[Reader-list] POST CONFLICT OR EL DORADO?

[francesca recchia]

Dear all
This is an article I just wrote that has been recently published on Other Asias (http://otherasias.webnode.com/products/iraq-post-conflict-or-el-dorado-francesca-recchia-/) 

Hope it will meet your interest
:)
francesca

 
Living in Northern Iraq makes
the dimension of post conflict hard
to escape.  It is what determines the
movement of people, the distribution of international economic support and
recently also the debate within the art world.  Political stability opens the frontiers to economic and cultural
entrepreneurs.  A society thirsty for
innovation and “modernity” is a goldmine and an unexploited market is a promise
for huge profits – for both oilmen and artists, it seems. 
 
The last months have seen two art events in Iraqi
Kurdistan.  The first was a two week
workshop promoted by Hiwa K. and Aneta Szylak under the umbrella of their estrangement project (http://estrangementproject.blogspot.com).  The other was a three day Post-War Arts
& Culture Festivalorganized by Adalet
R. Garmiany and ArtRole (www.artrole.org).  Both Hiwa and Adalet are Kurdish artists who
live in Europe (Germany and UK respectively) where they received their education and practice their art.  For both, Kurdistan is a homecoming, a source of inspiration, a
pool of opportunities.  Yet, the outcome
of their visit couldn’t have possibly been more different.  Where one has chosen a rooted and low profile
approach, the other has chosen political engagement and big words (spoken by
the Prime Minister at the opening of the Festival).  
 
IraqiKurdistan has been suddenly
transformed into a platform to perform western debates on what is art and how
to make it.  Despite an ancient history, Kurdistan is rather untouched by the contemporary art
disputes in the West.  Fine Art education
is still very conservative and a traditional approach to painting is still the
rule.  Cold suspicion welcomes any
attempt by younger generations to change this.  Young artists are keen to explore and thirsty
for knowledge.  The lack of resources is
at times heartbreaking and the role of western intellectual do-gooders depressing.  In the give and take game that every
interaction implies, it seems to me that those who are gaining are those who
already have.  I strongly resist the
philosophy that little is better than nothing, when that “little” becomes the
currency to placate our guilty feelings while pursuing our own interests.  
 
It is in this transaction between do-good, placate guilt and
make profit that post conflict becomes an easy horse to ride.  We come
from abroad with pre-packaged models, a smart set of catchy slogans and a pile
of good intentions.  We have gone to Iraq,
we have done art, we have done good.  The
spaceship lands, gathers information, praises its own bravery for reaching such
a dangerous country, takes off and leaves with an awesome bunch of stories to
tell back home.  The illuminated lot in
the Western art system – those who have developed an interest for The Third
World, for Developing Countries and now The Post Conflict Zones – indulge in
their own open-mindedness, nicely oblivious of what is left on the ground after
their departure.  Estrangement and Post-War Arts & Culture Festivalhave thus highlighted the necessity of a serious
debate around the motivations, strategies and approaches of art in a post
conflict developing country.  
 
Art heals; art deals with trauma; art unleashes suppressed
emotions, joys, pains, enthusiasm; art shapes reality; art reinterprets the
world; art is a career; art generates fame; art is a trampoline for further
achievements.
Art can open possibilities. Art can dictate solutions.
 
There is nothing new in it.  What is new here is the vertiginous excitement that only virgin
territories generate.  The chase for this
new El Dorado re-proposes old questions on the ethical and aesthetical stance of
artists.  However
much the art scene in Iraqi Kurdistan needs support and new oxygen, it
definitely does not need glamorous events (with very good organic food) that
will address only a limited portion of society.  Art can be an invaluable tool to trigger debate and participation –
through seminars and discussions over a sandwich kebab from the corner shop as
Hiwa has successfully tried to do.  Relational art doesn’t pay big money and doesn’t give you the front page
of newspapers – but it is the only way to make change.  If that’s what art is supposed to be about. 
 
Of all the
economic effort to set up a spectacular Post-War
Arts & Culture Festival, the power of Art has still managed to leave me
speechless – despite the heavy load of skepticism I was carrying with me.  Adalet R. Garmiany brought to Kurdistan
Richard Wilson’sinstallation 20:50.  I had the chance to see it in Europe twice before – this time it has left me awestruck and reminded me of my love of
Art.  The
installation was exhibited at the same time Iraqi Central Government and
Kurdish Federal Government were discussing once again the fate of the oil-rich,
disputed city of Kirkuk.  The unintentional echo that the piece managed
to resonate reinforced the trust in the potentials of art practice in places
where trauma is simply swept under the carpet.  The evocative power of art doesn’t need verbose statements to make a
difference.  Opening up spaces of dialogues
has to go beyond individual ambitions.  
 
The post
conflict rhetoric, as disturbing as
it is, has somehow given me the opportunity to refocus on how art can be used
and misused in the name of “community”; on how there is a possibility of
creative change and empowerment if the people in the name of whom we make art
are our partners and interlocutors rather than our disguise and alibi.
 francesca recchia
kiccovich at yahoo.com
it +39 338 166 3648
iq +964 (0) 750 7085 681
http://www.veleno.tv/bollettini/