Shubbak And The Mysterious Disappearance Of Iraq
By Worod Al Musawi
27 June, 2011
Countercurrents.org
In a very unique event for the city, the mayor of London will shortly present Shubbak , the capital's first ever celebration of contemporary culture from across the Arab world, showcasing over 70 events in more than 30 venues throughout the city from 4 – 24 July 2011 .
Shubbak (Arabic for 'window') offers a wide-ranging programme of visual arts, film, music, theatre, dance, literature, architecture, lectures and discussion. The festival will feature work by contemporary Arab artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, choreographers and architects based in London and around the world including Algeria, Bahrain, Canada, Egypt, India, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the USA.
However, if you visit this celebration program of the Arab world you will find no trace of Iraq. How is it possible for the mayor and those around him, who established and worked on this event to exclude Iraq from participating? For Iraqi people, such an event would mean a lot – for those at home and in the diaspora, politically and culturally. Perhaps it was a mistake. Perhaps Iraq has been missed off a list of Arab countries without anyone realising? Is Iraq considered a country poor in culture and heritage? Is this event a real “Arab” event or there is a political agenda behind it? If there is no agenda, than who was it who made Iraq vanish in their ignorance?
Iraq is a country rich in myth and in reality. Iraq gave the world its first taste of civilisation and cultural heritage. If we began to mention what Iraq has given to all the other countries featured in the festival, no doubt we would never reach the end of the list. If we were to remind our mayor and his advisors, here are a just a handful of suggestions unique to Iraqi culture and important to wider Arabic culture:
• Culturally, in music, Iraq is known as number one in the Maqamat and folklore dancing, and here in London there are numerous Iraqi musicians, dancers, and lecturers teaching in schools and universities.
• Artistically, Iraq established the most important schools in contemporary art, fine art, sculpture and craft in the Arab world, and again hundreds of Iraqi artists live and teach in London. There are writers, playwrights in the theatre and filmmakers, multimedia experts and various other media types.
• Poetically, Iraq gave all Arab poets a new way of expressing themselves that was pioneered in 1945 by Badr Shakir Assayyab (1926-1964) and his female friend, poet and critic Nazik Al Mala'ika (1923-2007).
However, if the justification for this kind of criminal negligence is based on the political and social reality of Iraq today and Britain's role in it, it might be that the Iraqi embassy in London is left unable to participate, or to offer valuable advice to such an event. However even this cannot be an excuse. If given the chance, Iraqis from London would be more than capable of filling in the gap by themselves.
The mayor of London should know that the biggest Arab community in his city is the Iraqi community. Hundreds of associations and foundations could present aspects of Iraqi culture and could bring Iraq to life. If you are announcing yourself as a cultured mayor of London, in touch with his community, how can you fail to notice the biggest Arab community in the capital? Iraqis are based and taught in this town, many of them highly educated and innovative.
I am writing this in the name of Iraq, to ask (and demanding no excuses) that Iraq be allowed to participate in this event. Let Iraqi culture breath and do not silence an entire country. It is too easy to get in touch with and recruit innovative Iraqi people in London and to allow them to participate, to not do so. We should be allowed to show the world who Iraqis are and to celebrate Iraqi culture.
Worod Al Musawi is Iraqi/ British poet, critic, writer, translator and PhD student working freelance with the Poetry Translation Centre in London
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