SYRIA – A DAY BETWEEN CULTURE/S AND FACTS
CABARET VOLTAIRE
November 25th, 12 am – 10 pm

During our second event visual impressions of current artistic works from Syria, such as videos, cartoons, graffiti and illustrations will be displayed digitally on screens. The artist duo Germann/Lorenzi from Zurich outlines a map of Syria without drawing a defined final stroke according to geopolitical and ethnic borders. They rather investigate the fraying, the blind spots and the mental landscape. The presentations will give an insight into the complexity of the Syrian way of thinking, creating and living. Taking into account an Egyptian perspective and position will broaden the context. Private initiatives are often more flexible than institutions and organisations. The approaches differ. Two positions pursue an objective. Finally, to round of the day, which will offer time for discussions and talks besides the exhibition and presentations, a scenographic documentary investigates the influence of the ruling Baath Party on education and self-perception.

HANGING
mapping Syria, by Germann/Lorenzi, Zürich

DIGITAL EXHIBITION
– Video clips by Abou Naddara, video and film workshop
– Video animation by Dani Abo Louh, film and theatre director and Mohamed Omran, painter, sculptor
– Illustrations and drawings by Sulafa Hijazi, a.o. director, producer, writer of educational children series
– Random images – visual messages from social media

TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS

1.30 pm Welcome
1.40 – 2.25 pm A revolution seen from an inner perspective
Odai Alzoubi, Ph.D. candidate for philosophy
2.30 – 3.15 pm From Egypt to Syria and back
Battuta, Muhammed Radwan, engineer, activist and social media entrepreneur from Cairo.

Break

3.45 – 4.30 pm Work that should effectuate a difference in others’ lives
Reto Rufer, Amnesty International, Switzerland
4.35 – 5.20 pm From the Limmat to the Euphrates, a personal story
Ziad Malki, economist
5.25 – 5.50 pm Artistic and activist strategies during the revolution
Bissane Al Charif, film and theatre scenographer

Open Discussion and Break

7.00 – 8.00 pm Film, short introduction by Ziad Malki
Flood in the Baath Country, 2003, colour, 48min, Arabic, with English subtitles
by Omar Amiralay, Syrian documentary filmmaker, 1944 – 5 Feb. 2011 
an approach to examine the influence of the Baath Party in Syria
Courtesy http://www.proactionfilm.com

Open discussion and bar until 10 pm

Concept and realization: Rayelle Niemann, Cordula Bieri/GsoA
Translation: Edmond Alkhal, Ziad Malki, Ashraf Osman
Technical support: Robin Angst / Pastry: Le Mur
Grafic design: Moiré. Marc Kappeler

Admission CHF 15 / 10

Just like one year has to end for another to begin, new beginnings often mean new endings, as well. I have finally handed over the reins of PhillyPoetry.com, and the new administrator of the site, Sherone, has kindly featured me as the Spotlight Artist of the month.

Thank you, Sherone, for that, and for taking on this labor of love. I wish you the best of luck with the site in the New Year & beyond! And I kindly ask all of you to continue to use and support the site so that poetry may continue to flourish in Philadelphia.

I’ll be showing some of my artwork (wax collage / conceptual sculpture / video installation) tomorrow at the PhilaNOMA 2nd Annual Art Expo and Networking Event. That’ll be at Triumph Brewery in Old City; so you can grab some good locally grown organic food and a couple of their great craft beers, as well, while you’re there:

PHILANOMA ART EXPO 2010
@ 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Triumph Brewing Company (2nd Flr Gallery)
117 Chestnut Street – Philadelphia, PA 19106

 

This unique exhibition showcases works of art created by some of Philadelphia’s finest urban architects, artists, photographers, graphic artists, fashion and interior designers.

Enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres while networking amongst entrepreneurs and artistic individuals from various professions. There will be something for all art lovers to enjoy, including photography, illustration, paintings, poetry, fashion and more! COME to browse, buy or just mingle amongst friends…

Happy hour drink specials are available until 9:30pm.

MAKE SURE TO RSVP!
Admission is $5 donation* at the door WITH EVENTBRITE RSVP.

*Proceeds from this event will help benefit PhilaNOMA’s CAMP Sustain.Ability program for 8th & 9th grade students interested in architecture. Visit http://philanoma.noma.net for more information.

I hope you can make it!

Since I haven’t been very active in the Philadelphia poetry circles recently, I’ve been thinking of handing over the Philly Poetry website, calendar and Facebook group to someone else who’s more involved these days. And as readers of this blog, I thought I’d offer you this opportunity and see if any of you would be interested in taking it on.

The calendar and the website are still the no. 1 & 2 search results on Google for “Philadelphia poetry”, so they get some decent exposure. I currently pay $30 every 6 months for the web-hosting of the site (along with my own personal site, through 1&1). I have ads on it, but I have to say I have yet to collect any revenue from them. We can figure out how to transfer the hosting of the site and other details, if you’re interested. Let me know…

The Wilma Theater presents the world premiere of Yussef El Guindi’s LANGUAGE ROOMS, March 3 – April 4, a riveting dark comedy directed by Blanka Zizka about misguided patriotism and the true meaning of ‘loyalty.’

Tickets start at $36, and the Wilma offers discounts for students and those in their 20s. Get $5 off full price tickets with code “Al Bustan” (not valid on Sat or Opening nights, cannot be combined with any other offer or applied to tickets previously purchased).
Click here to read an interview with playwright Yussef El Guindi who is of Egyptian heritage.

Thanks to Al Bustan!
Parental advisory: thematic content not appropriate for children.

A new book by a former (and favorite) professor of mine, the wonderful Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab, has recently been published by Columbia University Press: Contemporary Arab Thought: Cultural Critique in Comparative Perspective

The book is a study of contemporary Arab debates on culture. It examines the analyses presented by prominent Arab thinkers in the second half of the twentieth century regarding questions of cultural malaise, cultural decline and cultural renaissance. It puts these debates in the historical context of modern Arab thought spanning the last two centuries and focuses on the post 1967-defeat (in the war against Israel) period that witnessed a mounting polarization between holistic ideologies on the one hand and self-reflective critiques on the other. It breaks new ground in the understanding of contemporary Arab intellectual life by viewing it from three original perspectives:

1. First by focusing on the self-reflective critical turn at a time when attention has been almost exclusively devoted to the ideological side of this intellectual life, whether islamist or nationalist.

2. Secondly by recognizing and examining the political understanding of the cultural malaise among critical thinkers, an understanding that has been systematically overshadowed by a culturalist reading of the malaise, by actors and observers alike.

3. And thirdly by breaking the isolation to which the production and study of the Arab debates on culture have been hitherto confined, by putting them in a comparative post-colonial perspective. Indeed, more than any other region, the Arab world has been consistently stigmatised with exceptionalism.

Hence the main questions the book explores are the following:

1. How has contemporary Arab critique approached questions of cultural malaise? Which issues has it addressed and what shape has this critique taken?

2. To what extent and in what sense have Arab critical thinkers of the post 1967 era seen the cultural crisis as a political one? How old is this political perception of cultural problems in modern Arab thought and what are its implications for the democratic struggle in the Arab world?

3. How do the concerns expressed and approaches adopted in these Arab debates compare with debates in other post-colonial regions of the world such as Africa and Latin America? What patterns of thought does such a comparison reveal across regions, cultures, religions and races? What does it tell us about the post-colonial nature of the Arab debates and what significance does this telling have for our understanding of contemporary Arab thought?

(From Press Release)

The queer literary community of Philadelphia is at the forefront again in Mt. Airy’s second annual Queer Literary Festival at the Big Blue Marble Bookstore on Saturday, November 14, 2009 from 11am to 3:00pm. Diverse selections of prose, poetry, and creative non-fiction will be presented by writers Ashraf Osman, Jane Cassady, Laura Neuman, Nathan Long, Misia Denea, Saida Agostini, Kelli Dunham, Cassendre Xavier, and Janet Mason. The festival is free and open to everyone.

A special collaboration for this year’s festival is the partnership of Mt. Airy’s independent Big Blue Marble Bookstore and Philadelphia’s premiere GBLT bookstore Giovanni’s Room. Big Blue Marble Bookstore will give a percentage of the day’s proceeds to Giovanni’s Room to add to their fundraising efforts for the massive renovation project of the store’s building. A schedule of the readings and biographies of the readers are below:

11:00am- Ashraf Osman
11:20am-Jane Cassady
11:40am-Laura Neuman

12:00-12:30pm-Break (Literary Lunch)

12:30pm-Nathan Long
12:50pm-Misia Denea
1:10pm-Saida Agostini

1:30-2:00pm-Break (Open Mic)

2:00pm:Kelli Dunham
2:20pm-Cassendre Xavier
2:40pm: Janet Mason

For bio info on the readers, please check the event listing in the PhillyPoetry Calendar. For more information on the Queer Literary Festival or for picture requests please contact Maleka Fruean, events coordinator: 215-844-1870, maleka(at)bigbluemarblebooks(dot)com.

On Sunday, November 8, 2009, I’ll be part of the Poetic Arts Performance Project (PAPP) 2nd Symposium on Identity, Community, Race, Ethnicity, Sex, Sexuality and Philly Poetry. The symposium will be moderated by Debrah Morkun, and will include Alyesha Wise, Frank Walsh, and Frank Sherlock.

Where: University City Arts League, 4226 Spruce St.
When: 2:00 – 4:30 pm
Cost: $3.00 (some proceeds to benefit Rubye’s Kids)

I hope you can make it!

One of my all-time favorite authors (and my dear friend), the incredibly talented Rabih Alameddine will be at the Central Library in Philadelphia on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 7:30 pm. Rabih will be reading from his latest highly-acclaimed novel, The Hakawati.

The Hakawati takes readers from the shimmering dunes of ancient Egypt to the war-torn streets of 21st-century Lebanon. “If any work of fiction might be powerful enough to transcend the mountain of polemic, historical inquiry, policy analysis, and reportage that stands between the Western reader and the Arab soul, it’s this wonder of a book,” according to the New York Times Book Review. Alameddine is the author of Koolaids and I, the Divine, as well as the story collection The Perv.

http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/link-enhancer?tag=archmemory-20&o=1