Safina Projects and the Open Museum of Water Culture (Iraq), in cooperation with the Global Network of Water Museums and the support of IHE Delft and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
This webinar brought together an international panel of artists and cultural activists, makers and scholars to discuss the Open Museum Initiative for Water Culture, an art-led project for the protection and revitalization of water heritage in the Fertile Crescent and Arabian Peninsula. From its hub in Basra, at the confluence of the Tigris-Euphrates river system and the Gulf, the Open Museum Initiative reaches out to connect regionally via the flow of the waters and their history and heritage of traditional practices, archaeological and geological remains, and archival records: visual, textual and oral.
The conversation focused on the historic roles of boats and waterways as a means of movement and relationship between peoples throughout the region and explored international examples, including Venice, as an emerging “open museum” where water heritage is a subject of creative engagement and multidisciplinary study. Participants were invited to consider how, in Iraq and regionally, such heritage could again become a basis for connection and regenerative action.
Programme
Moderators: Lucrezia Gigante and Alice Chautard
15:00 – 15:05: Welcome and Introduction (Eriberto Eulisse)
Panel:
15:05 – 15:25: Rashad Salim and Hannah Lewis, Safina Projects
15:25 – 15:40: Nabil Musa, Waterkeepers Iraq-Kurdistan
15:40 – 15:55: Dr Muntather al-Hassani, Al-Turath Al-Sha’bi journal / Shanashil Foundation
15:55 – 16:00: Break
Discussion:
16:00 – 16:20: Roundtable Discussion with panel presenters and invited discussants, including Isber Sabrine, Heritage for Peace, Prof. Daniel Potts, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, and Maurizio Ulliana, Museum of River Navigation, Battaglia Terme
16:20 – 16:40: Q&A with audience
16:40 – 16:45: Closing Remarks (Eriberto Eulisse)
This webinar was organised by IHE Delft in cooperation with the Global Network of Water Museums and Safina Projects (Iraq), with support of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, as part of the new series of webinars titled ‘When Waters Speak’.
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