Volume 12 - Number 1 December 2015 – January 2016 £4

TTHISHIS ISSUEISSUE: CCulturalultural CConnectionsonnections ● MMyy cculturalultural connectionsconnections ● TThehe PPersianersian concertconcert partyparty ● IImperfectmperfect CChronologyhronology atat thethe WhitechapelWhitechapel GalleryGallery ● A ggloballobal palatepalate ● NNobleoble brutes,brutes, shockingshocking scandalsscandals ● MMuslims,uslims, trusttrust aandnd culturalcultural dialoguedialogue ● PPhotohoto competitioncompetition rresultsesults ● PPLUSLUS EExhibitions,xhibitions, reviewsreviews andand eventsevents inin LondonLondon Volume 12 - Number 1 December 2015 – January 2016 £4

TTHISHIS ISSUEISSUE: CCulturalultural ConnectionsConnections ● MMyy cculturalultural connectionsconnections ● TThehe PPersianersian concertconcert partyparty ● IImperfectmperfect CChronologyhronology atat thethe WhitechapelWhitechapel GalleryGallery ● A ggloballobal palatepalate ● NNobleoble brutes,brutes, shockingshocking scandalsscandals ● MMuslims,uslims, TTrustrust aandnd CCulturalultural DialogueDialogue ● PPhotohoto competitioncompetition rresultsesults ● PPLUSLUS EExhibitions,xhibitions, reviewsreviews andand eventsevents inin LondonLondon

Shakir Hassan Al Said, Al Deek Al Faseeh (The Articulate Cockerel), 1954. Oil on canvas. About the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) 60 x 44 cm. Image Courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation Th e London Middle East Institute (LMEI) draws upon the resources of London and SOAS to provide Volume 12 - Number 1 teaching, training, research, publication, consultancy, outreach and other services related to the Middle East. It serves as a neutral forum for Middle East studies broadly defi ned and helps to create links between December 2015 – individuals and institutions with academic, commercial, diplomatic, media or other specialisations. January 2016 With its own professional staff of Middle East experts, the LMEI is further strengthened by its academic Editorial Board membership – the largest concentration of Middle East expertise in any institution in Europe. Th e LMEI also Professor Nadje Al-Ali has access to the SOAS Library, which houses over 150,000 volumes dealing with all aspects of the Middle SOAS East. LMEI’s Advisory Council is the driving force behind the Institute’s fundraising programme, for which Dr Hadi Enayat it takes primary responsibility. It seeks support for the LMEI generally and for specifi c components of its AKU programme of activities. Ms Narguess Farzad SOAS LMEI is a Registered Charity in the UK wholly owned by SOAS, University of London (Charity Mrs Nevsal Hughes Registration Number: 1103017). Association of European Journalists Dr George Joff é Cambridge University Mission Statement: Ms Janet Rady Janet Rady Fine Art Mr Barnaby Rogerson Th e aim of the LMEI, through education and research, is to promote knowledge of all aspects of the Middle Ms Sarah Searight East including its complexities, problems, achievements and assets, both among the general public and with British Foundation for the Study those who have a special interest in the region. In this task it builds on two essential assets. First, it is based in of Arabia London, a city which has unrivalled contemporary and historical connections and communications with the Dr Sarah Stewart SOAS Middle East including political, social, cultural, commercial and educational aspects. Secondly, the LMEI is Mrs Ionis Th ompson at SOAS, the only tertiary educational institution in the world whose explicit purpose is to provide education Saudi-British Society and BFSA and scholarship on the whole Middle East from prehistory until today. Dr Shelagh Weir Independent Researcher Professor Sami Zubaida Birkbeck College Coordinating Editor LMEI Staff: SSubscriptions:ubscriptions: Megan Wang Director Dr Hassan Hakimian To subscribe to Th e Middle East in London, please visit: Listings Executive Offi cer Louise Hosking www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/affi liation/ or contact the Vincenzo Paci Events and Magazine Coordinator Vincenzo Paci LMEI offi ce. Designer Administrative Assistant Valentina Zanardi Shahla Geramipour Letters to the Editor: Th e Middle East in London is published fi ve times a year by the London Middle East Institute at SOAS Please send your letters to the editor at Disclaimer: the LMEI address provided (see left panel) Publisher and or email [email protected] Editorial Offi ce Opinions and views expressed in the Middle East Th e London Middle East Institute in London are, unless otherwise stated, personal SOAS University of London views of authors and do not refl ect the views of their MBI Al Jaber Building, 21 Russell LONDON Square, London WC1B 5EA organisations nor those of the LMEI and the MEL's United Kingdom Editorial Board. Although all advertising in the MIDDLE EAST T: +44 (0)20 7898 4490 magazine is carefully vetted prior to publication, the F: +44 (0)20 7898 4329 LMEI does not accept responsibility for the accuracy INSTITUTE E: [email protected] www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/ of claims made by advertisers. ISSN 1743-7598 Contents

LMEI Board of Trustees 4 20 Baroness Valerie Amos (Chair) EDITORIAL EXHIBTIONS Director, SOAS Life and sole: footwear from the Professor Richard Black, SOAS Dr John Curtis 5 Islamic world Iran Heritage Foundation INSIGHT Fahmida Suleman Dr Nelida Fuccaro, SOAS My cultural connections Mr Alan Jenkins Barnaby Rogerson 22 Dr Karima Laachir, SOAS REVIEWS Dr Dina Matar, SOAS 7 BOOKS Dr Hanan Morsy European Bank for Reconstruction Th e Holy Cities of Arabia and Development CULTURAL CONNECTIONS Dr Barbara Zollner Th e Persian concert party John Shipman Birkbeck College Jane Lewisohn 23 LMEI Advisory Council 9 BOOKS IN BRIEF Imperfect Chronology at the Lady Barbara Judge (Chair) Whitechapel Gallery 25 Professor Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem Near and Middle East Department, SOAS Siobhán Forshaw PROFILE H E Khalid Al-Duwaisan GVCO Ambassador, Embassy of the State of Kuwait Scott Redford Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani 11 Arab International Women’s Forum A global palate 26 Dr Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa President, University College of Bahrain Sami Zubaida EVENTS IN LONDON Professor Tony Allan King’s College and SOAS Dr Alanoud Alsharekh 13 Senior Fellow for Regional Politics, IISS Noble brutes, shocking scandals Mr Farad Azima NetScientifi c Plc Peter Harrigan Dr Noel Brehony MENAS Associates Ltd. Professor Magdy Ishak Hanna 15 British Egyptian Society Muslims, trust and cultural HE Mr Mazen Kemal Homoud Ambassador, Embassy of the Hashemite dialogue Kingdom of Jordan Mr Paul Smith Peter Morey and Amina Yaqin Chairman, Eversheds International Founding Patron and 17 Donor of the LMEI Photo competition results Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber MBI Al Jaber Foundation

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 3 EEDITORIALDITORIAL © Kadhim Hayder

DDearear RReadereader

Kadhim Hayder, Fatigued Ten Horses Converse with Nothing (The Martyrs Epic), 1965. Courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation (Sharjah)

Ionis Thompson, Sarah Searight, MEL Editorial Board

ecent events in the Middle East of Qajar music that might have been lost to East–West lines in addition to some positive have disrupted lives and uprooted us otherwise. Siobhán Forshaw describes developments such as the establishment of a Rpeople on a vast scale; the very roots a series of exhibitions at the Whitechapel new museum in Saudi Arabia dedicated to of cultural identity have been and are still Gallery in London which will showcase the Arabian horse. Peter Morey and Amina being destroyed. It is heartening therefore Modern and Contemporary Arab art –from Yaqin inform us about Muslims, Trust and to read that some aspects of culture, not the Barjeel Foundation in Sharjah – during Cultural Dialogue, a research project that perhaps the most conspicuous, are being the months to come. As she says, London seeks to encourage trust between Muslims preserved and encouraged thanks to the nowadays represents a key centre for the and non-Muslims, trust which, they argue, longstanding links that connect Britain, and presentation and appreciation of Arab art is increasingly needed at the present time. particularly London, to the Middle East. and culture, some of it stunningly new and In this issue we also announce the In this issue of Th e Middle East diff erent from traditional European art. winners of the magazine’s 2015 photo in London, we focus on these links, Turning then to the realm of food, competition. Th en we turn to an article highlighting what we’ve dubbed ‘Cultural these days we are all very familiar with the written by Fahmida Suleman which off ers Connections’. Barnaby Rogerson’s Insight heady aromas of Levantine and Iranian a taste of what Life and sole, a forthcoming piece gives a personal take on what some cuisine. But, as Sami Zubaida points exhibition at the British Museum, will ‘cultural connections’ might look like: he out in his article, much of what we have have on display. Th is exhibition seeks to peers beyond the more obvious links to today is merely a modern manifestation showcase ‘the role of footwear as markers those ‘odd, slightly quirky organisations of our longstanding acquaintance with of social and cultural identity, status that make other connections’ as well as that cuisine: there has been a two-way symbols and class indicators.’ Finally, in the more famous success stories. In the ‘crisscrossing of materials, ideas and his Profi le piece, Professor Scott Redford, realm of music, Jane Lewisohn describes fashions between cultures and religions’. recently appointed to the Nasser Khalili a little-known collaboration between the Th is crisscrossing is also seen in the Chair in Islamic Art and Archaeology at British Gramophone Company and Persian equestrian world. In his article, Peter SOAS, describes his previous life as an musicians in the late 19th and early 20th Harrigan describes some of the equestrian archaeologist and academic centred mainly centuries. Th is resulted in a historical record scandals and controversies that have crossed in Turkey.

4 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 IINSIGHTNSIGHT No one can doubt the powerful fi nancial and political bonds that connect London and the Middle East. But how can one quantify the cultural connections? Barnaby Rogerson takes a personal look at some of these connections in the capital MMyy cculturalultural cconnectionsonnections

Concert with British Muslim artists. Part of ‘Journey into Europe’. Muslims, Trust and Cultural Dialogue (MTCD) has partnered with Professor Akbar Ahmed on his research project and documentary ‘Journey into Europe’, which investigates questions around European Muslim identity. As part of the project, MTCD organised a concert with British Muslim artists to shed light on how European Muslim identity is expressed through the arts. This concert took place on 18 May 2015 in London. Photograph

© William Barylo © William by William Barylo

o assess cultural connections one genuinely free-fl owing cultural exchange? Britain and Pakistan. He is part of the could start by making a count of Or is it part of a teaching course or British literary and political landscape, Tthe annual fl ock of art exhibitions, something tarnished by a grant? with historical roots that link him to the concerts, books, lectures and articles. Instead lets look at some individuals, who once tolerant Muslim city of Lahore. Some relevant journals are Banipal and in terms of column inches would certainly Th e same would have to be said for the CM – Critical Muslim. Venues to keep a top any list of cultural connectors. Is Zaha opera-producer Wasfi Kani, who is at the close eye on include Janet Rady Fine Art, Hadid evidence of a cultural connection epicentre of a world defi ned by Garsington- Park Gallery and Moroccan Fine Art, Edge between the culture of Iraq and Britain? Grange-Glyndebourne, but is completely, of Arabia, the Mosaic Rooms, the Brunei Of course not; she defi nes herself, creates if not laughably, untouched by the cultural Gallery at SOAS, Leighton House, P21 a futuristic modernism exuberantly free of agenda of Islamabad. Th e scholar and Gallery and the Nour and Shubbak festivals. national identity tags and belongs to that controversialist, Ziauddin Sardar, might Th is data could be checked against the Time metropolitan world of the Western Levant be thought to be a more likely exemplar Out weekly summaries, the listing at the which connects Beirut, Bagdad, London, of a living Cultural Connection. But you back of Th e Middle East in London and the Paris, New York and the Ivy League but only have to listen to him debate at Hay international Aramco magazine. has no provincial hinterland. Nor could on Wye (or any of the other 365 literary Th ese events could be assessed by visitor you argue that Tariq Ali is evidence of festivals of the British Isles) to realise that number, but as anyone who manages an ongoing cultural connection between you are in the company of Britain’s leading any type of Academic Assessment survey will realise, this sort of fact-fi lled exercise When looking for cultural connections are we always looking can also be nebulous. Most especially if one starts to try to sort out the degree of at a bridge, or a journey half delivered, someone caught halfway purity of a cultural manifestation. Is this a between assimilation and the indigenous homeland?

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 5 Muslim polymath. Despite the years spent Th e British-Moroccan society, SPANA, the American School in Medina and Kuala Lumpur, he is not a cultural bridge between Clift on Beach in Tangier, the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, Freedom and Bloomsbury but fast on the way to forAll and the Maghreb Review: they are all run for the love of it becoming a British national treasure. In just the same way it might be tempting to musically experimental like Kings Place. But conversations can be uniquely stimulating, construct some fabulous conspiracy theory using the power of a gilt invitation card and for no one is on record or fulfi lling a out of the infl uence of Jewish scholars a Chelsea reception, bridges were thrown professional function. And as many of the such as Avi Shlaim, Nessim Dawood and across to connect otherwise discordant bankers, diplomats, academics and writers David Abulafi a on the patterns of British worlds. As I focused on the faces in the are now retired, it also allows them to be thought. Th ough once again, not only crowd, I was reminded of all those odd, refreshingly frank. And focusing on the has England claimed them for her own, slightly quirky organisations that make faces gathered together, I was once again but they have become an integral part other connections, year in year out. Th ere is able to create a mosaic of all the various of British intellectual identity, whatever the British-Moroccan society, SPANA, the Turkey cultural organisations that I fl it in their grandfathers read in Essaouira and American School in Tangier, not to mention and out of: Th e British Institute at Ankara Baghdad. the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, (archaeological), the Anglo-Turkish Society So when one is looking for cultural Freedom for All and the Maghreb Review. (which is social but runs a lecture series), connections does one have to cut out all Th ey are all run for the love of it, rather than Cornucopia (an amazingly erudite glossy the real success stories? Are we always a professional salary. Th ere was of course magazine), the Friends of Aphrodisias looking at a bridge, or a journey half a political narrative behind the event, for (which supports a statue restoration delivered, someone caught halfway between the Moroccans believe in music, not only programme) not to forget the prolifi cally assimilation and the indigenous homeland? as an aspect of their Islamic practice but as active Yunus Emre cultural foundation, or To make greater sense of this, I turned my the best way to make connections between the ex-graduates of Roberts College. It also back on statistics and theories and consulted diff erent faiths. Having suff ered more than made me smile at memories of the ‘Ottoman the last fortnight of my diary. my fair share of faith-encounter groups, I Picnic’ which in my student days sought to Th e Spirit of the Moors was a concert also passionately believe in the effi cacy of muddle up art-historians with rug-dealers, given by the Embassy of Morocco at sharing tea and music, rather than theology. artists with academics and travel-writers Cadogan Hall in mid-October. Th is was not Last weekend, I was part of the Divan with archaeologists. I believe a troika of some PR exercise, transporting something Club, a rather bizarre revival of an 18th- mischievous professors – John Carswell, exotic, such as Gnaoua musicians, for a century club of Turkey merchants and Honor Frost and Godfrey Goodwin – were photo shoot in London. Instead it was a travellers. Th is is another bunch of the driving force behind this annual picnic. very serious attempt at cultural synthesis. amateurs, who meet just twice a year, once Th ere was no membership, no subscription, Contemporary Moroccan compositions in London, once in Istanbul. It is content no AGM, just a near-magical plethora of were performed by the English Chamber to exist as a dining club, bringing together bowls of home-made Turkish food brought Orchestra, immaculate in their white ties people interested in Turkey around the by each of the guests along with a cascade and tailcoats. It was a challenging but same, hospitable table. On one level it of rugs. Th e gathering knew no barriers of fascinating evening, which would otherwise is a vacuous, almost Walter Mitty-like age, race, class, sex or language. It was off the only ever been aired in somewhere gathering, yet on the other hand, the assessment radar but a totally valid form of cultural connection.

Barnaby Rogerson has written North Africa – A History, Th e Prophet Muhammad – a biography, Th e Last Crusaders, Th e Heirs of the Prophet Muhammad and guidebooks to Tunisia and Morocco. He is a member of the Editorial Board and his day job is Publisher at Eland (www.travelbooks.co.uk)

Banner advertising for the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music

6 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 CCULTURALULTURAL CONNECTIONSCONNECTIONS

Jane Lewisohn tells a story of musical collaboration between Persia and London in 1909 TThehe PPersianersian cconcertoncert ppartyarty

Label from one of the 78rpm Gramophone Co. recordings made on the 1909 London trip by the artists; Said Hosayn Taherzadeh and Reza-Qoli Khan on vocals, singing a song called Shanaz, accompanied on the tar by Darvish Khan

group of the most eminent Persian Insofar as the Gramophone Company Th e Gramophone Company’s Tehran musicians came to London in was keen to expand into the Persian market, branch rented rooms in the famous Pharos A1909 to make recordings for the in the winter of 1906, the company sent building on Lalehzar Street, the most Gramophone Company. Th e recordings technicians to Tehran to record Persian fashionable district of the capital. However, they made on this trip remain some of the music. General Lemaire, the director of the their business operation was not destined most important examples of Persian music school of military music at the Polytechnic to last long. Mr Emerson arrived in Tehran of late Qajar period. Academy (Dar al-Fonun), was charged to open up their branch during the middle In Persia, from the late 19th century both with providing the company with of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, onwards, the Persian royal court musicians from the Shah’s own orchestra which caused serious disturbances and demonstrated great interest in the and soliciting other eminent musicians in disruptions to their business operations. technological advances of the West, Tehran. Approximately 200 recordings were Th e Bazaar was frequently closed; there especially from the time of Nasir al-Din made at the Polytechnic’s Music College. were regular demonstrations, sit-ins and a Shah’s (reg. 1848-1896) three visits to Five recordings of Muzaff ar al-Din Shah’s general lack of security throughout the city. Europe in 1873, 1878 and 1889. Th e Shah voice were made, in one of which the Shah In 1907, on his deathbed, Muzaff ar al-Din himself was a keen photographer. His son can be heard praising the gramophone over Shah fi nally gave in to the constitutionalists’ and successor Muzaff ar al-Din Shah (reg. all other ‘talking machines’. In February of demands and granted Persia its own elected 1896-1907) was an enthusiastic amateur the same year, the Gramophone Company Parliament and constitution. However, his fi lmmaker and, like his father, travelled was granted a royal warrant by the Shah successor Muhammad ‘Ali Shah (reg. 1907- to Europe three times. His interests also to conduct business in Iran; they opened 1909) did everything he could to reverse the extended to sound recordings of what later a branch in Tehran, with Mr Emerson as constitutionalists’ successes: he imprisoned came to be known as the gramophone, or its director. Th e Persian imperial ‘Lion activists, executed and exiled dissidents and ‘talking machine’ as it was then called, so and Sun’ emblem was seen displayed prominent constitutionalists, fi red cannons that by the turn of the century the Shah had proudly on all the marketing catalogues at the constitutional assembly building already acquired several types of ‘talking and advertisements of the Gramophone and bombarded the homes of prominent machines’. Company from this time onwards. constitutionalist sympathisers. Around the same time, the Russians and the British In February 1906, the Gramophone Company was granted partitioned Persia into respective spheres of infl uence: the north of the country fell a royal warrant by the Shah to conduct business in Iran under Russian ‘protection’, the south under

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 7 During these eleven days in London, the group constitute some of the few examples of what Qajar music sounded like. It has been of Persian musicians made over 300 recordings. rumoured that the Persian musicians also Today these recordings constitute some of the performed at the Imperial White City International Exhibition (held during June) few examples of what Qajar music sounded like whilst in London. However, this is unlikely because no notice or review of them British ‘control’, while central Persia – not members of the Anjoman, were close performing any public concerts in London including Tehran – was considered ‘neutral’. friends with the others. appears in any contemporary publications All this upheaval brought the economy Th e group embarked from Tehran or the exhibition catalogues. to a virtual standstill. Examination of the in mid-February 1909, heading north In sum, the recordings of Persian music Gramophone Company’s correspondence toward the Caspian port of Anzali. Th e made by the British Gramophone Company from the period reveals that their sales did north was under the control of the pro- – later to be called His Master’s Voice – in not meet their economic expectations and constitutionalist fi ghters (Mojahhidin). collaboration with Persian musicians during therefore could neither justify the costs of Th ey reached the river bridge of the town the late 19th and early 20th centuries today Mr Emerson’s salary nor the maintenance of Manzil on the road to Rasht before the remain one of the most signifi cant resources of an independent Tehran branch. fi ghters destroyed it on 17 February, where and documents for the history of Persian Accordingly, Mr Emerson and his family they were stopped by constitutionalist forces music. Th ey will be available to listen to on left Iran in the autumn of 1908. A two-year who demanded that Darvish Khan play for www.golistan.org in the near future. contract for distribution and sales of the them for half an hour before proceeding. Gramophone Company’s remaining stock Again, when they reached Rasht, they Jane Lewisohn is a Research Associate at was signed with Hambartzoum Hairapetian were stopped and only allowed to continue the Music Department of SOAS, Director & Cie [sic], Armenian merchants based on their journey once they agreed to of the Golha Project (www.golha.co.uk) in Persia, on a commission basis in the give a three-day benefi t concert for the and of Golistan: a Virtual Museum for the autumn of 1908. Mojahhidin. Performing Arts of Twentieth-century Iran Hambartzoum was keen to increase Exiting Persia, they travelled through (www.golistan.org) the variety and quantity of their stock Russia to Europe, eventually reaching but London Gramophone Company was London in April 1909. Th e group’s recording understandably not keen on sending any of sessions took place at the Gramophone their own engineers to Tehran for recording. Company studio on 21 City Road in Mr Hambartzoum thus arranged to send London from 12 to 23 April. During these Persian musicians to London to make eleven days, the group made over 300 recordings; he made all the arrangements recordings, the records from which were Advertisement for the recordings made by the for their trip and accompanied the pressed at the London Hayes and Russian Persian musicians on their 1909 trip to London. Printed in The Talking Machine News and musicians, acting as their guide and Riga factories, and marketed in Iran and Journal of Amusements, Vol. I, No. 9 New Series, translator, off ering them very generous internationally. Today these recordings (London: August 1909), p. 262. remuneration for their trip and recordings. Eight of the most distinguished Persian musicians of the day were invited to go to London. Six of them were members of the Anjoman-e Ukhuwwat (Society of Brotherhood), a branch of the Ni’matullahi Sufi Order headed by Zahir al-Dawla, a prominent constitutionalist. Zahir al- Dawla’s house, along with the Anjoman-e Ukhuwwat’s meeting hall, had been bombarded and ransacked by royalist forces about the same time the parliament building was bombarded. Th ese musicians included legendary names such as: Darvish Khan (tar), Hang Afarin (violin), Bagher Khan (kamancheh), Mirza Asadu’llah (tar, santur), Habibu’llah Shahrdar (piano), Tahir-zadeh (vocals), who all performed regularly in the concerts held in the garden of Zahir al-Dawla’s home and in the meeting hall of the Anjoman-e Ukhuwwat in support of the constitutionalists’ demands. Th e other two members of the group: Akbar Khan (fl ute), the younger brother of Hang Afarin, and Reza-Qoli Khan (vocals and zarb), although

8 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 CCULTURALULTURAL CONNECTIONSCONNECTIONS

Siobhán Forshaw discusses Imperfect © Ervand Demerdijan Chronology, an exhibition that puts an unprecedented number of Arab artists in the frame for a London audience

IImperfectmperfect CChronologyhronology aatt thethe WWhitechapelhitechapel GGalleryallery

Ervand Demerdijan, Nubian Girl, undated. Courtesy of Safarkhan Art Gallery, Barjeel Art Foundation (Sharjah)

mperfect Chronology at the Whitechapel museum collections each year. Th is year, from the region; whilst a vibrant art scene Gallery represents the most the Barjeel Foundation is the focus, an thrives across the Middle East, museums Icomprehensive exhibition of modern independent entity established to manage and cultural institutions have only played and contemporary Arab art ever shown the art collection of Sultan Sooud Al- a signifi cant part during the last 15 years. in the UK. Curated by Omar Kholeif and Qassemi, who gained global prominence In an interview discussing the impact of featuring works from the UAE-based Barjeel following his social media coverage of the Foundation on the scope of such an Foundation Collection, the exhibition the events surrounding the Arab Spring. exhibition, Kholeif comments, ‘Th e beauty comprises a large cross section of work ‘Barjeel’ transliterates from the Arabic of showing an exhibition in four parts like from across the Middle East and North for ‘wind catcher’, a cooling tower that this is that the work of a particular period is Africa region. Its chronological display in was traditionally used as a form of air enabled the possibility to dialogue formally four discrete parts over the course of 16 conditioning across the Middle East. Th e with other works produced during the same months sets a refl ective pace, with Part name implies the circulation of ideas, period. It also allows audiences in London One, ‘Debating Modernism I’ coming alongside a palliative connotation of art a whole year to engage with the context of to an end on 6 December, and Part Two, as an antidote to the political heat of the the exhibition; any time for a whole year, the ‘Debating Modernism II’ opening nine days region. Th e Foundation aims to provide British public will be guaranteed a slice of later on 15 December. A highly ambitious a broad resource, ‘that responds to and Arab art history, which is a diff erent thing to project, the exhibition exposes the complex conveys the nuances inherent to Arab an exhibition that lasts for a month or two challenges of displaying Arab art for a histories beyond borders of culture and and then disappears.’ Western audience, spanning an enormous geography’. Individual collectors, such as Al- In a panel discussion following the geographical territory and politico-historical Qassemi, continue to have a unique role to exhibition opening, Kholeif and Al-Qassemi spectrum, as well as considerations of play in the preservation and curation of art spoke critically of exhibitions that group medium, form and curatorial practice. Th is exhibition runs as part of a long- standing programme at the Whitechapel Imperfect Chronology exposes the complex challenges Gallery, which showcases private of displaying Arab art for a Western audience

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 9 artists broadly as ‘Arab’, citing examples that London represents a key centre for the presentation have reduced output from the region to its most rudimentary particulars. Th is, in and appreciation of Arab art and culture turn, serves largely to highlight ‘otherness’ in the artists for a Western gaze. Imperfect Arts Centre) in 2003, the disappearance of cohesive nations. Th emes of dislocation are Chronology demonstrates an eff ort to move many of the most important works created commonly read in emerging work from away from the tendency to view the aims by Iraqi and other Middle Eastern artists the region, oft en produced by artists who of artists from the Middle East and North has been a huge loss. Th e Modern Art Iraq work in the diaspora, refl ecting on personal Africa region as homogenous. Instead, the Archive, instigated and maintained by narratives that correlate with disappearing show intends to provide an opportunity for Nada Shabout, a specialist in Iraqi art and families, cities, even homelands. Imperfect its audience to develop an awareness of an a contributor to the Imperfect Chronology Chronology provides a context for these artistic inheritance that is by nature uniquely exhibition catalogue, at its helm, serves to themes, and exists alongside a wealth of puckered by the scars of an abiding political create a transparent and accessible online London-based institutions and initiatives chaos, leaving a lineage that is interrupted, resource to track these works. Imperfect that focus exclusively on the promotion of disrupted and imperfect. Th e diaspora of Chronology acts as a chronicle to lay bare Arab art and artists. Th e politically hostile many artists who work across several sites these problems; as Kholeif states, ‘One of Occidental attitude towards the Middle East continues to allow practitioners originally the issues with this fi eld – and one of the contrasts with the enthusiastic reception from the region to access and engage with reasons why this project is so urgent – is of works by artists from the region over the practices and references of their global that there is such a lack of documentation the past decade, following what some peers. Th is infl uence can be clearly read or literature on these artists and their works. call a ‘watershed moment’ in the very in some of the modern work currently on [Th e exhibition] is an attempt to bridge… successful 2006 Christie’s Dubai auction view at the Whitechapel, where viewers that knowledge gap – and the way that of International Modern & Contemporary will recognise techniques oft en regarded we do this is by collecting oral histories, Art in the Middle East. Th is auction and as ‘European’ that are perceived to have critical positions, timeline, biographies those that followed helped to develop a been ‘borrowed’ or ‘copied’ by Arab artists. and publishing them and making them confi dence in the marketability of these Techniques associated with Futurism, readily available’. Th is invites an extensive artists and to plant the category of Middle Cubism and Social Realism are employed as contemplation on the position of artists as Eastern art fi rmly in a mainstream mindset the means of promoting a self-actualisation storytellers, as weavers of a fl awed tapestry for global collectors and museums. and pan-Arabism that developed during the that hopes to create a whole picture of the Today, London represents a key centre 1950s and 1960s, coinciding with the new social and political narratives that defi ne the for the presentation and appreciation independence of many Arab states from the region. of Arab art and culture. Event-based emaciated grip of colonialism. In a post-9/11 society, the ownership of programmes like Shubbak and Nour Th e notion of archive in connection these narratives remains heavily contested, Festivals complement exhibition spaces to collective and individual memory has most prominently in the brutal terrorism like the Mosaic Rooms and P21 Gallery, a specifi c resonance with modern and of ISIS that occupies large parts of Iraq and providing a contemporary environment for emerging art from the region. One example Syria. Th is regime invokes the systematic discussion and display. Th ese organisations can be observed in Iraq. Following the destruction of cultural sites, a strategy fi nd something of a companion in the looting of the National Museum of Modern that aims to hijack history in the hope of Imperfect Chronology project, which moves Art in Baghdad (formerly the Saddam undermining the confi dence of potentially towards an encapsulation of the priorities and pressures at work in Arab art today.

For more information, visit www. whitechapelgallery.org or www. barjeelartfoundation.org

Siobhán Forshaw is the curator of a London- based collection of Islamic and Modern Arab art. She writes independently on art and culture, mainly from the Middle East and North Africa region

GCC, Micro Council, 2013. Courtesy of Krapa- Tuskany Zeilder, Barjeel Art Foundation

© GCC (Sharjah)

10 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 CCULTURALULTURAL CONNECTIONSCONNECTIONS

Sami Zubaida traces the diff usion of food and drink across time and East– West lines A globalglobal palatepalate © Public Domain, Magalhães, Wikimedia Commons

Escabeche

e are familiar with the wide- diff usions of food and drink, however, can of cookery was common in the Abbasid ranging diff usion in the last be intriguing. period, one of many adaptations from Wtwo decades of food items One of the food items currently in the Persian repertoire. We fi nd recipes for and fashions across many parts of the fashion is Ceviche, from South America, luxurious versions, using honey and saff ron, world, with the Middle East and the popularised by Peruvian restaurants but also cheap alternatives. Abu ‘Uthman ‘Mediterranean’ featuring prominently. in London and accompanied by Pisco al-Jahiz, 9th-century Basrian writer, in his Kebab has joined pizza as common fast food cocktails. Ceviche consists of slices of raw Book of Misers, relates that people from in every high street; ‘Mediterranean cuisine’ fi sh marinated briefl y in lime juice, chilli Khorasan, whom he considered particularly and ‘Grill and Mezze’ are common eateries, and other fl avourings. Th e word most miserly, would club together every week and the ubiquitous hummus, in many likely comes from the Spanish Escabeche, to buy meat, onions and chickpeas which fl avours unknown in the region, is on every typically made of fi sh (such as sardine), they would boil in vinegar and feed from supermarket shelf. Th e current wave of fried (oft en in batter) and then pickled all week. Al-Sikbaj, however, was forgotten globalisation is not unique: there have been in vinegar with onions, spices and sugar. in subsequent centuries and is now only many such waves facilitated by empires, Th e word also applies to other pickled known to historians. Its off spring, in trade and conquest. What distinguishes the foods, from olives to partridges. Escabeche widely diverse forms, now occupy diff erent current wave is the speed of diff usion, in is traced to the Arabised Persian word universes. time and space, and the pace of innovation Al-Sikbaj, which was typically meat, but Other food terms in Spain are of Arabic and hybridity. Looking at the historical could be fi sh, cooked in vinegar. Th is form derivation, notably aceitunas, for olives, from al-zaytoun, used in parts of Spain. A cheese bread is almojabana from the Arabic Th e current wave of globalisation of food is for cheese, jibna, another item that migrated to South America and became a favourite in not unique: there have been many such waves Colombia. Meatballs are albondigas, from facilitated by empires, trade and conquest al-bundiq, hazel-nuts. Th is term is now

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 11 Boza was a widespread drink throughout Ottoman the nibbles that accompany drink and can constitute a whole meal. Th e word is from lands and parts of Africa that persists to the present – the Persian for ‘taste’, but is used throughout and is probably the root of the English ‘booze’ the region, diff used from the Eastern Mediterranean cities of Turkey and the Arab Levant. It was established as part of drinking uniquely Spanish, as meatballs in Arabic are case in Turkey at an earlier time. Variations cultures in those cities at least from the 19th mostly koft e/kift e, derived from the Persian. of the word occur in the Balkans as rakia, century. Th eir repertoire has been widely Th e designation albondigas was carried by distilled from fermented fruit. diff used within the region and, later, in the the Jewish Sephardic migrations into parts In the course of the 20th century the travel West, where it has coincided with diverse of the Ottoman Balkans but is now mostly of drink went the other way, with the wide food fashions and sensibilities, notably the extinct there. adoption, manufacture and consumption taste for variety of small portions, such as Alcohol is an area of criss-crossing of beer and the importation of Western the Spanish tapas and the Italian cicchetti. historical currents in terminology and spirits, notably whisky. A kind of beer was Th e constant search for novelty in the eating materials. It is well known that the word invented in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia milieus of the West has also subjected items ‘alcohol’ is from the Arabic al-kohl, and continued to be consumed, in various of the mezze repertoire to innovations, such antimony eyeliner, attributed with curative forms, throughout the history of the region. as the ‘hummus pesto’ and the caulifl ower functions. Th is may refl ect the early Boza was a widespread drink throughout tabbouleh. uses of distilled alcohol for medical and Ottoman lands and parts of Africa that Food, drink and gastronomy are now hygienic functions. Th e origins of alcohol persists to the present – and is probably established as a major sphere of leisure, distillation are attributed to various times the root of the English ‘booze’. Its alcoholic recreation and innovation in the West and and locations: China, Greek Alexandria, status was ambiguous: ‘sweet’ boza was the remaining stable and affl uent enclaves but also to 9th-century Arab alchemists, supposed to be alcohol free, but the ‘sour’ in the Middle East. Th e criss-crossing of notably the polymath Jabir bin Hayan. Th e version was fermented and could be quite materials, ideas and fashions between origin of drinking distilled liquor comes alcoholic. Th e ambiguity served its makers cultures and regions is ever expanding. later, probably the late middle ages, possibly and drinkers in prohibitionist regimes. Boza in Italy or the east, and was still considered is made, bottled and imbibed in Turkey now Sami Zubaida is Emeritus Professor of medicinal, becoming a recreational drink but decidedly halal. Boza and other such Politics and Sociology at Birkbeck, University nearer the 16th century. In the process ferments lacked the hops fl avour of modern of London and a member of the Editorial another Arabic word, araq, came to Western beer that came to be imported and Board. His most recent book is Beyond Islam: predominate in many contexts. manufactured in various countries of the A New Understanding of the Middle East Araq means ‘sweat’, a graphic analogy Middle East and found great favour. (2011) to the process of distillation. Th e word Whisky is much favoured among the may have been transmitted to the east more affl uent drinking classes in the region. by Arab traders: it surfaces in Chinese In countries which prohibit alcohol it is factories in Indonesia in the 16th century very expensive. Johnnie Walker Black Label as a by-product of fermented sauces is a favourite, and its preferred mezze is and ‘ketchup’, the fermented mash being salted pistachios. Th is brings us to mezze, distilled into liquor. Th is was, apparently,

taken up by British and Dutch seafarers © Thomas Hubauer, Flickr and navies, being far superior to wine and beer which spoiled and soured in the heat. Th e ‘factories’ of the British East India Company applied the word to distilled palm wine. Elsewhere the word applied to a wide range of distillations, from sugar cane to fermented mare’s milk. Th en, araq was a generic term, much like ‘schnapps’, ‘aquavit’ and eau de vie. Araq now applies to specifi c drinks in the Middle East: the Arab araq/ ara, the Turkish rakı and the Greek ouzo, share the Mediterranean anisette genre, probably of recent origin. Iraqi araq was, until the fi rst half of the 20th century, mostly fl avoured with mastic which was also the

Shop owner pouring boza into a glass. Photographed by Thomas Hubauer in Istanbul, May 2012

12 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 CCULTURALULTURAL CONNECTIONSCONNECTIONS

Peter Harrigan examines controversies and cooperation in the equestrian world NNobleoble bbrutes,rutes, sshockinghocking sscandalscandals , Medina Publishing] The Arab Horse

Turfa, a fl ea-bitten grey mare of the Keheilet Al Khorma strain, foaled in 1933. Presented as a Coronation Gift to King George VI by King Ibn Saud in December 1937. Watercoluor courtesy

© Peter Upton [author of artist Peter Upton

n London at the beginning of the 20th Although eclipsed by recent events and chiller cabinets of supermarkets posing century more than a quarter of a million that have engulfed the world of football, as cheap ‘beef’ burgers and ready meals for Ihorses moved people and goods around athletics and cycling, the equestrian increasingly budget-strapped shoppers. In the crowded capital. Four decades earlier it world is not without its own scandals and September undercover trading standards was the congestion and mess created from highlights. Back in 2003 a Dutch trader offi cers discovered a so-called exotic horse drawn traffi c that propelled the City was caught selling horsemeat imported steakhouse in Watford passing off horse as of London to fi nance the construction of the from Mexico as halal beef to Muslim zebra on its menu. world’s fi rst underground railway. consumers. When unravelled this aff air Th e scandals continue. Here, the UK’s Equestrian sport and equine breeding became Europe’s biggest food scandal. largest animal charity, the RSPCA, has also are threaded into the fabric of our culture. More recently, as a consequence of the last become the centre of a row aft er 12 horses, Th e world’s fi rst equine breed, the Arabian fi nancial crisis, thousands of horse owners including Arabians, were placed in their care horse, has over the centuries contributed found it increasingly diffi cult to maintain aft er rescue from a Lancashire farm. Th ey most to this heritage, infl uencing their animals. Horses were abandoned were shot. Allegedly claims for veterinary every British breed and, perhaps most in large numbers, left malnourished or and stabling expenses for the already dead, signifi cantly, resulting in the iconic sent for slaughter. Recent estimates reveal phantom animals were then lodged. Th e Th oroughbred. Th is in turn helped make that over 50,000 horses in Europe have aff air has caused alarm and outrage on Arab the British Isles the preeminent home of ‘disappeared’. Many ended up in the freezer Horse Society chat forums. horseracing (perhaps the world’s oldest spectator sport) as well as show jumping and other equestrian pursuits. Th e Arabian In March 2015 the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) horse also inspired and provided an ordered an independent investigation aft er the Telegraph extraordinarily rich and popular subject matter for artists, poets, authors and Sport uncovered phantoms: 12 UAE-hosted endurance playwrights. races were allegedly ‘bogus’ and never run

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 13 In March 2015 the Fédération Equestre In Saudi Arabia a new museum dedicated to the Internationale (FEI), the global body governing equestrian sport, ordered pure, desert bred Arabian horse is being established an independent investigation aft er the at Ad Diriyyah on the UNESCO World Heritage Telegraph Sport uncovered more phantoms: 12 UAE-hosted endurance races that were allegedly ‘bogus’ and never run despite Th e former Met Commissioner was called blogosphere. Breeders and dealers of results appearing on the FEI website. Lord in to investigate veterinary practices aft er Arabian horses have been embroiled in Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police claims that steroids and banned substances allegations of fabricating pedigrees. Th is chief, who now heads up Quest, a London- had been used for treatment rather than for is nothing new. Over centuries Europeans based integrity services agency providing performance. And last year 22 Godolphin travelled to the Levant in quest of purebred ‘Strategic intelligence and risk mitigation horses were prevented from running in desert horses. Th ey oft en ended up with services to secure the integrity of people, Britain on the grounds they had been given so-called Bedouin desert bred Asil mares property and critical assets, was called in steroids by Zarooni. with long, yet oft en contentious pedigrees. to investigate. Several offi cials have been Events in Syria and Iraq are also Th e dubious status of their descendants suspended and in October nearly 1,400 impacting Arabian horses. Researchers have continues to generate furious arguments. athletes, trainers, grooms, veterinarians, shown that Syria has been a remarkable However, not all in the equine world is judges, technical delegates and stewards hot spot for genetic diversity in the Arabian gloom, controversy or embarrassment. attended a series of Fédération Equestre horse breed. Iraq too has a long history that Fortunately the arrival of sophisticated Internationale (FEI) endurance educational embraces early domestication and inception DNA testing techniques is helping clear courses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, ahead of the fi rst known pure horse breed, the up disputes on bloodlines and making of the endurance season. Th is is all part of Arabian, and its subsequent spread into the breeders and owners reluctant to risk their a deal between the Emirates Equestrian Arabian Peninsula. But further research reputation. Racing of purebred Arabians in Federation (EEF) and the FEI prior to and access to bloodlines have become the US and Europe is becoming ever more the lift ing of the provisional suspension impossible as large swathes of Iraq and Syria popular with meets at famous racecourses following an investigation into equine fall in and out of the control of ISIS, the such as Newmarket and Keeneland in welfare and non-compliance with FEI rules. rebels and the regime. Th e fate of precious Kentucky. In Saudi Arabia a new museum And this is not the fi rst time that the bloodlines is now in question and caught dedicated to the pure, desert bred Arabian services of Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington up with mounting human strife, mass horse is being established at Ad Diriyyah have been requested in the equestrian migrations and casualties. Given the scale of on the UNESCO World Heritage site of the world. In 2013 the Godolphin racing the tragedy, the horses rank low in priorities mud-brick capital of the First Saudi State. It operation of HH Sheikh Mohammed and it is impossible to monitor what has is the fi rst of its kind and scale in the Gulf. Makhtoum the ruler of Dubai was engulfed become of them, let alone their owners and Th e new museum will have interactive in doping allegations. Th is led, in March dedicated breeders, across vast areas of the exhibits dedicated to the breed, its history 2015, to the Emirati trainer, Mahmood aff ected region. in Arabia as well as stables for showing, al-Zarooni, being banned from racing In the meantime, controversies educational activities and demonstrations. worldwide for eight years for doping 15 continue to rage on bloodlines and strains When complete in 2017 the museum will horses at Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket. and animated debate fi lls the equine rank with the 8,000 square-foot Al-Marah Arabian Horse Galleries, opened in 2010 as an attachment to the Kentucky Horse Park’s International Museum of the Horse. Th e Galleries tell the story of the Arabian horse from ancient Arabia to the modern day and showcase the Arabian breed from its desert beginnings through its emergence across Europe and the journey across America.

Peter Harrigan is Editorial Director of Medina Publishing which has produced books on horses including the purebred Arabian. He is a senior contributor to Saudi Aramco World Magazine and has written on the heritage of the Arabian horse and horse domestication

Saudi Arabia has a huge corpus of rock art depicting Arabian Horses. This pre-Islamic frieze is at Jubba near Hail in NW Saudi Arabia and is unique in Arabia as it depicts a horse

© Peter Harrigan, courtesy of Saudi Aramco World Magazine World Aramco © Peter Harrigan, courtesy of Saudi pulled chariot

14 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 CCULTURALULTURAL CONNECTIONSCONNECTIONS

Peter Morey and Amina Yaqin discuss the importance of intercultural trust and outline some ways to cultivate it MMuslims,uslims, ttrustrust aandnd © Peter Sanders Photography cculturalultural dialoguedialogue

Photograph from the exhibition Art of Integration: Islam in England’s Green and Pleasant Land held at the Brunei Gallery from April–June 2015. Photograph by Peter Sanders

ll successful relationships are built on built in civil society, in culture and the in which it can fl ourish, conditions which trust, as all successful societies must arts and in business and fi nance – with are far from straightforward in polycultural Aalso be. In an era when trust between the understanding that each of these areas modern nations where ideas of what a ‘good Muslim and non-Muslim communities in depends on relationships of trust; fi nding society’ looks like, the balance of rights Western nations seems more vulnerable out about successful trust-building in one and responsibilities, and the parameters than ever, we need to try to understand what sphere might help us see how trust can be of free expression are all hotly debated. To impedes trust and how we might combat more eff ectively nurtured in another. get a practical handle on the question we these impediments to encourage greater If we defi ne trust as an investment of have also undertaken case studies with confi dence. belief in socially orientated intentions and community arts groups to see trust building Muslims, Trust and Cultural Dialogue actions in another (or others), we see that in action. (MTCD) is a three-year research project, what applies to individual interactions In Britain, ideas of the nation are built funded by the Research Councils UK, which also applies to bonds between diff erent on a particular post-Enlightenment aims to do just that. Headed by Professor constituent parts of a group or nation. liberal tradition of political thought Peter Morey from the University of East We place trust in our leaders to govern with individualism at its heart. Th is London, working in partnership with Dr us, but more insistently we place trust individualism emerges both in the way Amina Yaqin’s Centre for the Study of in others in our day-to-day interactions. rights are distributed and in an economic Pakistan at SOAS along with the Dialogue Th us, the project has both a theoretical system that privileges individual labour, Society, British Library, the photographer dimension and a practical side. Issues such property and wealth. It places an emphasis Peter Sanders, researchers at the American as multiculturalism and trust, radicalisation, on reconciling the interests of each University (Washington D.C.) and state violence and Islamophobia have been with the rights of all to create a good Michigan State University, MTCD has been considered in a series of conferences and society by appealing to enlightened self- exploring the conditions for intercultural seminars, alongside contemporary questions interest. Th e liberal approach imposes a trust in the modern world. Our approach of trust in the burgeoning fi eld of Islamic particularist Enlightenment understanding has been to look across disciplines and capital and branding. Understanding trust of western culture that tends to ignore spheres of activity – seeing how trust is means understanding the social conditions Islamic traditions of philosophy that have historically infl uenced the European Understanding trust means understanding the social Renaissance. Th is includes the debates over conditions in which it can fl ourish, conditions which are the rights of communities and individuals as well as refl ections on coexistence that came far from straightforward in polycultural modern nations out of a multi-faith society in Andalusia.

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 15 Th e art scene in Britain is providing vibrant and exclusive interpretations of British and European identity and envisioning the ways alternative spaces for the emergence of a wide a broad-based but cohesive society can be variety of interfaith and intercultural groups reimagined in the interests of all its citizens. Th e problem, as Bhikhu Parekh highlights, Project, a multi-faith choir; Love & For further details about the project please is that the current British tradition works Etiquette, a non-profi t visual arts visit our website. with a model of human nature as universal, organisation; and MUJU, a Muslim and http://www.muslimstrustdialogue.org/ fi xed and essential and community as a Jewish theatre company based at the singular notion. Th is is clearly a problematic Tricycle Th eatre in London. Participant Th e authors of this piece are grateful model for multicultural societies because it observation and in-depth interviews with to Alaya Forte and Asmaa Soliman for ignores the fact that humans are culturally organisers and participants has revealed providing the text on the case study. embedded and that cultures diff er what could be described as a ‘toolkit’ for signifi cantly. building trust and intercultural relations: (1) Peter Morey is Professor of English and Th e focus on individualism also partly the joint creation of a common and original Postcolonial Studies at the University of East explains the challenge to the liberal arts project, which encourages a feeling of London. Among his publications is Framing consensus posed by contemporary forms interdependence between group members Muslims (Harvard University Press, 2011), of collective identity politics. Fighting back in a spirit of mutual cooperation; (2) the co-written with Amina Yaqin. Since 2012 against the eff ects of this unwieldy diversity occurrence of mutual vulnerability, which he has been a Research Councils UK Global as enshrined in state multiculturalism, in turn promotes empathy and spiritual Uncertainty Leadership Fellow heading the David Cameron sought to invoke and affi nities; (3) the recognition of one’s own Muslims, Trust and Cultural Dialogue reinvigorate what he called a ‘muscular humanity and the humanity of others project; Amina Yaqin is Senior Lecturer in liberalism’ in his notorious Munich Speech through the particular medium of the arts; Urdu and Postcolonial Studies at SOAS and in February 2011. Th e basic message was (4) the construction of a safe space that Chair of the Centre for the Study of Pakistan that ‘we’ in the West have a monopoly on establishes shared values and ground rules at SOAS. She is Project Partner for the the right way to organise a good society and in respect of each others’ diff erences and research project Muslims, Trust, Cultural we should expect other groups in our midst cultural sensitivities; (5) consequentially, Dialogue to sign up to it. these art forms lend themselves to a new In this fraught context the challenge for a form of ‘encountering’ where dialogue multicultural society is how to fi nd a strong and intercultural understanding naturally enough consensual basis for trust that takes emerge as a result. into account cultural diff erence. Put another As the project enters its fi nal stages we way, in the terms coined by Robert Putnam, fi nd ourselves in a heightened climate how can we build bridging social capital of political distrust between state and The Berakah Choir Concert. The Berakah Choir between communities? How do we develop communities at all levels of society, is an interfaith choir based in London. It aims that so-called ‘thin trust’ that binds us to underlining the necessity of developing to bring together people from diff erent faith backgrounds in a shared passion for music. The those we do not know and with whom we narratives of trust that are not only socio- choir belongs to the MTCD's (Muslims, Trust and have limited fi rst hand dealings, to go along economic but also culturally and historically Cultural Dialogue) research project ‘Intercultural with the ‘thick trust’ that develops from informed. Our work off ers an important Arts Groups and the Question of Trust’. This picture was taken by MTCD during Berakah’s personal familiarity? contribution in this challenging atmosphere, recent 10th anniversary concert held on 4 June Opening up spaces where individuals and developing insights that seek to cut through 2015 in London communities can come together, free from the restraints imposed by pre-determined ©

(and biased) agendas, appears to be part of MTCD the solution. Th is is only one of the fi ndings that has emerged from new fi eldwork in the UK led by Research Associate, Dr Asmaa Soliman, and Research Assistant, Ms Alaya Forte. Th e fi eldwork comprises fi ve original case studies that research and document how the art scene in Britain is providing vibrant and alternative spaces for the emergence of a wide variety of interfaith and intercultural groups. Th e fi eldwork has shown how communities have used the creative space to rebuild eroded trust and encourage intercultural dialogue in diffi cult contexts. Th ere are important lessons that can be drawn from the grassroots level and that policymakers could benefi t from. Th e case studies include the Berakah

16 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 PPHOTOHOTO COMPETITIONCOMPETITION MiddleMiddle EEastast iinn LLondonondon pphotohoto competitioncompetition rresultsesults ((2015)2015)

or the third year running we have variety of subjects has been remarkable, of Latakia, Syria. Four additional photos asked people to submit their best and the choice of winners very diffi cult won commendations. We are grateful Fphotographs of the Middle East as to make. We are delighted to announce to all who took part in the competition entries in our photo competition. Yet that the winner of the fi rst place prize and look forward to seeing what the next again the standard of entries on a wide this year is Rayan Azhari with his image competition in 2016 will bring. © Rayan Azhari © Rayan

Winning photograph ‘Latakia – Syria’

Rayan Azhari is a self-taught photographer from Syria. He has a BSc in Architecture from October University (Latakia, Syria), which helped him to refi ne and develop the way he sees the world. He became interested in long-exposure photography aft er he purchased his fi rst DSLR in 2009. To Rayan, photography gives individuals the power to freeze a very specifi c moment in time, to make it eternal. It points out the little things that most of us ignore in daily life. Th is picture was taken in March 2011. It is one of the last pictures Rayan took in Syria. To him, the image symbolises the uprising – which had just started at the time. Rayan spent two years in Syria taking pictures of buildings, cities and nature: things that have been destroyed as a result of the war. To see more of Rayan’s photographs, visit his page on Flickr: www.fl ickr.com/photos/rayanazhari/

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 17 Since 2008 Hal Wardroper has had the pleasure of travelling all over the Middle East and North Africa as a student of Arabic. Rather than photographing famous sites and landmarks, Hal feels the most interesting shots can be captured while wandering a city’s streets. He stumbled across this door whilst exploring Tunis and practicing his Arabic in the run up to his fi nal exams. Th e door led to a school for disabled children where, upon entry, he was treated like an honoured guest. He enjoyed the ‘legendary hospitality of the Arabs’ behind this beautiful door, quite

© Hal Wardroper © Hal literally, to another world.

Commendation photograph ‘Hidden Doors of Tunis’

Dr Ioannis N. Grigoriadis received his PhD in Politics at SOAS in 2005 and has been teaching at Bilkent University in Ankara since 2009. Travel photography is one of his hobbies. Pictured here, the Ishak Pasha Palace – located just a few kilometres from Turkey’s border with Iran – was built as an Ottoman provincial palace and administrative complex in the 18th century and features a unique combination of Ottoman, Iranian, Armenian, Georgian and Western architectural elements. It enjoys a dominant position over the Kurdish-inhabited town of Doğubayazıt and its plain, opposite the iconic Mount Ararat. © Ioannis N. Grigoriadis

Commendation photograph ‘Ishak Pasha Palace in the Morning’

18 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 Al Shuhada Street (Hebron, West Bank) may be perceived as another victim of the ongoing cycle of atrocities committed within the region. Here Israeli solders man checkpoints that stand like bookends. When addressed by them one gets a true sense of Al Shuhada Street’s desolate nature. Following the second intifada, the street was closed off to the Palestinian pedestrians who once gave it life. Th e abandoned façades of the buildings adorned by cracked shutters make for an almost cinematic interpretation. Th e desolation is not intentional, but rather

© Thomas Rackowe-Cork a victim of the Israeli regime.

Commendation photograph ‘Al Shuhada Street’

Kristine Evje is a postgraduate student studying migration and Arabic at SOAS. Her experiences with language classes for asylum seekers in Norway sparked her interest in Arabic and Middle Eastern cultures. During a semester abroad in Jordan in 2013, she recalls feeling incredibly welcome in a region where foreigners increasing elect not to go. Near-empty hotels and tour buses demonstrated how the confl icts in Jordan’s neighboring countries had an eff ect on its own tourism industry. In this photo, taken in downtown Amman, we see postcards depicting Jordan’s historic sights. It seems almost as if the merchant – who never replaced

© Kristine Evje them – and the postcards themselves have given up hope that they will ever Commendation photograph ‘Forgotten Postcards’ be fi lled with ‘wish-you-were-heres’.

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 19 EEXHIBITIONSXHIBITIONS

Fahmida Suleman, curator of the exhibition, provides a glimpse of what Life and sole showcases LifeLife aandnd ssole:ole: ffootwearootwear fromfrom tthehe IIslamicslamic wworldorld British Museum, Room 34 Until 15 May 2016

uxury begins the day a man starts embroidered red leather slippers (tarkasin) footwear as markers of social and cultural wearing shoes. (Tuareg proverb, North made in Ghadamis, in western Libya that identity, status symbols and class indicators. Africa) would have formed an essential element of A pair of wooden stilted bath clogs (called L th Shoes oft en refl ect a person’s identity, a bride’s wedding trousseau. Th e tongues nalın in Turkish) from 19 -century status, profession or lifestyle. Footwear can of these hand-stitched slippers are cut into Ottoman Turkey elucidates this point also reveal something of a person’s beliefs, the shape of khamsas or ‘Hands of Fatima’ (fi g. 1). Each clog, measuring 26 cm in customs, pastimes and traditions. Th e and their uppers are embellished with shiny height (over ten inches), is decorated with current exhibition at the British Museum, metal studs, all of which protect the bride inlaid mother-of-pearl and a velvet strap Life and sole: footwear from the Islamic from the ‘eye of envy’ and defl ect harmful ornamented with gold thread embroidery world, explores these themes through a forces, keeping her safe. A pair of men’s and spangles. Th is style of footwear was selection of shoes, sandals, slippers, clogs, sandals from southern Yemen exemplifi es made across Ottoman Turkey, Egypt and boots and related objects from North Africa, footwear for extreme environments. Th ey the Levant and worn by urban women Turkey, the Middle East, Iran, Central Asia are constructed with distinctive shields on within the home and the hammam. and South Asia. Dating from the 1800s to top that are designed to fl ap when worn Although designed for the practical purpose the present day, the objects on view attest in order to frighten away any snakes or of raising the wearer’s feet off the wet and to the richness and variety of designs, scorpions that might be lurking in the dirty fl oor, moving around in them oft en materials and manufacturing techniques desert. Made in the Governorate of Abyan required the help of a personal attendant from across the Islamic world. in the 1980s, the style is also popular in for support. Additionally, the high level Th e display includes shoes for ceremonial neighbouring Saudi Arabia. of craft smanship and luxurious materials occasions, such as a pair of richly Th e display also explores the role of of these bath clogs indicate that only an upper-class client could have aff orded them. Women scrutinised one another in the confi nes of the bathhouse not only in terms of their physical beauty but equally for the splendour of their bathing accoutrements (from embroidered towels to footwear). Known as qabqab in Arabic (plural qabaqib) – which is derived from the clacking sound they made on the marble fl oors of the bathhouse – these shoes are a refl ection of the social and class hierarchies embedded within Ottoman society. Th e exhibition also includes contemporary artwork by the Palestinian fashion designer, Omar Joseph Nasser- Khoury, which draws on the iconic form of the Ottoman qabqab in order to engage with a more modern tale of Middle Eastern politics and society (fi g. 2). Entitled ‘Th e

© Trustees of the British Museum Trustees © PLO Clogs, Prototype II (Deconstructed)’,

20 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 © Omar Joseph Nasser-Khoury, Trustees of the British Museum Nasser-Khoury designed and constructed which are meant to precariously prop up his clogs from beech wood in East the PLO Clogs, are also engraved with Jerusalem and had them laser-engraved talismanic squares with Arabic letters and and hand-inlaid with mother-of-pearl by numbers although, ironically, the letters two Palestinian craft smen, Osama Handal are not derived from sacred texts but from (Bethlehem) and Hanna Yateem (Beit the PLO slogan: National Unity (wahda Sahour), respectively. Th e deconstructed wataniyya), National Mobilisation (ta'bi'a clogs are made using the resized outlines qawmiyya) and Freedom (hurriyya). of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Similarly, the numbers engraved on the (PLO) logo for the footing, and the design six identical stilts are 242 and 338 – the of the six identical stilts of the clogs are two key United Nations Resolutions for references to the concrete slabs of the West Palestine. According to the designer, ‘such Bank Separation Wall. Th e inscriptions on Party slogans and UN Resolutions remain the stilts are inspired both by the graffi ti symbolic, almost sacred, even though they on the Wall and inscriptions on traditional are becoming increasingly meaningless to talismanic seals and amulets (fi g. 3). Palestinians.’ In Nasser-Khoury’s view, the 19th-century Structurally and technically Nasser- clogs historically refl ect the decadence of Khoury’s work draws inspiration from the Ottomans and his PLO Clogs, similarly, the fashion and footwear traditions off er a metaphorical comment on what of the Ottoman world of which the he sees as ‘the dysfunctionality of the British Museum has one of the richest Palestinian political establishment. In their ethnographic collections. Th e clogs carry capacity as footwear, the PLO Clogs are a strong tone of irony and cynicism, much totally impractical and almost dangerous like the rest of the designer’s work. Despite to wear; very much like the relationship the what this might suggest, Nasser-Khoury’s PLO now has with the Israeli Occupation.’ PLO Clogs are underlined by a strong ethic Furthermore, Nasser-Khoury’s clogs are of hope and playfulness. designed using his own feet as templates and are physically very large and masculine, Visit www.britishmuseum.org for further therefore subverting the notion of gender details of the programme of gallery talks specifi c fashion and footwear. and events Th e numbers and letters on the stilts also reference the longstanding and widespread Dr Fahmida Suleman is Phyllis Bishop belief in the use of talismans and amulets Curator for the Modern Middle East at the within Middle Eastern contexts to protect British Museum and Curator of Life and the wearer from the ‘evil eye’, malevolent sole: footwear from the Islamic world, spirits (jinn) or disease. Such amulets are supported by Steven Larcombe and Sonya oft en inscribed with sacred texts, magic Leydecker, on view in Room 34 until 15 May numbers and letters, and talismanic 2016 squares and symbols to increase their effi cacy. In the same vein the six stilts,

(Opposite) Figure 1, Women’s bath clogs inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Turkey, 1800-1850. Gift of Henry Christy. BM reg. no.As.1553.a-b (Left) Figure 2, 'The PLO Clogs', Prototype II (Deconstructed). Omar Joseph Nasser-Khoury. Beech wood, mother-of-pearl and silk. East Jerusalem, Palestine, 2014. BM reg. no. 2015,6039.1.a-h. Photo courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum (Above) Figure 3, Line drawing of the engravings

© Omar Joseph Nasser-Khoury on the stilts of 'The PLO Clogs'

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 21 RREVIEWS:EVIEWS: BOOKSBOOKS TThehe HHolyoly CCitiesities ooff AArabiarabia

By Eldon Rutter

Arabian Publishing, June 2015, £40.00

Reviewed by John Shipman

his book caused a sensation when it in the Hijaz. Under Wahhabi occupation a Rutter was not wholly innocent of was fi rst published, in two volumes, in foreigner risked denunciation as a spy and subterfuge. For unexplained reasons he T1928. But the fame of its author, Eldon death. changed his given names of Clement Rutter, was short-lived and his exceptional Facey argues persuasively that Rutter’s Edward to Eldon and knocked four years work soon forgotten. So this reprint of Th e pilgrimage was motivated by faith not off his actual age, possibly to reduce the Holy Cities of Arabia seeks to rescue this subterfuge. He adopted the identity of a gap between him and his future wife; she major classic of Arabian travel literature Syrian merchant because he wished to was only 19 but he 36 when they married from undeserved oblivion. Th e book is remain as inconspicuous as possible. Th e in 1930. Impecunious, oft en jobless and a treasure house of descriptive writing, sheer magnitude and scope of his book, leading an increasingly nomadic existence, social anthropology, Islamic history and let alone the feat of memory and covert Rutter became a largely absentee husband scholarship. William Facey, the publisher note-taking it involved, must have been and father to his two children. Th e strain and co-author with Sharon Sharpe of the inspired by his conversion. Rutter, like John on his marriage resulted in divorce. It is sad reprint’s masterly introduction, has already Keane and Arthur Wavell before him, was that the promise of his early literary success single-handedly rescued from obscurity two refreshingly free from racial prejudice; he ended on a note of anti-climax. Rutter left previous English visitors to Mecca: John also had an artist’s eye for detail and his for Venice in 1956 and was never seen again. Keane (2006) and Lady Evelyn Cobbold surveys of buildings and sites of visitation Mecca’s skyline and landscape have (2008). Th is reprint is his most ambitious were done with the precision of an architect. changed almost beyond recognition and taxing project. He spent ten months in Mecca – longer since Rutter’s time due to recurrent Rutter was born in 1894 in Camberwell. than any previous Western visitor – and redevelopment driven by the onus of having Th e premature death of his father obliged then two months in Medina where he was to accommodate an ever increasing infl ux him to leave school at 16. Military service the fi rst Westerner to witness the wave of of pilgrims. People complain that modernity as a trooper during WWI took him to wanton destruction perpetrated by the and consumerism have compromised the Egypt and Palestine. Aft er the war he spent Wahhabis during and aft er their recent siege city’s sacred identity, making the pilgrimage nearly four years working for Nestle in of the city. During his fi rst visit to the Haram an adjunct of the retail trade. Rutter’s vivid Penang, Malaya, where he learned Arabic of the Great Mosque in Mecca he glimpsed evocation of Mecca may serve as a timely from Hadhrami immigrants and formally Sultan (later King) Abdul Aziz about to antidote. converted to Islam. Aft er his return from the perform the towaf. Th ey were to meet Far East in 1924, he spent a year in Egypt several times. Rutter’s admiration for Abdul Before retirement John Shipman served as a studying the theology of his adopted faith in Aziz was matched by his contempt for his diplomat in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. He preparation for his pilgrimage to Mecca and Wahhabi militia. was Editor of the British-Yemeni Society Medina in 1925/26. Th e Hijaz was in turmoil Rutter returned to Arabia in 1929/30 with Journal, 1998-2014 due to the incursions of the Wahhabis, the a view to making a north-south crossing ‘Ikhwan’, a fanatically puritan sect of Islam. of the Empty Quarter but his ambition Mecca had fallen to them and Medina was thwarted by tribal politics. Instead he was under siege. Th eir seizure of Jedda travelled to Hail. Th is was his last visit to completed the overthrow of Hashemite rule Arabia.

22 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 BBOOKSOOKS ININ BRIEFBRIEF TThehe IInternationalnternational PPoliticsolitics ooff tthehe MMiddleiddle EEastast ((SecondSecond eedition)dition) By Raymond Hinnebusch

Th is book systematically combines international relations theory and Middle East case studies to provide a macro overview of the international relations of the region. Topics include the place of the Middle East in the wider global system; the role of Arabism and Islam in regional politics; the impact of state formation in the region on its international relations; comparative foreign policy making looking at pivotal country cases, including Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey; major regional wars and eff orts at order building; the role of US hegemony and the two Iraq wars and the impact of the Arab Uprising on regional politics.

August 2015, Manchester University Press, £19.99 MMuteduted MModernists:odernists: TThehe SStruggletruggle ooverver DDivineivine PPoliticsolitics iinn SSaudiaudi AArabiarabia By Madawi Al-Rasheed In her new book Madawi Al-Rasheed examines a long tradition of engaging with modernism that gathered momentum with the Arab uprisings and incurred the wrath of both the Saudi regime and its Wahhabi supporters. With this nascent modernism, constructions of new divine politics, anchored in a rigorous reinterpretation of foundational Islamic texts and civil society activism, are emerging in a context where an authoritarian state prefers its advocates to remain muted. Based on a plethora of texts written by ulama and intellectuals, interviews with important modernist interlocutors, and analysis of online sources, the author debunks several academic and ideological myths about a country struggling to free itself from the straitjacket of predetermined analysis and misguided understandings of divine politics. She also challenges much of the scholarly received wisdom on Islamism in general, blurring the boundaries between secular and religious politics.

November 2015, Hurst, £35.00 MMigrationigration ffromrom NNorthorth AAfricafrica aandnd tthehe MMiddleiddle EEast:ast: SSkilledkilled Migrants,Migrants, DevelopmentDevelopment aandnd GGlobalisationlobalisation Edited by Alessandra Venturini and Philippe Fargues

Th e countries of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEM) and those in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are crucial to the development of the world economy. Highly skilled migration to and from these regions is key to the recent socio-political transformations that have occurred across the world. Despite this, in the states concerned, skilled migration remains an underlying ‘issue of concern’, rather than at the top of political agendas, leading to a spectrum of unclear and uncoordinated legal and policy frameworks. Containing a series of thematic and country-specifi c overviews, this book highlights the specifi city of each region, and identifi es and analyses key demographic, economic, legal and political data.

June 2015, IB Tauris, £62.00

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 23 BBOOKSOOKS ININ BRIEFBRIEF TTemptationsemptations ooff PPower:ower: IIslamistsslamists aandnd IIlliberallliberal DDemocracyemocracy iinn a NNewew MMiddleiddle EEastast By Shadi Hamid In this book, Shadi Hamid draws on hundreds of interviews with leaders and activists from across the region to advance a new understanding of how Islamist movements change over time. He theorises that repression ‘forced’ Islamists to moderate their politics, work in coalitions, de-emphasise Islamic law and set aside the dream of an Islamic state. Meanwhile, democratic openings in the 1980s – and again during the Arab Spring – pushed Islamists back toward their original conservatism. With the uprisings of 2011, Islamists found themselves in an enviable position, but one for which they were unprepared. However pragmatic they may be, their ultimate goal remains the Islamisation of society. When the electorate they represent is conservative as well, they can push their own form of illiberal democracy while insisting they are carrying out the popular will. Th is can lead to overreach and signifi cant backlash. Yet, while the Egyptian coup and the subsequent crackdown were a devastating blow for the Islamist ‘project’, obituaries of political Islam are premature.

November 2015, Oxford University Press, £12.99 SSurvivingurviving IImages:mages: CCinema,inema, WWar,ar, aandnd CCulturalultural MMemoryemory iinn tthehe MMiddleiddle EEastast By Kamran Rastegar Surviving Images explores the prominent role of cinema in the development of cultural memory around war and confl ict in colonial and postcolonial contexts. It does so through a study of three historical eras: the colonial period, the national-independence struggle, and the postcolonial. Beginning with a study of British colonial cinema on the Sudan, then exploring anti-colonial cinema in Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia, followed by case studies of fi lms emerging from postcolonial contexts in Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, and Israel, this work aims to fi ll a gap in the critical literature on both Middle Eastern cinemas, and to contribute more broadly to scholarship on social trauma and cultural memory in colonial and postcolonial contexts. Th is work treats the concept of trauma critically, however, and posits that social trauma must be understood as a framework for producing social and political meaning out of these historical events. Social trauma thus sets out a productive process of historical interpretation, and cultural texts such as cinematic works both illuminate and contribute to this process.

May 2015, Oxford University Press, £20.49 NNormsorms aandnd GGenderender DDiscriminationiscrimination iinn tthehe AArabrab WWorldorld

By Adel SZ Abadeer

Th e marginalisation of women can oft en be linked to certain embedded informal norms, especially in collectivist communities in developing countries. Understanding the roots and processes of marginalising women is vital for designing and proposing eff ective interventions against many forms of gender discrimination in these societies. In this book, Abadeer incorporates informal norms such as religion, mores, myths, taboos, codes of conduct, customary laws and traditions into the structure of formal rules (e.g. polity, judiciary, law and the enforcement of law), which in turn infl uence the governance of the transactions. He also examines how these norms infl uence the behaviours of women, men, collectivist units and society overall, and how those behaviours aff ect their well-being.

October 2015, Palgrave Macmillan, £19.00

24 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 PPROFILEROFILE SScottcott RedfordRedford

Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology, SOAS

cott Redford joined SOAS last culture of both the Crusader states State in Medieval Anatolia: Seljuk Gardens year as Nasser D. Khalili Chair in established in the eastern Mediterranean and Pavilions of Alanya, Turkey (2000), SIslamic Art and Archaeology in the in the 12th and 13th centuries and their Victory Inscribed: Th e Seljuk Fetihname on Department of the History of Art and Islamic and Christian neighbours. He the Citadel Walls of Antalya, Turkey (with Archaeology. He moved to London from continued studying Crusader as well as Gary Leiser, 2008) and most recently, Istanbul, Turkey, where he taught in the Islamic material as Director of Medieval last year’s Legends of Authority: Th e 1215 Department of Archaeology and History Operations at Bilkent University Seljuk Inscriptions of Sinop Citadel, Turkey. of Art at Koç University and served as excavations at the southern Turkish site of At SOAS, Redford’s archaeological Founding Director of Koç University’s Kinet between 1996 and 2005. At present, experience leads him to incorporate Research Centre for Anatolian with a grant from the Getty Foundation’s archaeology into his art history classes Civilisations. At SOAS, Redford replaced Connecting Art Histories programme, he on the period of the Crusades, medieval Professor Doris Behrens-Abouseif, who is conducting a two-year seminar on the Anatolia, the Caucasus, Iran, Central retired in 2014 aft er a distinguished art history and archaeology of the period Asia and the Ottoman Empire. In term 1 career. of the Crusades. this year, he is teaching an MA course on Professor Redford wrote his doctorate In addition to the Crusades, Redford Islamic archaeology. In it, he uses material at Harvard University with Oleg Grabar. has worked extensively on another in SOAS’s own collections, as SOAS Before moving to Koç University, he medieval dynasty, the Seljuks of Anatolia, has a long and rich tradition of Islamic taught at Georgetown University. Redford who ruled in what is now Turkey. He has archaeology dating back to the 1950s. In has worked in Egypt, excavating at published three books and many articles all of his courses, he takes advantage of Fustat (Old Cairo) as part of American on various aspects of the Seljuks and the rich Islamic art holdings of the British University in Cairo excavations there, medieval Islamic culture in Anatolia, Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, as well as on the Red Sea as part of including gardens, caravansaries, the British Library and other cultural University of Chicago excavations at fortifi cations, and inscriptions. His books institutions in London. the medieval Islamic port of Quseir. In on the Seljuks include Landscape & the addition, he has excavated with missions from the CNRS (Paris) in Cyprus and in the United Arab Emirates. But archaeology doesn’t consist entirely of fi eldwork: he also spent two years in Philadelphia working for Professor Renata Holod on the classifi cation and analysis of fi nds from University of Pennsylvania excavations at the medieval Islamic city of Rayy, Iran in the 1930s. However, most of Redford’s scholarly eff orts have centred on Turkey. His excavations in southeastern Turkey in the 1980s formed the basis of his doctoral dissertation and fi rst book: Th e Archaeology of the Frontier in the Medieval Near East: Excavations at Gritille, Turkey (Philadelphia, 1998). Here, working as part of a team from Bryn Mawr College, he helped uncover remains of a 12th-century fort guarding a crossing of the Euphrates River. Th is site, which formed part of the short-lived Scott Redford on a scaff old studying a Persian Crusader County of Edessa, led Redford verse inscription from 1215 on the citadel walls to an abiding interest in the material of Sinop, a Black Sea port in Turkey

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 25 LISTINGS EEventsvents iinn LLondonondon

HE EVENTS and organisations listed Tbelow are not necessarily endorsed or supported by The Middle East in London. The accompanying texts and images are based primarily on information provided by the organisers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the compilers or publishers. While every possible effort is made to ascertain the accuracy of these listings, readers are advised to seek confirmation of all events using the contact details provided for each event. Submitting entries and updates: please send all updates and submissions for entries related to future events via e-mail to [email protected]

Noor Abu Arafeh, Observational Desire on a Memory that Remains, 2014. Suspended Accounts - Young Artist of the BM – British Museum, Great Year Award 2014 (YAYA14) (See Exhibitions, p. 34) Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG SOAS –SOAS, University of Abdolmohammadi (LSE). Impey's presentation focuses interpretation of Islamic doctrine London, Th ornhaugh Street, Organised by: LSE Middle East on the Dinka ox-songs in South and practice in multi-faith Russell Square, London WC1H Centre. Th e last 15 years has Sudan and how, in their capacity as contexts as to suggest a distinctive 0XG seen a new generation emerge public hearings, songs function as branch of contemporary Islamic LSE – London School of in Iran with a renewed social, judicial instruments of narration, philosophy of religion specifi cally Economics and Political Science, political and cultural awareness: listening and understanding, suited for this purpose: Islamic Houghton Street, London WC2 new ideas related to democracy off ering discursive spaces for the Critical Realism (ICR). Admission 2AE and constitutionalism are again expression of multiple public free. Room B111, SOAS. E cis@ gaining momentum and support. positions and forms of agency. soas.ac.uk W www.soas.ac.uk/ Th is situation, it is argued, Admission free. Room G52, islamicstudies/events/ DECEMBER EVENTS might likely lead Iran toward SOAS. E [email protected] W www. a “Renaissance” phase. Chair: soas.ac.uk/music/events/ 5:00 pm | Navigating the Roham Alvandi (LSE). Admission Euro/African Border and Tuesday 1 December free. Pre-registration required. Wednesday 2 December Migration Nexus through the Room 9.04, Tower 2, Clement's Borderscape Lens: A Multi- 1:15 pm | Th e Dinar and its Inn, LSE. T 020 7955 6198 E 1:00 pm | A Philosophy to sited Exploration of the Italian/ Signifi cance (Gallery Talk) [email protected] W www.lse. 'underlabour' for Islam in a Tunisian Borderscape ‘Beyond Rebecca Horton (BM). Organised ac.uk/middleEastCentre/ Multi-Faith World: Islamic the Line’ (Seminar) Chiara by: BM. Admission free. Room Critical Realism (Seminar) Brambilla (Centre for Research on 68, BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. 5:15 pm | Th e Arts of Transitional Matthew Wilkinson (Centre of Complexity (CERCO), University britishmuseum.org Justice: Song as Truth-Telling Islamic Studies, SOAS). Organised of Bergamo, Italy) Organised by: and Memory in South Sudan by: Centre of Islamic Studies, Centre for Migration and Diaspora 4:30 pm | Th e Revival of (Seminar) Angela Impey (SOAS) SOAS. Th e philosophy of critical Studies, SOAS. Brambilla looks at Nationalism and Secularism in Organised by: Department of realism so fi ttingly ‘underlabours’ how the Euro/African border and Modern Iran (Lecture) Pejman Music, School of Arts, SOAS. for the contemporary migration nexus at and across the

26 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 Mediterranean has emerged as peoples in two very diff erent fi rst piano known to have arrived 4429, SOAS. E [email protected] W a crucial space for investigating geographical regions capitalised in Persia was a gift from Napoleon www.soas.ac.uk/cas/events/ borders not as taken-for-granted on their local environments and Bonaparte to Fath'Ali Shah of entities exclusively connected to resources. Organised by: BM. the Qajar dynasty. Th is concert 6:15 pm | Th e Aramaic Magic the territorial limits of nation- Admission free. Pre-registration celebrates the 200th anniversary Bowls in the Schøyen Collection states, but as mobile, relational required. BP Lecture Th eatre, of Piano in Persian music and the and their Importance for and contested sites, thereby BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. emergence of a new generation of the Study of Late Antique exploring alternative border britishmuseum.org highly versatile Iranian pianists Mesopotamia (Seminar) Siam imaginaries ‘beyond the line’. and composers, including for Bhayro (Exeter). Organised Admission free. Room G52, SOAS. 7:00 pm | Contemplative the fi rst time women composers by: Th e London Centre for the E [email protected] W www. Geometry: Refl ections on Islamic in Iran. Tickets: £20. Leighton Ancient Near East. Ancient Near soas.ac.uk/migrationdiaspora/ Art (Lecture) Richard Henry. House, 12 Holland Park Road, East Seminar series. Convenor: seminarsevents/ Organised by: Th e Temenos London W14 8LZ. T 0787 389 Andrew George, SOAS. Admission Academy. Richard Henry explores 4483 E [email protected] W free. L67, SOAS. E [email protected] 6.00 pm | Th e State of Algeria: the symbolism of geometric forms, www.navaarts.co.uk W http://banealcane.org/lcane/ Th e Politics of a Post-Colonial the visual hierarchy within Islamic Legacy (Lecture) Malika Rebai art and the underlying language of Monday 7 December Tuesday 8 December Maamri (National Postgraduate symmetry hidden beneath surface School of Political Science). patterns. Th e talk will be illustrated 5:15 pm | Agricultural Potential 1:15 pm | Th e Arts in Fatimid Organised by: LSE Middle East by examples of the speaker’s own in the Sudans: Past Experience Egypt (Gallery Talk) Venetia Centre. Launching her book, work, in addition to photographs and Future Outlook (Lecture) Porter (BM). Organised by: Malika Rebai Maamri argues that from his extensive studies across Organised by: Centre of African BM. Admission free. Room 34, Algeria's postcolonial history and the Islamic world. Tickets: Studies, SOAS. Th e prospects for BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. politics are, in fact, a series of £5/£3.50 conc./students with ID Sudan and South Sudan to become britishmuseum.org attempts to come to terms with free. Th e Royal Asiatic Society, major agricultural producers have the dire consequences of this 14 Stephenson Way, London been deliberated for over a century. 5:45 pm | 7 Sides of A Cylinder colonial past. Chair: John King NW1 4HD. T 01233 813663 E Most have failed or had limited - 7 Short Films by 7 Iranian (Society for Algerian Studies). temenosacademy@myfastmail. success. Experts from the fi eld will Filmmakers (Film) Organised Admission free. Pre-registration com W www.temenosacademy.org discuss the failures and successes by: London Middle East Institute, required. Room 9.04, Tower 2, of these projects and evaluate the SOAS (LMEI) and the Centre Clement's Inn, LSE. T 020 7955 Saturday 5 December pros and cons of the continued for Iranian Studies. Screening 6198 E [email protected] W www. pursuit of modern intensive crop of 7 Sides of a Cylinder, a lse.ac.uk/middleEastCentre/ 7:30 pm | From Napoleon with production. Part of the Sudan & multi-vocal fi lm that addresses Love: 200th Anniversary of Piano South Sudan Series. Chair: Mawan the importance of the Cyrus 6:30 pm | Yalda Event Organised in Persian Music (Concert) Th e Muortat. Admission free. Room Cylinder and its fi rst-ever tour by: Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF). Yalda is celebrated on the eve of the winter solstice, marking 7 Sides of A Cylinder - 7 Short Films by 7 Iranian Filmmakers (See December Events, Tuesday 8 December, above) the turning point at which the days once again start to get longer, symbolizing the triumph of light over darkness. Th e evening will include a brief presentation on the history and signifi cance of Yalda as well as poetry readings by Narguess Farzad (SOAS) and Alan Williams (Manchester University), followed by a reception with drinks and traditional nibbles. Tickets: £10/Friends of IHF free. Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP. T 020 7493 4766 E info@iranheritage. org W www.iranheritage.org

Th ursday 3 December

4:00 pm | Th e Living Landscapes of Oman and Jordan in the Bronze Age (Lecture) Caroline Cartwright (BM). Lecture illustrating how Bronze Age

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 27 of the United States through the in the Middle East (Lecture) Followed by a private viewing of chef and food writer Anissa eyes of seven young Iranian and Dina Esfandiary (King's College the exhibition Egypt: faith aft er Helou discusses the signifi cance Iranian-American fi lmmakers. London). Organised by: LSE the pharaohs and a reception (see of bread in Egyptian cuisine and Straddling historical and cultural Middle East Centre. With the July Exhibitions p. ). Tickets: Various. its importance in shaping today’s spaces, each fi lmmaker examines 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, Stevenson Lecture Th eatre, vibrant street food scene. Tickets: the Cylinder’s signifi cance to the attention has shift ed to regional BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. £5/£3 BM Members/conc. BP construction of Iranian identity security. Esfandiary discusses who britishmuseum.org Lecture Th eatre, BM. T 020 7323 across three continents. Followed makes foreign policy decisions 8181 W www.britishmuseum.org by a Q&A with the producer Haleh in Iran, Iran’s regional policy and 6:00 pm | Th e British Mosque: Anvari. Chair: Saeed Zeydabadi- explores the impact of the nuclear Fragments of an Alternative Saturday 12 December Nejad (SOAS). Part of the agreement on its eff orts in Iraq Architecture (Talk) Kaveh LMEI's Tuesday Evening Lecture and Syria. Chair: Roham Alvandi Bakhtiar (Independent Scholar). 1:15 pm | Feeding the Gods: Programme on the Contemporary (LSE). Admission free. Room 3.02, Organised by: Royal Asiatic Feasting in Mesopotamia (Gallery Middle East. Admission free. Clement House, LSE. T 020 7955 Society. Admission free. Royal Talk) Kaori O'Connor (UCL). Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T 6198 E [email protected] W www. Asiatic Society, 14 Stephenson Way, Organised by: BM. Admission 020 7898 4330/4490 E vp6@soas. lse.ac.uk/middleEastCentre/ London NW1 2HD. T 020 7388 free. Room 56, BM. T 020 7323 ac.uk W www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/ 4539 E [email protected] 8181 W www.britishmuseum.org events/ 7:00 pm | Imitation and W http://royalasiaticsociety.org/ Innovation in Eighteenth- Sunday 13 December 7:00 pm | Th e War in Century Istanbul: the Serpent Friday 11 December Yemen: Political and Social Fountain of Sa'dabad (Lecture) 5:30 pm | Rumi with a view - Developments (Panel Discussion) Ünver Rüstem (Pembroke College, 10.00 am | Egypt and Empire: REVISITED - A physical theatre Organised by: Th e British- University of Cambridge). Religious Identities from Roman performance Doors open at Yemeni Society and the Royal Organised by: Islamic Art Circle to Modern Times (Two-Day 4:00pm. A performance that Society for Asian Aff airs. at SOAS. Part of the Islamic Colloquium: Th ursday 10 - Friday combines modern physical theatre Speakers: Baraa Shiban (Yemen’s Art Circle at SOAS Lecture 11 December) See event listing with the classical text of Rumi, in National Dialogue Conference Programme. Chair: Scott Redford above. a conversation about spirituality, Member), Noel Brehony CMG (SOAS). Admission free. Khalili love and education. Tickets: (MENAS Associates) and Andre Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T 0771 6:00 pm | "Cette mosquée n’est £17/£14/£8 Pre-booking required Heller Perache (Médecins Sans 408 7480 E rosalindhaddon@ d’aucune importance pour notre W https://rumiwithaview. Frontières). Discussant: Nawal al- gmail.com W www.soas.ac.uk/art/ art architectural." Th e Balyan eventbrite.co.uk Colet house, 151 Maghafi (Freelance Producer and islac/ family and Levantine solidarity Talgarth Road, London W14 9DA. Reporter). Admission free. Pre- in the face of nationalist T 0753 163 0559 E sam.rume@ registartion required E sec@b-ys. Th ursday 10 December historiography in Turkey.’ gmail.com org.uk. Khalili Lecture Th eatre, (Seminar) Alyson Wharton. SOAS. W www.b-ys.org.uk 10.00 am | Egypt and Empire: Organised by: Organised by the Tuesday 15 December Religious Identities from SOAS Modern Turkish Studies 7:00 pm | British Museum/ Roman to Modern Times (Two- Programme (London Middle 1:15 pm | Sobek: Egypt’s Th e Guardian Public Forum: Day Colloquium: Th ursday 10 - East Institute, SOAS). Sponsored Crocodile God (Gallery Talk) Coexistence and Confl ict: Can Friday 11 December) Organised by Nurol Bank. Admission free. Julie Anderson (BM). Organised Egypt’s Past Inform the Future? by: BM. Colloquium bringing Convened by: Gamon McLellan by: BM. Admission free. Room Organised by: BM. Chaired by together over 20 international (SOAS) and Yorgos Dedes (SOAS). 3, BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. Jon Snow, Channel 4 News, and scholars to discuss the ways in Room 116, SOAS. E gd5@soas. britishmuseum.org introduced by Neil MacGregor, which empire has shaped, or been ac.uk / [email protected] W www. Director of the BM. Includes a shaped by, religion in Egypt up to soas.ac.uk/lmei/events/ Wednesday 16 December private view of the exhibition the 20th century. Tickets: Various. Egypt: faith aft er the pharaohs Stevenson Lecture Th eatre, 6:00 pm | Th e Soul of Egypt 6:00 pm | Th e Management (See Exhibitions p. 34) With BM BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. Organised by: BM. An evening Plans for the Marshlands and Trustee and commentator on britishmuseum.org of performances, workshops the Sites of Eridu, Ur and religious aff airs Karen Armstrong, and activities celebrating the Uruk in the Context of their writer and BM Trustee Ahdaf 5:30 pm | Egyptian Religious enduring soul of Egypt, past and Submission for World Heritage Soueif, writer and former Egypt Identities under Imperial Rule: present. Includes traditional folk Inscription (Lecture) Géraldine correspondent for Th e Guardian Critical Refl ections (Lecture) music and dance, as well as a Chatelard (Institut français du Jack Shenker, and Khaled Fahmy, Organised by: BM. Roger Bagnall demonstration of the Egyptian Proche-Orient (IFPO), Amman). American University in Cairo. (Institute for the Study of the stick martial art known as tahtib. Organised by: Th e British Institute Tickets: £15/£12 BM Members/ Ancient World at New York Admission free. Great Court and for the Study of Iraq. In January conc. University). In his keynote address galleries, BM. T 020 7323 8181 W 2014, the government of Iraq (see colloquium above) Bagnall www.britishmuseum.org submitted the Marshlands and Wednesday 9 December looks at the emergence of religious the archaeological sites of Eridu, identity in Egypt from Hellenistic 6:30 pm | Egyptian Street Food Ur and Uruk for inscription on 6.00 pm | Aft er the Nuclear times to the Arab conquest and Now (Lecture) Organised by: the World Heritage list, Chatelard Deal: Iranian Foreign Policy its relationship to imperial rule. BM. Internationally renowned presents the approach taken by

28 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 LONDON LONDON MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE MIDDLE EAST SOAS, University of London INSTITUTE

TUESDAY LECTURE PROGRAMME ON THE CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST SPRING 2016 12 January A Holy War Made in America: The United States and the 1914 Germano-Ottoman Call for Global Jihad Karine Walther, Georgetown University - School of Foreign Service in Qatar 19 January The Struggle for the State in Jordan: The Social Origins of Alliances in the Middle East Jamie Allinson, University of Edinburgh Lecture organised jointly with the Centre for Palestine Studies, SOAS 26 January Popular Protest in Palestine: The Uncertain Future of Unarmed Resistance Marwan Darweish, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University and Andrew Rigby, Coventry University Lecture organised jointly with the Centre for Palestine Studies, SOAS 2 February Why Did Economists Miss out on the Arab Uprisings? Hassan Hakimian, LMEI 9 February Reading Week 16 February Money and Value: From Qur'an to contemporary Islamic Economics Ersilia Francesca, L'Orientale, Napoli and SOAS 23 February Lebanon and the 21st century: everyday life in times of permanent crisis Andrew Arsan, University of Cambridge 1 March Poetry and Politics in the Modern Arab World Atef Alshaer, University of Westminster 8 March Title TBC Kamran Matin, University of Sussex 15 March Violence and the City in the Modern Middle East Nelida Fuccaro, SOAS

TUESDAYS 5:45 PM KHALILI LECTURE THEATRE, MAIN BUILDING, SOAS The Lectures are free and open to all. Tea and biscuits are available from 5:15 pm For further information contact: The London Middle East Institute at SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H OXG, T: 020 7898 4330; E: [email protected], W: www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 29 CENTRE FOR IRANIAN STUDIES – SCHOLARSHIPS

SOAS, University of London, is pleased to announce the availability of several scholarships in its Centre for Iranian Studies (CIS). The Centre, established in 2010, draws upon the range of academic research and teaching across the disciplines of SOAS, including Languages and Literature, the Study of Religions, History, Economics, Politics, International Relations, Music, Art and Media and Film Studies. It aims to

build close relations with likeminded p 25 . of the School Oriental and African Studies, London, 2007, Treasures institutions and to showcase and foster the best of contemporary Iranian talent in art and culture. MA in Iranian Studies *O

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2015/16. Thanks to the generosity of the Fereydoun Djam Charitable Trust, a number of Kamran Djam scholarships are available for BA, MA and MPhil/PhD studies. MA in Iranian Studies For further details, please contact: Dr Nima Mina (Department of the Languages and Culture of the Middle East) Scholarships Offi cer E: [email protected] E: [email protected] T: +44 (0)20 7898 4315 T: +44 (0)20 7074 5091/ 5094 W: www.soas.ac.uk/nme/programmes/ W: www.soas.ac.uk/scholarships ma-in-iranian-studies Centre for Iranian Studies Student Recruitment Dr Arshin Adib-Moghaddam (Chair) T: +44(0)20 7898 4034 E: [email protected] E: [email protected] T: +44 (0)20 7898 4747 W: www.soas.ac.uk/lmei-cis

30 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 Iraqi and international partners Friday 11 December acts in the forging of citizenly 6:30 pm | Th e Arab World at the to prepare the nomination dossier imaginaries and will explore a Crossroads: Collapse or Reform? and the management plan. 7:00 pm | I Love Cinema/Baheb range of ways that they are used (Lecture) Shafeeq Ghabra (Kuwait Admission free. Pre-registration El Cima (Film) Dir Oussama to allegorize personal aspirations, University). Organised by: LSE required. Th e British Academy, 10 Fawzi (2004). Cairo, 1966, and strengthen communities and Kuwait Programme. LSE Kuwait Carlton House Terrace, London seven year old Naeem lives for the cultivate political engagement. Programme Annual Lecture. SW1Y 5AH. T 020 7969 5274 E Cinema, dreaming of becoming Part of the Sudan & South Sudan Shafeeq Ghabra will discuss the [email protected] W www.bisi. a director. Admission free. Th e Series. Chairs: Angela Impey major political changes that the ac.uk Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, (SOAS) and Mariya Hassan Arab world has undergone since Bethesda Street, City Centre, (SOAS). Admission free. Room 2011, focussing on power shift s, 6:00 pm | Decoding the Past: Stoke-on-Trent ST1 3DW. T 01782 4429, SOAS. E [email protected] W sectarianism, the role of youth Ancient Documents and Modern 232323 E museumeducation@ www.soas.ac.uk/cas/events/ groups and the challenges of Technology (Lecture) Alan stoke.gov.uk W www.ica.org.uk/ reform in the region devoting Bowman (Oxford University). off -site / www.stokemuseums.org. particular attention to the Gulf’s Organised by: Anglo Israel uk/visit/pmag/ Tuesday 12 January role in the Arab Spring and its Archaeological Society and the aft ermath. Chair: Toby Dodge Institute of Archaeology, UCL. 1:15 pm | Daily life in Late (LSE). Admission free. Pre- Followed by refreshments. JANUARY EVENTS Antique Egypt (Gallery Talk) registration required. Wolfson Admission free. Lecture Th eatre Amandine Mérat (British Th eatre, New Academic Building, G6, Ground Floor, Institute of Museum). Organised by: BM. LSE. T 020 7955 6639 E i.sinclair@ Archaeology, UCL, 31-34 Gordon Th ursday 7 January Admission free. Room 66, lse.ac.uk W www.lse.ac.uk/ Square, London WC1H OPY. T BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. middleEastCentre/kuwait/events/ 020 8349 5754 W www.aias.org.uk 1:30 pm | Judaism in Egypt: britishmuseum.org Home.aspx Philo to Maimonides (Lecture) 7:00 pm | Iran Society Christmas Nicholas de Lange (University 5:45 pm | A Holy War Made in Wednesday 13 January Party Organised by: Th e Iran of Cambridge). Organised America: Th e United States and Society. With a lecture by Dominic by: BM. Discussing religion the 1914 Germano-Ottoman 7:00 pm | Th e Hadassah and Brookshaw, Oxford University, alongside philosophical trends Call for Global Jihad (Lecture) Daniel Khalili Memorial Lecture on Qajar Women in Photography de Lange explores the fascinating Karine Walther (Georgetown in Islamic Art and Culture and Writing. A Persian dinner development of Judaism in Egypt University - School of Foreign (Lecture) Avinoam Shalem will then be provided by Mohsen from the fi rst millennium AD Service in Qatar). Organised by: (Columbia University, New Restaurant. Tickets: £35. Pre- through to the Middle Ages. London Middle East Institute, York). Organised by: Islamic booking required. St Columba’s Admission free. Pre-registration SOAS (LMEI). Lecture based on Art Circle at SOAS. Part of the Church Hall, Pont Street, London required. BP Lecture Th eatre, Walther’s Sacred Interests: Th e Islamic Art Circle at SOAS Lecture SW1X 0BD. T 020 7235 5122 E BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. United States and the Islamic Programme. Chair: Scott Redford [email protected] W www. britishmuseum.org World, 1821-1921 (UNC Press, (SOAS). Admission free. Khalili iransociety.org 2015). Aft er the Ottoman Empire Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T 0771 Friday 8 January joined the axis powers, German 408 7480 E rosalindhaddon@ leaders convinced Ottoman rulers gmail.com W www.soas.ac.uk/art/ EVENTS OUTSIDE 1:30 pm | Curator's Introduction to declare a “Holy War” that islac/ LONDON to Egypt: Faith aft er the Pharaohs sought to incite colonial subjects (Lecture) Amandine Mérat in European territories to rebel (Exhibition Project Curator). against their colonial rulers. Th ursday 14 January Tuesday 1 December Organised by: BM. Admission Walther examines how some in free. Pre-registration required. BP the US worried that this would 4:00 pm | Vartan of Nazareth 5:00 pm | Syriacs/Assyrians in Lecture Th eatre, BM. T 020 7323 incite Muslim subjects in their (Lecture) Malcolm Billings the Middle East (Lecture) David 8181 W www.britishmuseum.org own colonial territories to rebel (formerly BBC World Service). G K Taylor (Th e Oriental Institute against American rule drawing Organised by: BM's Middle and Wolfson College, University American imperial rulers into East Department, the Palestine of Oxford). Organised by: Th e Monday 11 January larger global discussions about Exploration Fund and the Council Oriental Institute with the support Islam, empire, self-determination, for British Research in the Levant. of Oxford Armenian Studies, 5:15 pm |Telling the story their global security, pan-Islamism, and Billings tells the life story of Dr Professor Th eo van Lint, and the Way: Th e Arts & Social Action in Orientalist narratives of diff erence. Pacradooni Kaloost Vartan, the Oxford University Armenian the Sudans (Lecture) Organised Chair: William Gervase Clarence- son of an Armenian tailor, born Society. Eastern Christianity by: Centre of African Studies, Smith (SOAS). Part of the in Constantinople in 1835, who Lecture Series. Convener: Hratch SOAS. Culture in the Sudans has LMEI's Tuesday Evening Lecture became a leading medical pioneer Tchilingirian, University of for some time been relegated to Programme on the Contemporary and the founding father of the Oxford. Admission free. Lecture the scholarly margins Ali Mahdi Middle East. Admission free. Nazareth Hospital. Admission Room 1, Th e Oriental Institute, Nour (Albuggaa Th eatre Sudan, Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T free. Pre-registration required. University of Oxford, Pusey Unesco Artist for Peace) and John 020 7898 4330/4490 E vp6@soas. Stevenson Lecture Th eatre, Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE. E hratch. Martin (PanArts, London) address ac.uk W www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/ BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. [email protected] the arts in their capacity as critical events/ britishmuseum.org

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 31 6.00 pm | Muted Modernists: Th e in the Middle East (Lecture) London NW1 2HD. T 020 7388 6:30 pm | Religious Conversion Struggle over Divine Politics in Jamie Allinson (University of 4539 E [email protected] and Self-Fashioning among Saudi Arabia (Lecture) Madawi Edinburgh). Organised by: W http://royalasiaticsociety.org/ Armenians and Georgians in Al-Rasheed (LSE). Organised by: London Middle East Institute, Safavid Iran (Lecture) Edmund LSE Middle East Centre. Analysis SOAS (LMEI) and the Centre for Herzig, Oxford University. of both offi cial and opposition Palestine Studies. Lecture by Jamie Wednesday 20 January Organised by: Th e Iran Society. Saudi divine politics is oft en Allinson on the subject of his latest Doors open 6:30pm. Admission monolithic, conjuring images book Th e Struggle for the State 6.00 pm | How the West free for Society Members and of conservatism, radicalism, in Jordan: Th e Social Origins of Undermined Women's Rights in one guest. Pall Mall Room, Th e misogyny and resistance to Alliances in the Middle East. Chair: the Arab World (Lecture) Nicola Army & Navy Club, 36-39 Pall democracy. In her new book, Adam Hanieh (SOAS). Part of the Pratt (University of Warwick). Mall, London SW1Y 5JN (Dress Muted Modernists: the struggle LMEI's Tuesday Evening Lecture Organised by: LSE Middle East code calls for gentlemen to wear over divine politics in Saudi Programme on the Contemporary Centre. Pratt explores the history jacket and tie). T 020 7235 5122 Arabia, Al-Rasheed challenges Middle East. Admission free. of women’s activism in the Arab E [email protected] W www. this stereotype. Chair: Toby Dodge Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T world from the 1950s onwards iransociety.org / www.therag. (LSE). Admission free. Venue 020 7898 4330/4490 E vp6@soas. and highlights the signifi cance of co.uk TBC. T 020 7955 6198 E s.sfeir@ ac.uk W www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/ women’s activism and women’s lse.ac.uk W www.lse.ac.uk/ events/ rights within radical political Th ursday 21 January middleEastCentre/ projects that resisted Western 6:30 pm | Occult Philosophy infl uence from the 1950s until the 1:15 pm | Living with the Past: in Medieval Islam: Towards an 1970s. Chair: Aitemad Muhanna- Temples, Churches and Mosques Tuesday 19 January Epistemological Understanding Matar (LSE). Admission free. Pre- in Egypt (Gallery Talk) Elisabeth (Talk) Federica Gigante. Organised registration required. Room 2.02, R O’Connell (BM). Organised 5:45 pm | Th e Struggle for by: Royal Asiatic Society. Clement House, LSE T 020 7955 by: BM. Admission free. Room the State in Jordan: Th e Admission free. Royal Asiatic 6198 E [email protected] W www. 4, BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. Social Origins of Alliances Society, 14 Stephenson Way, lse.ac.uk/middleEastCentre/ britishmuseum.org

SINAI Egypt’s Linchpin, Gaza’s Lifeline, Israel’s Nightmare Mohannad Sabry

The Sinai Peninsula holds a unique strategic and political significance for Egypt and its neighbours. Enclosed by the Suez Canal and bordering Gaza and Israel, Egypt’s rugged eastern province has been the cornerstone of the Egyptian-Israeli peace accords, yet its internal politics and security have remained largely under media blackout. While the international press descended on the capital Cairo in January 2011, Sinai’s armed rebellion was largely ignored. The regime lost control of the peninsula in a matter of days and since then, unprecendented chaos has reigned. In this crucial analysis, Mohannad Sabry argues that Egypt’s shortsighted approach to national security has continually proven to be a failure.

320 Pages 228 x 150mm ISBN 9789774167287 www.ibtauris.com Hardback £19.99 November 2015 release

32 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 5:45 pm | A Lens on the Waves of Political Change in Yemen (Lecture) Nawal Al-Maghafi , journalist. Organised by: MBI Al Jaber Foundation. Part of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation Lecture Series. Al-Maghafi has been covering events in Yemen since early 2011. She will discuss her journey from the beginning of the Arab spring, the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the hopeful transitional time and its tragic end with the beginning of the war. Admission free. Pre- registration required E info@ mbifoundation.com MBI Al Jaber Conference Room, London Middle East Institute, SOAS (LMEI), University of London, MBI Al Jaber Building, 21 Russell Square, London WC1B 5EA. E [email protected] W www.mbifoundation.com

Last Of The Dictionary Men: Stories From The South Shields Yemeni Sailors (See Exhibitions, p. 34) Saturday 23 January

2:00 pm | Th e Tentmakers of Cairo (Film) Organised by: BM. Dir Kim Palestine: Th e Uncertain Future of and the Palestinians (Lecture) Conference: Monday 25 January - Beamish Australia/Egypt (2015), Unarmed Resistance (Pluto Press, Organised by: Organised by Wednesday 27 January) Organised 100 mins. Filmed over three years, 2015) in which they analyse the the Centre for Palestine Studies by: University of Manchester in this feature-length documentary role and signifi cance of unarmed at the London Middle East Association with the Centre for tells the story of Egypt's struggle civil (popular) resistance in the Institute, SOAS and the Centre for Advanced Study of the Arab World. with democracy through the lives Palestinian national movement Colonial and Postcolonial Studies, International conference which of a small community of artists and argue that at the present University of Kent. Lecture by will aim to make sense of past, striving to maintain their ancient juncture the popular resistance Amira Hass, correspondent for the present and future perspectives art form and off ers a personal movement, especially in the West Occupied Palestinian Territories on political party organisation in insight into the impact the Arab Bank, is the most signifi cant for Haaretz daily newspaper in the Middle East and North Africa. Spring uprisings had upon form of struggle against the Israel, and author of Drinking the Tickets and Venue: TBC. W individuals, communities and ongoing occupation. Part of the Sea at Gaza: Days and Nights in https://politicalpartiesmiddleeast. livelihoods. Tickets: £3/£2 BM LMEI's Tuesday Evening Lecture a Land Under Siege (2000) and wordpress.com/2015/07/29/hello- Members/conc. Stevenson Lecture Programme on the Contemporary Reporting from Ramallah: An world/ Th eatre, BM. T 020 7323 8181 W Middle East. Admission free. Israeli Journalist in an Occupied www.britishmuseum.org Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T Land (2003). She also published 020 7898 4330/4490 E vp6@soas. her mother's Th e Diary of EXHIBITIONS ac.uk W www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/ Bergen-Belsen: 1944-1945 (2015). Tuesday 26 January events/ Admission free. Brunei Gallery Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 Tuesday 1 December 5:45 pm | Popular Protest in 7898 4330 E [email protected] W Palestine: Th e Uncertain Future Friday 29 January www.soas.ac.uk/lmei-cps/events/ Until 6 December | Barjeel Art of Unarmed Resistance (Book Foundation Collection: Part Launch) Marwan Darweish 1:30 pm | Curator's Introduction 1 Th e fi rst display from the (Centre for Trust, Peace and Social to Egypt: Faith aft er the Pharaohs EVENTS OUTSIDE Barjeel Art Foundation collection Relations, Coventry University) (Lecture) Elisabeth O'Connell LONDON explores the emergence and and Andrew Rigby (Coventry (Exhibition Curator). Organised development of a modern Arab art University). Organised by: by: BM. Admission free. Pre- aesthetic through drawings and London Middle East Institute, registration required. BP Lecture Monday 25 January paintings from the early twentieth SOAS (LMEI) and the Centre Th eatre, BM. T 020 7323 8181 W century to 1967 with works by for Palestine Studies. Event to www.britishmuseum.org TBC | Political Parties in the artists from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, mark the publication of Darweish Middle East: Past, Present and Lebanon, Palestine and elsewhere and Rigby's Popular Protest in 6:00 pm | Israel's Occupation Future Perspectives (Th ree-Day in the region. Admission free.

December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 33 Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 comprises a newly commissioned exchange. Admission free. Friday 11 December Whitechapel High Street, London feature-length fi lm, A magical Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 E1 7QX. T 020 7522 7888 E info@ substance fl ows into me (2015), Whitechapel High Street, London Until 6 February | Parastou whitechapelgallery.org W www. in which she explores the diff erent E1 7QX. T 020 7522 7888 E info@ Forouhar: Reimaging Th e whitechapelgallery.org musical traditions of myriad whitechapelgallery.org W www. Illusion Th rough her work, communities living in and around whitechapelgallery.org Forouhar examines the power Until 12 December | Marwan: Jerusalem, presented alongside structures within certain Not Towards Home, But Th e an installation of sculptures. Until 10 January | Whose Gaze authoritarian political systems, Horizon First UK solo exhibition Admission free. Chisenhale Is It Anyway? Exhibition that with particular attention to how by Syrian artist Marwan, featuring Gallery, 64 Chisenhale Road, looks at the history of Arab pop they block oppositional discourse paintings, etchings and works on London E3 5QZ. T 020 8981 4518 culture through printed matter from entering the public sphere paper with the main motif always E [email protected] W – posters, notebooks, diaries and and processes experiences of remaining the human head. Th e http://chisenhale.org.uk/ book covers - as well as fi lm and loss, pain, and state-sanctioned exhibition includes his 99 Heads video. Collectively, the works raise violence through animations, series of etchings which reference Until 3 January | Emily Jacir: pertinent points about how the wallpapers, fl ipbooks, balloons, Sufi sm and the 99 names of God. Europa First UK survey of popular gaze is constructed from and drawings. Private View and Admission free. Th e Mosaic Palestinian artist and fi lmmaker within the Arab world. Admission Artist Talk with Vali Mahlouji Rooms, A.M. Qattan Foundation, Emily Jacir which brings free. Th e Potteries Museum and on Th ursday 10 December time Tower House, 226 Cromwell Road, together almost two decades Art Gallery, Bethesda Street, TBC. Admission free. Pi Artworks London SW5 0SW. T 020 7370 of sculpture, fi lm, drawings, City Centre, Stoke-on-Trent London, 55 Eastcastle, London 9990 E [email protected] W large-scale installations and ST1 3DW. T 01782 232323 E W1W 8EG. T 020 7637 8403 E http://mosaicrooms.org/ photography. Th e exhibition [email protected] [email protected] W www. focuses on Jacir’s multifaceted W www.ica.org.uk/off -site / www. piartworks.com Until 13 December | Jumana relationship to Europe, Italy and stokemuseums.org.uk/visit/pmag/ Manna Th e Berlin and Jerusalem the Mediterranean in particular Friday 15 January based artist Jumana Manna’s fi rst and explores various histories Until 29 January | Last Of Th e UK solo exhibition. Th e exhibition of migration, resistance and Dictionary Men: Stories From Until 27 February | Suspended Th e South Shields Yemeni Sailors Accounts: Young Artist of the Over the course of 100 years, Year Award 2014 (YAYA14) thousands of seamen from Yemen A selection of work from the settled in the small town of South 2014 A.M. Qattan Foundation’s Bashar Khalaf, Shadow of the Shadow, 2014. Suspended Accounts - Young Artist of the Year Award 2014 (YAYA14) (See Exhibitions, p. 34) Shields and made it their home. A Young Artist of the Year Award series of thirteen hand-coloured (YAYA14). Th e biennial award portraits by the internationally – organised by the Foundation’s renowned photographer, Youssef Culture and Arts Programme Nabil, captures the fi rst generation in the Occupied West Bank city of Yemeni sailors with the pride of Ramallah – is open to young they embody as individuals and artists under 30 of Palestinian as a community. Admission descent, from any part of the free. Th e Street Gallery, Institute world. Admission free. Th e Mosaic of Arab and Islamic Studies, Rooms, A.M. Qattan Foundation, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 Tower House, 226 Cromwell Road, 4ND. T 01392 724040 W http:// London SW5 0SW. T 020 7370 socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/iais/ 9990 E [email protected] W events/exhibitions/ http://mosaicrooms.org/

Until 7 February | Egypt: Faith aft er the Pharaohs Discover Egypt’s journey over 12 centuries, as Jews, Christians and Muslims transformed this ancient land, from a world of many gods to the worship of one God. Th e exhibition begins in 30 BC, when Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire aft er the death of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, and continues until AD 1171 when the rule of the Islamic Fatimid dynasty came to an end. Tickets: Various. BM. T 020 7323 8181 W www. britishmuseum.org

34 The Middle East in London December 2015 – January 2016 Photograph © Iselin-Shaw

NEW MA PALESTINE STUDIES Ŕ
Develop an understanding of the complexities of modern and contemporary Palestine

Ŕ
Explore history, political structure, development, culture and society

Ŕ
Obtain a multi-disciplinary overview

Ŕ
Enrol on a flexible, inter-disciplinary study programme For further details, please contact: Dr Adam Hanieh E: [email protected] www.soas.ac.uk December 2015 – January 2016 The Middle East in London 35 Middle East Summer School y 202423 June-21JuneJune-24 – 26 July July July 2016 2014 2013

AnAn intensive intensive five-week five-week programme programme which which includes includes a two choice courses: of two courses: a language one (Persian or Arabic, the latter at two levels) andan Arabicanother Language on the 'Government Course (introductory and Politics or ofintermediate) the Middle andEast' or 'Cultureanother and on Society‘Government in the andMiddle Politics East'. of the Middle East.

Beginners Persian (Level 1) Government and Politics of the Middle East This is an introductory course which aims to give the students a reasonable grounding in the basics of Persian grammar This course provides an introduction to the politics of the and syntax as well as to enable them to understand simple Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It gives on a and frequently used expressions related to basic language country by country basis, an overview of the major political use. They will be able to hold uncomplicated conversations issues and developments in the region since the end of the on topics such as personal and family information, shopping, First World War and addresses key themes in the study of hobbies, employment as well as simple and direct exchanges contemporary Middle East politics, including: the role of the of information related to familiar topics. By the end of the military, social and economic development, political Islam, and course they will also progress to read simple short texts. the recent uprisings (the ‘Arab Spring’). Beginners Arabic (Level 1) Culture and Society in the Middle East

This is an introductory course in Modern Standard Arabic. This course examines the major cultural patterns and It teaches students the Arabic script and provides basic institutions of the MENA region. It is taught through a study of grounding in Arabic grammar and syntax. On completing some lively topics such as religious and ethnic diversity, impact the course, students should be able to read, write, listen to of the West, stereotyping, the role of tradition, education and understand simple Arabic sentences and passages. This (traditional and modern), family structure and value, gender course is for complete beginners and does not require any politics, media, life in city, town and village, labour and labour prior knowledge or study of Arabic. migration, the Palestinian refugee problem and Arab exile communities, culinary cultures, music and media, etc. Beginners Arabic (Level 2)

This course is a continuation of Beginners Arabic Level 1. It completes the coverage of the grammar and syntax of Modern Standard Arabic and trains students in reading, comprehending and writing with the help of a dictionary Timetable more complex Arabic sentences and passages. Courses are taught Mon-Thu each week. Language courses To qualify for entry into this course, students should are taught in the morning (10am-1pm) and the Politics and have already completed at least one introductory Culture Courses are taught in two slots in the afternoon course in Arabic. (2:00-3:20 and 3:40-5:00pm).

FEES Session (5 weeks) Programme fee* Accommodation fee** 2024 June-21June–26 July July 2016 2013 (two (two courses) courses) £2,500 from £300/week

* Early bird discounts of 10% apply to course fees before 1 March 2013. * An early bird discount ofof 10%10% appliesapplies toto coursecourse feesfees beforebefore 30 15 April April 2016. 2014. ** Accommodation fees must be paid by 1 March 2013 to secure accommodation. ** Rooms Please cancheck be ourbooked website atat thethe from IntercollegiateIntercollegiate mid-October HallsHalls 2012 whichwhich for are confiare located located rmed prices.in in the the heart heart of of Bloomsbury: www.halls.london.ac.uk.

For more information, please contact Louise Hosking on

36 The [email protected] East in London December Or check 2015 – January our 2016 website www.soas.ac.uk/lmei February-March 2014 The Middle East in London 35