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Theater and Human Rights
A public talk by Iraqi playwright
AMIR AL-AZRAKI
University of Massachusetts, Boston Campus
September 27th, 2011 at 9:30 AM
Ryan Lounge, McCormack Building 3rd Floor
The Odysseus Project and the Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at UMass Boston have invited playwright Amir Al-Azraki to give a public talk at the University of Massachusetts, Boston Campus.
Born in Basra, Amir Al-Azraki received his BA from University of Basra and his MA from Baghdad University and he is now a PhD candidate in Theatre Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada. During the first years of the Iraq War (2003-2006), Mr. Al-Azraki , in addition to teaching English drama at the University of Basra, worked as a fixer and translator for various international news outlets such as The New York Times and The Dallas Morning News, later working for Al Mirbad TV and Radio run by the BBC World Service Trust. In the last three years Mr. Al-Azraki has taught modern and Western Drama at York University as he works on his dissertation “The Representation of Political Violence in Contemporary Plays About Iraq” and continues to develop a collaboration between the University of Basra, the Central School of Speech and Drama, and the University of London on “Transforming the Learning Environment Through Forum Theatre: Developing a Basra University Model.” Mr. Al-Azraki is also a performer and playwright and he has presented papers at F.O.O.T., Performing Back: A Conference on Post-Colonial Theatre. Among his plays are: Waiting for Gilgamesh:Scenes from Iraq, Stuck, Notorious Women, Lysistrata in Iraq, Home Woes, and Judgement Day.
States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.
- Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CCRC)
The Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange has organized 16 mural projects created by children and supporting adults, working in communities across America, and in Baghdad, Iraq and Amman, Jordan.
We worked through churches, independent media centers, international NGOs, art galleries, museums, and community organizations. The mural projects created a unique opportunity for Iraqi and American youth to express themselves across the barriers of language, culture and politics. Painting in response to the question, How will they know us? young artists used their creative talents to speak on their own behalf, describing themselves and their communities, sharing their cultural and historical identity across the deep divide created by years of war.
The works created by these children will be on display at the Northampton Center for the Arts, which will also host a series of events including readings, film screenings and discussions. I had the pleasure of meeting Claudio Lefko, founder of the Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange, at the Transcultural Exchange conference in March. I have been looking forward to this exhibition ever since.
Having the Life of Our Times:
A community response to children, war and the possibilities for peace
Wednesday, June 22 – Friday, June 24
The following events all take place at the Northampton Center for the Arts, 17 New South Street, Northampton.
Wednesday, June 22, 5:00 p.m.
Having the Life of Our Times
The main exhibit of acrylic-on-canvas murals
Two Artist, Two Cultures, Two Views
Exhibit by Thamir Dawood and Harriet Diamond. Runs June 20 – July 31.
Wednesday, June 22, 7:00 p.m.
And Their “Views” Will Be Given Due Consideration
A panel discussion reflecting on the murals, children’s art, and Iraqi history and culture
Thursday, June 23, 12:00 noon, West Gallery
Gallery Talk with artists Thamer Dawood and Harriet Diamond
Thursday, June 23, 7:30 p.m.
Aftermath
A staged reading of a play written and produced by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, with talk-back
Friday, June 24, 12:00 noon, West Gallery
Noon time discussion: Iraq and the US, The Possibilities for Reconciliation
Friday, June 24, 7:30 p.m.
An Evening of Dance, Music, Readings and Spoken Word Performance
IVAW hosted a dinner in honor of Malalai Joya on her recent tour of the US.
IVAW writes:
It makes sense that Mother’s Day originated as a pacifist call to action for women globally to end war. In 1870, Julia Ward Howe wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation” in reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. This proclamation was tied to her belief that women had a critical role to play in shaping a peaceful future for their societies.
Malalai Joya is one such woman today, a leading voice for peace and human rights in Afghanistan. Iraq Veterans Against the War had the distinct honor of hosting a dinner for Ms. Joya in New York City during her recent US tour.
Watch this short video of IVAW members sharing their feelings and inspiration during the dinner:
Read more about Malalai Joya here: http://www.malalaijoya.com/dcmj/joya-in-media/674-malalai-joya-irrelevant-for-warlords-and-self-sold-writers-but-relevant-for-my-suffering-people.html
Books by Malalai Joya: http://www.malalaijoya.com/dcmj/malalai-joya-photo-galleries/joya-book-titles.html
Drew Cameron of Combat Paper pointed me to this site and collection of works. Peace Soldier developed a pilot project with Nicole DiDio and The New School / Parsons. The animations below resulted from this collaboration. The About page explains: Whynotpeace is an initiative developed by the üba foundation, combining the voices of those closest to war, the creative works of talented artists, and ubiquitous communication / distribution channels to catalyze a renewed public interest and engagement in peace and human security… Whynotpeace does not attempt to provide answers to questions which are inherently complex, but rather presents a series of perspectives to be considered as we shape our individual opinions and collective actions today and in the years to come.
Final – Living Without Nikki – Kinetic Typography; poem by Drew Cameron, animation by Alec Donovan
Why Not Peace / A Different Type of Fight – excerpts from interviews with peace soldiers Logan and Eddie, animation by Alec Donovan
In preparation for The Odysseus Project: Finding Home artist panel, Greg Cook (The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research) put together a collection of images and notes. He discusses art (and the lack of art) about war created over the last century. Greg starts off his series of insights with a quote from Anthony Swofford’s 2003 book Jarhead:
Leon Golub: Interrogation I, 1981
“There is talk that many Vietnam films are antiwar, that the message is war is inhumane and look what happens when you train young American men to fight and kill, they turn their fighting and killing everywhere, they ignore their targets and desecrate the entire country, shooting fully automatic, forgetting they were trained to aim. But actually, Vietnam war films are all pro-war, no matter what the supposed message … [Servicemen and women] watch the same films and are excited by them, because the magic brutality of the films celebrates the terrible and despicable beauty of their fighting skills. Fight, rape, war, pillage, burn. Filmic images of death and carnage are pornography for the military man.”
Read more here: http://gregcookland.com/journal/2009/06/odysseus-project-talk-on-war-art.html
Coming Home is an online investigative series on Salon.com about U.S. Army troops who have returned from Iraq. Journalists Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna have looked into inadequate medical care and preventable deaths among returned soldiers.
In one group of Coming Home stories, Benjamin and de Yoanna reviewed more than two dozen incidents of suicide, suicide attempts, prescription drug overdoses and murder involving troops at Fort Carson, Colorado. They learned that much of the violence could have been avoided if the Army did a better job of recognizing and treating the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Boston Globe has published a series of articles and multimedia about returning veterans of the war in Iraq.
One of the articles (with video) focuses on “New Englands Own – The Journey home from Iraq for one Marine Battalion”. The 878 men of the First Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment who came home have struggled to come to terms with the fact that 11 did not; that 68 others suffered combat wounds; and that many more were hit with injuries less visible but with long-term effects.
Read The Boston Globe’s coverage of returning veterans here.
Under the title War Torn, The New York Times has published a series of articles and multimedia about veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have committed killings, or been charged with them, after coming home.
Read the articles by Deborah Sontag and Lizette Alvarez here.
AFTERMATH, is an NECN documentary profiling four injured men, home from Iraq and Afghnistan, facing the challenges of lives forever changed.
The film will premiere Sunday May 3, 2009 at 7:00 pm, at UMass in Boston. NECN, US Senator John Kerry and The Joiner Center are hosting this event at The Ballroom at the Campus Center of UMass Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd. If you want to attend, RSVP to The Joiner Center: 617-287-5858.
