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cross-cutting thematic sessions

1. Memory and Archive: Curated Histories

Places and Resources:

  • Pergamon Museum and Museum of Islamic Art, Centrum Judaicum, Berlin State Library (Oriental Department), House of World Cultures
  • Exhibition catalogs, archival documents such as Ottoman records, medieval manuscripts, diaries and letters, interviews with curators and historians, audio guides and lectures, artworks and artifacts such as ancient ceramics, coins, and textiles, digital collections and research databases, event materials, old maps, photographs of archaeological sites, historical travel accounts

Possible Questions:

  • How do (digital) archives reconstruct and deconstruct historical narratives of the Middle East, and what role does the respective (digital) medium play as an actor?
  • How do memory politics and collective memory influence national identity in the Middle East, especially in the context of postcolonial discourses?
  • What role do materiality and object representation play in the museal presentation of the Middle East, and how is authenticity constructed and questioned?

2. Knowledge and Education: Spaces of Learning

Places and Resources:

  • Freie Universität Berlin (etc.), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Islamic Theology, Asia-Africa Studies, Central Asia Institute), ZMO, Arab Cultural Institute, Al-Farabi Music Institute, …
  • Academic publications, research reports, teaching materials, lectures and seminars, interviews with scholars and teachers, manuscripts, textbooks, scientific instruments, online courses and digital libraries, current research projects, old manuscripts, historical curricula, correspondence between scholars

Possible Questions:

  • How do epistemic violence and knowledge production in colonial and postcolonial contexts influence the academic discourses on the Middle East, and which decolonization strategies are applied?
  • What role do alternative education initiatives and grassroots movements play in the transformation of educational systems in the Middle East, and how are these reflected in cultural texts?
  • How is and was knowledge about the Middle East or individual communities or practices circulated and transformed in global intellectual networks, and what role do translation practices and cultural mediation play in this process?

3. Migration and Networks: Transnational Connections

Places and Resources:

  • Turkish Market at Maybachufer, Neukölln and Kreuzberg, refugee initiatives and NGOs (e.g., Flüchtlingsrat Berlin, International Rescue Committee), Berlin Global Village, foundations
  • Neighborhood archives, local libraries like the Neukölln City Library, reports and publications from NGOs, interviews with migrants and refugees, ethnographic field research, eyewitness accounts, market stalls and goods, photographs and artworks by migrants, reports and documentaries from refugee organizations, statistical data on migration, emigration records, ship lists, diaspora letters, migration narratives

Possible Questions:

  • How do transnational identities manifest in the literature and art of the Middle East and its diaspora, and what interactions exist with the concepts of home and exile?
  • In what ways do transnational networks shape the economic and social structures in the countries of origin, and how are these processes reflected in cultural production?
  • What role do emotional geographies and affective networks play in mobility and migration in the Middle East, and how are these depicted in narrative and visual media?

4. Everyday Culture: Culinary and Social Spaces

Places and Resources:

  • Oriental restaurants and cafes, clubs and event venues (Haus der Kulturen der Welt), cultural festivals and street fairs
  • Cookbooks, recipes, menu plans, conversations with market visitors and restaurant owners, cooking classes, kitchen utensils, food stalls, culinary photographs, restaurant reviews, historical cookbooks and recipes, culinary magazines, menus, culinary exhibitions, and festivals

Possible Questions:

  • How do urban gentrification processes influence the culinary landscape and cultural diversity in cities like Berlin or in the Middle East?
  • What significance do culinary practices and food cultures hold as a means of cultural identity formation and political representation?
  • What role do social spaces like coffeehouses and markets play in the production and negotiation of public and counter-public spheres in the Middle East?
  • How do global and local dynamics manifest in the everyday cultures of the Middle East, and what role do concepts like glocalization and cultural hybridity play?

Further topics that may come into play:

Diversity and Identity: Community and Belonging

Places and resources:

  • Şehitlik Mosque, Intercultural Center for Dialogue and Education (IZDB), Rykestraße Synagogue, Jewish Community Center, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Gay Museum Berlin, Salaam-Shalom Initiative
  • Community archives, religious texts, sermons, community letters, discussions with community members and religious leaders, lectures and discussions, prayer houses, religious artifacts such as Torah scrolls and prayer mats, educational and dialog programs, intercultural events, blueprints of prayer houses, historical community writings, religious manuals

    Possible questions:
  • How are hybrid identities and cultural syncretisms constructed in the Middle East and what role does the diaspora play in the reproduction and transformation of cultural practices?
  • What role do subaltern voices and marginalized groups play in the production and negotiation of community and identity in the Middle East?
  • How does the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity, and religion influence social and cultural dynamics in the Middle East, and what narrative and discursive strategies are used to represent these complexities?

Media and Representation: Narratives and Images

Places and resources:

  • Arabic and Turkish media in Berlin (e.g., Al-Jazeera Berlin office, TRT Deutsch), Arab Film Festival Berlin (Alfilm), online platforms and social media (e.g., Exberliner, Berlinograd.com), Qantara, …
  • Newspaper archives, scripts, program booklets, interviews with journalists and media experts, panel discussions, film posters, cameras and recording equipment, audiovisual media, media reports, online articles, social media representations, radio and television broadcasts, film reels, historical newspapers

    Possible questions:
  • How do visual media in the Middle East construct and reproduce gender and body politics, and what subversive practices exist to deconstruct these narratives?
  • What role do film and television play in the construction of national and transnational identities in the Middle East, and how are hegemonic and alternative narratives negotiated?
  • How do digital media and network cultures influence the representation of conflicts and social movements in the Middle East, and what ethical implications does this have?