and develop these issues in advance of the event at Mosaic Rooms, which will form part of the Reel Iraq festival of film, literature and music running from 21st-24th March. Previous Reel Festivals have highlighted the culture of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon and have received national press coverage. The discussions of the group and on the day itself will be reflected in a short report, and we will explore possibilities for publishing a roundtable discussion in an online forum such as the Arab Review, Jadaliyya or Ibraaz.

The project is supported by the Ark Artist Space, Mosaic Rooms, the Reel Iraq festival and University College London (UCL), which is contributing funding to facilitate public engagement in these issues in the period surrounding the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Please let us know if you are interested in taking part and, if you wish, your initial thoughts on the above questions. We look forward to hearing from you.

Dr Alan Ingram (UCL) and Yousif Naser (the Ark)

The event will take place at the ARK premises : Top Flat / Acton Town Hall / High Street / London W3 6NE Buses : 7, E3 ,70 , 207 , 266 , 427 , 607 . Over ground Acton Central . Under ground : Acton Town For more information you can call : 0208 7520775 or 07943785223