[ecrea] Workshop The Arab Archive: Mediated Memories and Digital Flows

The Arab Archive: Mediated Memories and Digital Flows

A two-day workshop at John Cabot University, Via della Lungara 233, Rome
24-25 May

This workshop examines the political economy of the Arab Image, and 
reflects upon the materiality, ethics and aesthetics of filming, 
distributing and archiving post 2011. At a time when the revolutionary 
moment seems to have disappeared in the midst of civil wars, violence 
and the re-establishment of older reforms, the question of 
representation of the past attains a new salience. This raises a number 
of analytical questions, which the workshop will address. Which 
histories of the Left do historians, activists, artists, revolutionaries 
and others invested in re-working memories of social and political 
struggle highlight? More generally, what role does the past play in the 
war in Syria, in the occupation of Palestine, and in popular protests 
across the region? Are there unexplored and fertile avenues of 
collaboration between historians and memory activists? Who defines the 
contemporary political economy of the Arab Image post-2011? Which 
subjects and powers, local, regional a!
 nd international, contribute to shaping the politics, ethics and 
aesthetics of the contemporary Arab archive?
An essential feature to explore is how the Internet seemingly 
facilitates processes of sharing and archiving the past in a seamless 
and easy to access way, yet at the same time contributing to reinforcing 
power inequalities between international and local subjects in terms of 
establishing what to remember and what to forget, and turning memory and 
knowledge of the past into commodified and copyrighted goods. The 
political economy of a whole slew of events and exhibitions, from film 
festivals to museum shows, that draw on the post-2011 archive will also 
be discussed and analysed. In our times, contestation over memory plays 
out in ways that are increasingly situated in transnational and digital 
networks of knowledge and cultural production. Memory studies, once the 
arena for the ‘genteel’, slow grind of changing ideas over decades in 
national cultures, is only gradually coming to terms with the impact of 
new technologies. In order to understand the complex formation of me!
 mories of recent events, digital archiving and digital memory must be 
studied along with oral history and more traditional media such as 
films, novels, poetry and magazines.

The workshop features scholars, artists, and activists coming the Arab 
region, Europe, and the US. Working language is English. The workshop is 
free and open to the public, but registration is mandatory, please email 
(ddellaratta /at/ johncabot.edu) stating your name and affiliation.
On the evening of 24 May a round table, screenings, and a live 
performance will be hosted at ESC Atelier Autogestito, Via dei Volsci 159.
DRAFT PROGRAM
24 May
10-12.30pm
Introduction by Donatella Della Ratta, John Cabot University
Philip Rizk, activist and filmmaker from Mosireen Collective
Rasha Salti, film critic and curator

12.30-1.30pm lunch break at John Cabot University (catered by 
Hummustown, Syria)

1.30-4pm
Introduction by Sune Haugbolle, Roskilde University
Laure Guirguis, researcher, IREMAM, CNRS, Aix-en-Provence Enrico de 
Angelis, Free Press Unlimited & Syria Untold
6pm evening at ESC Atelier Autogestito


25 May
10-12.30 pm

Introduction by Kay Dickinson, Concordia University Miryam Aouragh, 
University of Westminister Abed Takriti, University of Houston

12.30-1.30pm lunch break at John Cabot University (catered by 
Hummustown, Syria)

1.30-5pm
Introduction by Donatella Della Ratta, John Cabot University
Dork Zabunyan, University of Paris VII Basma al Sharif, artist and 
filmmaker Ali Atassi, Bidayyat production company


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