the view from here artists // public policy ceu school of public policy annual conference june 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 2016 Another Day Lost: 1906 and counting... by Syrian artist Issam Kourbaj 1 From Ai Wei Wei to Banksy, we can see art engaging policy and the political sphere. But in an increasingly connected world where cultural production is ever more easily disseminated, how can this engagement be most effective and meaningful? The CEU School of Public Policy’s 2016 annual conference focuses on a series of questions that are not often asked in the world of government or academia. How do artists engage with issues in public policy? How do artistic representations of issues change how they are perceived? Can artists promote wider public engagement in policymaking? How do artists challenge ideas in their societies and to what end? How does humor intersect with politics, censorship, and violence? Focusing on Hungary, India, Mexico, Sudan, and Syria, we are seeking a truly global perspective on issues including democracy, drugs, migration, violence, and censorship. 2 PROGRAM / ART Visit and participate in exhibitions at CEU from June 1-7. Nador u. 11, Body Imaging by Abby Robinson room 002 Precise office hours will be announced soon. Body Imaging, an installation/performance/photography piece, affords a unique collaborative occasion to make photos of all types of bodies, allowing people to display as much/little exhibitionism as they wish in a protected, safe environment. EXAMINATION: Only doctors & photographers examine people’s bodies at distances reserved for lovers. In my performative role as “photo practitioner,” I peer at people’s selected body parts at incredibly close range. The installation morphs a physician’s office into a photo studio where the real overlaps with the faux, the border between public and private becomes porous, investigation couples with intimacy, notions of service collide with exchange, and the humorous mingles with the serious. PROCEDURE & TREATMENT: People in the waiting room fill out questionnaires, then enter the office to consult re which body part they’ve picked for imaging. Here preexisting conditions are a plus. Photos are taken in the studio with patients/ participants involved in choosing the final image; photos are immediately printed, placed in VIP plastic badges, and given to patients/participants as mementos for their contribution. Abby’s work - a collaboration that will capture the “student body” - will be installed at CEU in honor of Wolfgang Reinicke, the founding dean of the School of Public Policy who is stepping down from the post in July 2016. Oktober 6 u. 7, Another Day Lost: 1906 and counting... by Issam Kourbaj, room 102 curated by Louisa MacMillan Taking the title of a Fairouz song, Another Day Lost is a series of installations by Syrian-born, UK-based artist Issam Kourbaj, inspired by the refugee crisis and made out of discarded books, sheet music, aerial photography, maps, medicine packaging, and matches. The overall appearance is that of a vast refugee “camp,” constructed from thousands of tiny paper and cardboard ‘tents’, many of which are marked with Kourbaj’s distinctive black lines (based on Arabic calligraphy and traditional mourning ribbons), and encircled with a ‘fence’ of matches. The matches are burned daily and arranged in tally marks to count the days: one burnt match for every day since the beginning of the Syrian uprising (March 15, 2011). New matches also represent the uncertain future. By repurposing discarded, commonplace materials, Kourbaj laments not only the loss of time, normality, and everyday life for Syrians everywhere, but also the poor quality of life experienced by his compatriots in their displacement. 3 PROGRAM / ART Visit and participate in exhibitions at CEU from June 1-7. Nador u. 9, Khartoon! by Khalid Albaih Octagon Khartoon! is a social and political satire commentary on the Middle East region and the world. His stark, politically-charged images rose to prominence during the early stages of the Arab Spring protests in 2011. Posting his work in the public domain through social media, Albaih quickly became an artist of the revolution. His work was shared across Arabia and around the world. Albaih’s cartoons were seen online and made into stencils - to be reproduced on walls in Beirut, Cairo, Yemen, and across the Middle East by anonymous graffiti artists. Photographs of these stencils were shared extensively, spreading Albaih’s work across the web in an emerging free space of protest. Albaih’s work is currently used by revolutionary groups in his native Sudan and by political activists in Yemen, Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, and Algeria. Nador u. 9, The Many Faces of WIthdrawal by Bryan Lewis Saunders Library Lobby June 4-7 In August 2007 Bryan was prescribed Klonopin for anxiety and panic disorder. “The Many Faces of Withdrawal” (2016, mixed media works on paper) documents his slow and safe detoxification. Oktober 6 u. 7, Graphic Recordings by Benjamin Felis Oktober Hall June 6-7 Benjamin Felis and Jessica Kammerer will provide a graphic recording documenting the discussions and presentations that take place during the conference by translating it into pictures, keywords, and metaphors. This process will happen live on posters, wallpaper, and flipcharts providing an interesting perspective on events as they unfold, and a permanent record that will be mounted and displayed at SPP. 4 PROGRAM / FILMS Saturday, June 4 / Nador u. 9, CEU Auditorium 13:00 - 15:00 The Queens of Syria The Queens of Syria tells the story of 60 women from Syria, all forced into exile in Jordan, who came together in autumn 2013 to create and perform their own version of the Trojan Women, the timeless ancient Greek tragedy about the plight of women in war. What followed was an extraordinary moment of cross-cultural contact across millennia, in which women born in 20th century Syria found a blazingly vivid mirror of their own experiences in the stories of a queen, princesses, and ordinary women like them, uprooted, enslaved,and bereaved by the Trojan War. The group has six weeks until they are to perform to an audience of hundreds. Not one of them has acted before... Refreshments will be served following the film screening. 15:00 - 17:00 The Death of Aleppo In late 2014 and early 2015, a group of Syrian filmmakers (whose names cannot be revealed for safety reasons) travelled to Aleppo amid the continued bombing to meet rebel fighters, ordinary citizens, families, and children who struggle to survive as their city crumbles around them. As Syria’s civil war enters its fifth year, this poignant and vivid film captures the personal stories of those living in the prolonged conflict.The Death of Aleppo is a film that captures the scale of human suffering and destruction in the historic city; and also the resilience of its citizens who battle daily chaos and uncertainty at home. Followed by a Q&A led by co-producer Dirar Khattab. Refreshments will be served. 17:00 - 19:00 7 Days in Syria Newsweek Middle East editor, Janine di Giovanni, submitted a proposal to cover the war in Syria. The newspapers rejected her request, deeming the situation too dangerous. She decided to go anyway. The conditions are extreme with constant shelling and bombardment, threat of sniper fire, and kidnappings. Only two weeks before the trip her friend, James Foley, was taken by three armed men and later executed. A few weeks after the trip, Steven Sotloff, who Janine speaks with while in Aleppo, is also captured and killed. Journalists are targets, as Janine knows well. Yet, she and her crew put themselves in harm’s way to bear witness and make sure the world knows about the suffering of the Syrian people. Followed by a Q&A led by producer Janine di Giovanni. Refreshments will be served. 5 PROGRAM / FILMS Sunday, June 5 / Nador u. 9, CEU Auditorium 13:00 - 15:00 Return to Homs War changes people, including 19-year-old Basset Saroot, who went from star goalkeeper for the Syrian national soccer team to peaceful advocate for Arab Spring reforms to armed insurgent. Return to Homs, which focuses on Basset and his ragtag group’s transformation and struggles, is a heart-stopping, often wrenching study of the brutal war President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has waged against the Syrian people — a war fought mostly out of camera range that has produced epic heroism and tragedy. Winner of Sundance’s 2014 World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, this is an unprecedented view inside a conflict that many accuse the world of overlooking. Followed by a Q&A led by writer and director Talal Derki. Refreshments will be served. 6 PROGRAM / PANELS Sunday, June 5 / Nador u. 9, CEU 10:00 - 11:00 A Conversation with Iván Fischer Auditorium A conversation with world-renowned Hungarian conductor and composer Ivan Fischer about public policy and the arts. 15:00 - 17:00 War, Remembrance, and Resistance: A Lecture/Walking Tour of Octagon Szabadság Square Led by Professor Zsófia Kata Vincze and including contributions from activists and others involved in the Szabadság Square protests. This square in the center of Pest has been a deeply controversial place since it was home to a Hapsburg era barracks in the 19th century. Now it contains a range of memorials that illustrate much about Hungarian history and its present politics. From the Soviet War Memorial to a bust of the Hungarian Regent Miklos Horthy, from a statue of Ronald Reagan to a bitterly contested new memorial about World War II, the city square is an astonishing concentration of the battles for Hungary’s history. The tour will start from the Octagon in the Monument Building, Nador u.