Free at last? Art and culture in the Arab world after the revolutions

During the Arab spring of 2011 the new generations of Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans, Bahraini's, Syrians broke the walls of fear. Their call for freedom and dignity in Egypt and Tunisia led to the departure of dictators and opportunities for real change. In other countries such as Syria and Libya we still see a lot of oppression and violence. The call for greater political, economic and social freedoms will definitely continue to resonate in the Middle East. The question is what this means for cooperation between the Netherlands and the Arab world in the arts and culture sector. SICA organises an expert meeting on this subject on Thursday 7 July. This programme is a collaboration between Petra Stienen, Music Centre Netherlands, Theatre Institute Netherlands and SICA.

Our guestspeakers are:

• Adelheid Roosen (performances in Syria: To You I call the Other, talking about aging and Alzheimer's in Syria)
• Lana Nasser and Persyn Kristof (Live from the Dead Sea! Combining storytelling, photo art, and movement, the performance creates a new mythology that reserves as an ecological awareness campaign)
• conductor Johannes Leertouwer (Bach in Cairo, with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra)
• Tony Overwater (Jazz in Arab world)
• Mohammed Helmy (Master Peace Cairo: pieces of culture to bring peace?)
• Mauritius Wijffels (on the importance of law in changing the Arab world)
• Abeer Soliman (writer and storyteller about the Body and the Other)
• Hassnae Bouazza on the role of media.

The host of the day is Kirsten van den Hul.

Join our meeting on Thursday July 7th
14.00-17.30
Concervatorium van Amsterdam
Entrance free
Please register here>>

SICA, TIN (Theater Instituut Nederland) and MCN (Music Center the Netherlands) have a long term project called Mediterranean Crossing for the intensification of cultural exchange between the Nederlands and the Middle East. Especially in the cultural sector the call for freedom and creativity has been loud. Will todays revolutions lead to more freedom for artists?