Annual Report 2009

ANN
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Casa Árabe is a consortium comprising
Casa Árabe 2009
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Casa Árabe 2009
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Letter from the President
Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Overall, the activities of Casa Árabe in 2009
reflect the consolidation of this inter-institutional consortium with the participation of the
Regional Governments of Andalusia and
Madrid and the City Councils of Madrid and
Córdoba alongside the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation and the Spanish
Agency for International Cooperation for
Development (AECID). In just four years, we
have brought the Arab and Muslim world closer to Spain and to Europe, at the same time
as significant exchanges of knowledge have
been established with their societies, cultures,
economies and political systems, promoting
dialogue between civil societies and immigrant communities.
We have begun a process of mutual enrichment
in which the extension of Casa Árabe’s resources,
namely the Edward W. Said media library and
the Baibars bookshop, have played a special
part, as have the international seminars and
conferences, cultural and scientific activities,
thus reinforcing its status as a landmark institution in Arab and European countries, as well
as among their institutional, social, cultural and
scientific players.
The main research lines pursued at Casa Árabe’s International Institute of Arab and Muslim
World Studies in Córdoba include political
reforms and socioeconomic trends in Arab
countries, Arab and Muslim women, Muslims
of the West, and Islamisms in context. It also
fosters research projects with international
networks on: Woman and family in current
Arab societies and Muslim traditions in secular Europe.
Among the seminars and conferences undertaken by Casa Árabe in the course of 2009,
the following, among others, should be men-
tioned because of their importance: Water in
the Arab world: global perceptions and local
realities; Islamophobia under discussion;
Islamisms in context: political participation,
contestation and rebellion; Arts and education
through new technologies; Towards a universal moratorium on the death penalty. The
Case of the Arab countries; United StatesMaghreb: challenges and prospects.
This year has seen the institution acquire greater
recognition as an educational establishment
with the successful development of the Arabic
Language Centre, which registers increasing
numbers of students year on year, as well as
the programming of courses at the Diplomatic
School and in universities inside and outside
our country.
In 2009 Casa Árabe took a qualitative and
quantitative step forward in the field of
publishing, having decided to publish a new
series of the journal Awraq, which it copublishes with AECID, and to launch such
important publications as: Los árabes en
América Latina: historia de una emigración
(Arabs in Latin America: a history of emigration); Contribuciones árabes a las identidades
iberoamericanas (Arab contributions to Iberoamerican identities); Consecuencias económicas y ecológicas de los conflictos en el
mundo árabe (Economic and ecological consequences of the conflicts in the Arab world);
Musulmanes en España. Guía de referencia
(Muslims in Spain. A Reference Guide).
Casa Árabe’s 2009 Annual Report reflects the
vitality, rigour and modernity of Spanish
public diplomacy, at the same time as it highlights significant advances in questions of
programming, resources and institutional
consolidation.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Letter from the Director General
Gema Martín Muñoz
Director General
For Casa Árabe, 2009 represents a year of
consolidation after moving in mid-2008 to our
headquarters at the Aguirre Schools in Madrid
at the invitation of Madrid City Council. The
permanent programmes (exhibitions, seminars, lectures, cinema, Arabic courses) provided in the facilities of this magnificent building
have made significant progress in terms of
both public attending and participants. It has
also seen the birth of new spaces and projects.
In October, we inaugurated the Media Library,
which we have named after Edward W. Said,
in homage to the great Palestinian intellectual
who died in 2003. This is the first media library
in Spain to specialise in Arab and Islamic
countries. In June and July, Casa Árabe opened
up its garden (the hadiqa) with a summer programme including concerts and open-air
films. In addition, we have engaged in a line of
work on educational and intercultural programmes for children carried out with schools,
Muslim associations and organisations focusing on issues relating to migration. We have
disseminated a great deal of scientific work
through discussion panels and book launches. All this activity has made our institution
an open space enjoying considerable participation from the citizenry.
Topics and questions of great political, economic and social importance, related to the current
situation of Arab and Muslim countries (migration, water, the death penalty, Islamophobia,
Islamisms, etc.) have been analysed and discussed in seminars by leading Arab and Western
figures, academics and policy makers, so that
Casa Árabe has also emerged as a landmark
institution contributing expertise, analysis and
recommendations. This work is supported and
strengthened by the research projects carried
out by its International Institute of Arab and
Muslim World Studies (IEAM), among which the
projects devoted to Women and family, and
Islamic movements in Europe are particularly
noteworthy.
As an instrument of public diplomacy, another function undertaken by Casa Árabe
since its inception, three very visible lines of
political, economic and cultural action have
been pursued in 2009. Outstanding personalities and Arab political representatives have
visited and learned how much importance
Spain grants to this part of the world through
this representative institution dedicated to
their countries. Likewise, our institution
makes every effort to facilitate economic relations and investment between Spanish companies and the Arab financial and economic
world, organising Hispano-Arab entrepreneurial forums on respective business opportunities in substantial areas such as tourism,
renewable energies, Islamic banking, etc.
Finally, through culture we are building bridges between the creative world and the contemporary arts, turning culture into a political
instrument of mutual rapprochement and discovery. Our exhibitions, cinema and music
programmes are intended to disseminate the
rich creative dynamics that exist nowadays in
Arab countries, bringing our society into contact with their creators, little known in Spain
or more generally in the West.
Thus, in keeping with the significant place that
the Arab and Muslim region occupies in Spain’s
international relations and foreign policy, Casa
Árabe continues to grow and strengthen
itself as a landmark institution at the service
of knowledge, communication and relations
between States, societies and individuals.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Governing Bodies
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Governing Board
Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Jiménez
Mayor of Madrid
Andrés Ocaña Rabadán
Mayor of Cordoba
Members
Soraya Rodríguez Ramos
Secretary of State and President of the
Spanish Agency of International Cooperation
for Development
Ángel Lossada Torres-Quevedo
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Diego López Garrido
Secretary of State for the European Union
Director General
Gema Martín Muñoz
Doctor in Arab and Islamic Studies and
Professor of Sociology of the Arab and
Islamic World at the Autonomous University
of Madrid
Meeting of the High Board of Trustees and the
Governing Board
Esperanza Aguirre Gil de Biedma
President of the regional government of
Madrid
Carlos Alberdi Alonso
Director of Cultural and Scientific Relations
Carmen Moreno Raymundo
Director of Cooperation with Africa, Asia and
Eastern Europe
Juan Díaz Muñoz
Adviser of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation
Mª del Mar Moreno Ruiz
Minister for the presidency and spokesperson of the regional government of Andalusia
Ignacio González González
Vice president, Minister for Culture and
Sports and spokesman of the regional
government of Madrid
Ana María Román Martín
Councillor for Coordination of Studies and
External Relations of Madrid City Hall
Rafael Blanco Perea
First Deputy Mayor and Delegate for Institutional
Relations and Culture of Cordoba Town Hall
Esperanza Aguirre Gil de Biedma
President of the regional government of
Madrid
José Antonio Griñán Martínez
President of the regional government of
Andalusia
Andrés Ocaña Rabadán
Mayor of Cordoba
Vice Presidents
Fidel Sendagorta Gómez del Campillo
Director General of Foreign Policy for the
Mediterranean, Maghreb and Middle East
José Antonio Griñán Martínez
President of the regional government of
Andalusia
Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Alfonso Lucini Mateo
Director General of Foreign Policy
Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Jiménez
Mayor of Madrid
President
Casa Árabe 2009
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Diplomatic Board
Omar Azziman
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco
Mohammed Ridha Kechrid
Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia
Chucri Abboud
Ambassador of the Republic of Lebanon
Hissa Abdulla Ahmed Al Otaiba
Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates
Zaid Al-Lozi
Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan
Hamad Bin Hamad Al-Ibrahim Al-Attiya
Ambassador of the State of Qatar
Mohammed Haneche
Ambassador of the Democratic and Popular
Republic of Algeria
Ajeli Abdussalam Ali Breni
Ambassador of the Popular Office of the
Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Adil Hamad M. Al Ayyar
Ambassador of the State of Kuwait
Souhel Jinad
Chargé d’Affaires of the Arab Republic of
Syria
Yasser Morad Hossny
Ambassador of the Arab Republic of
Egypt
Salem Yehya Hassan Alkharejah
Chargé d’Affaires of the Republic of Yemen
Eluzai Moga Yokwe
Ambassador of the Republic of Sudan
Samir Al-Qas Petross
Chargé d’Affaires of the Republic of Iraq
Sheikh Hilal Marhoon Salim Al Mamary
Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman
Musa Amer Odeh
High Representative of Palestine
Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar
Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of
Mauritania
Hassine Bouzid
Office Director of the League of Arab
States
Meeting of the diplomatic board of Casa Árabe with the minister of Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation and president of Casa Árabe, Miguel Ángel Moratinos
HRH Prince Saud Bin Naif Bin Abdelaziz
Al- Saud
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia
Casa Árabe 2009
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High Board of Trustees
Under the Honorary Presidency of Their Majesties the King and
Queen of Spain
Ministry of Culture
Ángeles González-Sinde
Minister of Culture
CEPSA
Santiago Bergareche Busquet
Chairman
High Board of Chambers
of Commerce
Javier Gómez Navarro
Chairman
Ministry of Education
Ángel Gabilondo Pujol
Minister of Education
CEPYME (Spanish
Confederation of Small and
Medium Companies)
Jesús Bárcenas López
Chairman
Iberdrola
Ignacio Sánchez Galán
Chairman
Ministry of Industry,
Tourism and Trade
Miguel Sebastián Gascón
Minister of Industry,
Tourism and Trade
Abengoa
Felipe Benjumea Llorente
Chairman
CESCE
Juan Badosa
Chairman
Comisiones Obreras (Workers
Commissions)
Ignacio Fernández Toxo
Secretary General
Acciona
José Manuel Entrecanales
Domecq
Chairman
Dubai Port World
Mohammed Sharaf
Chief Executive Officer
ACS Foundation
Antonio García Ferrer
Deputy Chairman
Elecnor
Fernando Azaola Arteche
Chairman. Chief Executive Officer
Agbar
Ángel Simón Grimaldos
Chairman
Extenda (Trade Promotion
Agency of Andalusia)
Teresa Sáez Carrascosa
General Director
Altadis
José Francisco Mateu Isturiz
General Manager
Aresbank
Juan Carlos Montañola
Executive Chairman
Banco Marroquí de
Comercio Exterior
Radi Hamudeh
General Manager
Banco Santander
Antonio Escámez
Member
of the Executive Committee
CEOE (Spanish Confederation
of Employer’s Organizations)
Gerardo Díaz Ferrán
Chairman
FEMP (Spanish Federation of
Municipalities and Provinces)
Pedro Castro Vázquez
Chairman
Fertiberia
Francisco J. de la Riva
Chairman
Gas Natural
Salvador Gabarró Serra
Chairman
Godó Group
Javier Godó Muntañola
Chairman
Grespania
Luis Hernández Sanchís
Chief Executive Officer
ICEX (Spanish Institute
for Foreign Trade)
Silvia Iranzo Gutiérrez
Chairwoman
IDB Group
Ahmed Mohamed Ali
Chairman
Instituto Cervantes
Carmen Caffarel
Director
Joly Group
José Joly Martínez
de Salazar
Chairman
League of Arab States
Amr Musa
Secretary General
Mondragón
Josu Ugarte
Chairman Mondragón
Internacional
Museo Nacional Centro
de Arte Reina Sofía
Manuel Borja-Villel
Director
OPEC Fund for International
Development
Suleiman J. Al-Herbish
Director General
Promomadrid
Jesús Sainz Muñoz
Chairman
Ramón Vizcaíno Refrigeración
José Ramón Vizcaíno
Chairman
Repsol
Antonio Brufau Niubó
Chairman
SGAE (Spanish Society of Authors,
Composers and Publishers)
Eduardo Bautista
Chairman of the Board of Directors
State Society for International
Exhibitions, SEEI
José Eugenio Salarich Fernández
de Valderrama
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Técnicas Reunidas
José Lladó Fernández-Urrutia
Chairman
Unión General de Trabajadores
(General Union of Workers)
Cándido Méndez
Secretary General
Unicaja
Braulio Medel Cámara
Chairman
Villar Mir Group
Juan Miguel Villar Mir
Chairman
Vocento Group
Santiago de Ybarra
y Churruca
Honorary Chairman
P4R, S.A.
Carmen Rodríguez Díaz
Chairwoman
Prisa Group
Ignacio Polanco
Chairman
Casa Árabe 2009
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Advisory Board
Cherif Abderrahman Jah
Chairman of the Foundation of Islamic
Culture
Alberto Elena
Professor of Film Studies. Carlos III
University of Madrid
Nasr Abu Zayd
Ibn Rushd Chair of Islam and Humanism,
University of Utrecht
Malika Embarek López
Translator
Talal Asad
Anthropologist, New York University
Muhammed Barrada
Moroccan writer
Asef Bayat
Academic Director of the International
Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern
World, Leiden University
Alfonso Carmona González
Chairman of the Spanish Society of Arab
Studies (SEEA)
Emilio Casinello Aubán
Ambassador of Spain. Director General of
the Toledo International Centre for Peace
Mohammed Chaib
Member of the Parliament of Catalonia and
Chairman of the Ibn Batuta Sociocultural
Association
Juan Cierco Jiménez de Parga,
Director General of International Information,
Ministry of the Presidency
George Corm
Economist and sociologist. Former Finance
Minister of Lebanon. Professor at Saint
Joseph University of Beirut
Federico Corriente Córdoba
Professor of Arabic Language. Saragossa
University
Álvaro de Vasconcelos
Director of the European Union Institute for
Security Studies (EUISS)
Jorge Dezcallar Mazarredo
Ambassador of Spain to the United
States
Driss El Yazami
General Secretary of the International
Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and
Director of Génériques
Ramón Enciso Bergé
Coordinator of the Spanish Group of the
Averroes Committee
Thierry Fabre
Writer. Editor of the magazine “La Pensée
du Midi” and organiser of annual
“Rencontres d’Averroes” (Averroes
Meetings) in Marseille
José María Ferré de la Peña
Special Ambassador for Relations with
Muslim Communities and Organisations
Abroad
Hala Mustafa
Director of Political Studies of the Al Ahram
Centre of Strategic and Political Studies.
Editor of the magazine “Democracy”, Egypt
Miquel Nadal
Ex-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Director of Foundations and International
Relations area of the Royal Automobile Club
of Catalonia (RACC)
Hamurabi Noufouri
Course Director of Arab, American-Arab and
Islamic Studies of the Third February
University, Argentina
Andrés Ortega
Director of the Analysis and Studies
Department. Prime Minister’s Office
Joaquín Ortega Salinas
Ambassador of Spain
Ghassan Finianos
Professor of Muslim Arab Philosophy.
Damascus University
Juan Antonio Pacheco Paniagua
Professor of Arab Studies. Seville University
Juan Goytisolo
Writer
Jerónimo Páez López
Director of El Legado Andalusí Foundation
José Guirao
Director of La Casa Encendida Arts Centre
Maria Angustias Parejo Fernández
Professor of Political Sciences and
Administration. Granada University
Juan Miguel Hernández León
Chairman of Madrid´s Fine Arts Circle
Haydar Ibrahim Ali
Director of the Centre for Sudanese Studies
Khartoum
Saad Kettani
Chairman of Wafa Assurance. Member of the
Averroes Committee
Bassma Kodmani
Political Scientist. Executive Director of the
Arab Reform Initiative, Paris
Pedro López de Aguirrebengoa
Ambassador of Spain
Pedro Martínez Montávez
Emeritus Professor of Arab and Islamic
Studies, Autonomous University of Madrid
Diego Moya
Western Mediterranean Cultural Association,
MEDOCC
Manuel Pérez Yruela
Director of the Institute of Advanced Social
Studies of Andalusia IESA-CSIC
Felipe Sahagún
Member of the Editorial Board of the daily EL
MUNDO. Professor of the Faculty of
Information Sciences, Complutense
University of Madrid
Yezid Sayigh
Professor of Middle East Studies, King’s
College, London
Antoni Segura i Mas
Director of the Centre for International and
History Studies, Barcelona University
Khalil Shiqaqi
Director de Palestinian Centre for Policy and
Survey Research (Palestine)
Riay Tatari
Secretary General of the Islamic Commission
of Spain
Manuel Torres Aguilar
Vice Rector and Director of the UNESCO Chair
for Conflict Resolution at Cordoba University
Darío Valcárcel
Editor of the magazine “Política Exterior”
(Foreign Policy)
Antonio Vallejo Triano
Director of the Madinat Al Zahra archaeological site
Fernando Vallespín
Professor of Political Sciences, Autonomous
University of Madrid
James Piscatori
Political Scientist, Centre for Arab and Islamic
Studies, Australian National University
Enrique Vázquez Domínguez
Leader writer of the Vocento group
Kamal Rahmouni
President of the Association of Moroccan
Immigrant Workers in Spain (ATIME)
María Jesús Viguera Molins
Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies,
Complutense University of Madrid
Manuel Romero Marcos
Curator of cultural exhibitions
Caridad Ruiz de Almodóvar,
Professor of Contemporary History of Islam,
Granada University
Abdallah Saaf
Professor of Political Sciences and Director
of the Centre of Studies and Research in
Social Sciences (CERES). Mohamed V
University of Rabat
Casa Árabe 2009
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Facilities
Auditorium
Media Library
Bookshop
Exhibition room
Arabic Language Center
Classroom
Documentation Center
Café
Garden
Casa Árabe 2009
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Inauguration Casa Árabe’s Edward W. Said Media Library
October 14th, 2009, saw the inauguration of
Casa Árabe’s media library, the first in Spain
to specialise in the audio-visual production of
Arab and Islamic countries, and open to the
general public. Cinema, music, painting,
sculpture, animation, photography, engravings, design, video-art and artnet, along with
methods for learning Arabic, are areas with a
rich and diverse audio-visual production contributing to the media library’s holdings.
In tribute to the great Palestinian intellectual
Edward W. Said, the media library has been
named after him with the enthusiastic agreement
of his widow Mariam Said. One of the special
collections in the media library is dedicated to
collecting his enormous, multifaceted work.
Through the media library, Casa Árabe wishes
to direct the interest of Spanish society
towards audio-visual representations and
contemporary Arabic visual art creations,
which is undergoing a complete renovation
and development. From the traditional to the
most avant-garde, sound and image have
made it possible to create works that comprise a very broad area of experimentation and
reflection, where technology, visual objects
and rhythms are able to communicate the
contemporary realities of Arab cultures not
widely known in Spain.
It also has a reference library with exhibition
catalogues, monographs on artists, biographies, works on contemporary visual art,
magazines on contemporary art, cinema,
music and a specialist collection on teaching
and learning the Arabic language which
allows consultation of manuals for different
skill levels, as well as dictionaries and new
methods, both for standard Arabic and the
different dialectal varieties.
To mark the occasion of the inauguration of
the media library, an international seminar
was organised on the subject of Arts and education through new technologies: the value of
media libraries, as well as the exhibition
TransArab: contemporary video.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Inauguration of Casa Árabe’s Baibars bookshop
Casa Árabe’s Baibars Bookshop
Since April, 2009, Casa Árabe has housed in
its Madrid headquarters a bookshop specialising in Arab and Islamic topics and
authors. Since its inception, Casa Árabe has
gone to great lengths to promote new publications written by Arabs or on Arab topics,
since, although a not insignificant number of
new titles are published every year they too
often pass unnoticed due mainly to the
scarcity of themed bookshops and spaces
offering an overview of this book production. Setting up Casa Árabe’s Baibars
bookshop culminates this divulgative activity, making available to both the general
public and the specialist reader a means of
accessing the Arab and Islamic world
through books. Baibars, the company
managing the bookshop, is renowned for its
long experience in Arab matters.
CASA ÁRABE HAS GONE TO GREAT LENGTHS
TO PROMOTE NEW PUBLICATIONS WRITTEN
BY ARAB AUTHORS OR ON ARAB TOPICS
The bookshop catalogue offers an abundant
selection of all current titles published in
Spain related to the Arab and Muslim world,
on the most varied topics: Arabic language,
sociology, politics, history, narrative, poetry,
philosophical thought, art, photography, children’s literature, comics, cuisine, travel and
many more. There are also numerous titles in
Arabic and other languages, discs and DVDs.
Orders are accepted for any title, Spanish or
foreign, not available in the bookshop. It also
offers the possibility of buying on-line, thus
ensuring access to this bibliography without
any geographical barriers. Casa Árabe’s
Baibars bookshop had a stand at the
International Book Fair in Guadalajara
(Mexico), the Book Fairs in Madrid, Córdoba
and Seville, and during the Nights of
Ramadan Festival.
Casa Árabe 2009
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The International Institute of Arab and Muslim World Studies
Casa Árabe’s International Institute of Arab
and Muslim World Studies (IEAM) is a research centre with various lines of work that
have been consolidated since it was set up in
2007. With its headquarters in Córdoba, the
Institute brings together a multidisciplinary
group of researchers and runs or belongs to
several research networks in Europe and Arab
countries. These research lines complement
other areas worked on by Casa Árabe, thus
enabling the effective transfer of academic
knowledge through the Culture, Education,
Publications, Socioeconomic Programme and
the Sociopolitical Observatory areas. The
research programmes and their results give
rise to publications, seminars, conferences
and specialist training and postgraduate programmes organised by Casa Árabe or in
collaboration with other institutions inside or
outside Spain.
The research priorities are:
• Political reforms and socioeconomic trends
in Arab countries;
• Arab and Muslim women;
• Muslims of the West;
• Islamisms in context.
Research Projects
Women and families in current Arab
societies
2009 saw the end of the first phase of a major
research project jointly managed by Sophie
Bessis and Gema Martín Muñoz to investigate the different realities of Arab and Muslim
women. This first part focused on Women
and families in Arab countries, taking as its
point of reference the impact of demographic
changes on the family model and the status
of women. The participants in the multidisciplinary research group were as follows:
Mohamed al-Dbiyat (French Institute of the
Middle East, IFPO, in Damascus), Houria
Alami Mchichi (King Hassan II University,
Casablanca), Penny Johnson (Birzeit
University, Ramallah), Thérèse Locoh
(National Institute for Demographic Studies,
INED, Paris), Saïda-Dorra Mahfoudh-Draoui
(University of Tunis), Zahia Ouadah-Bedidi
(Paris Diderot University, Paris), Nouredine
Saadi (University of Artois), Soraya al-Torki
(American University in Cairo), Alberto VeiraRamos (King Charles III University in Madrid
and the Georg-August-Universität in
Göttingen).
Muslim traditions in secular Europe
Since July, 2008, Casa Árabe’s IEAM has participated in a project driven jointly by the
University of Utrecht, the Zentrum Moderner
Orient (ZMO, Berlin) and the European University
Viadrina (Frankfurt on the Oder). This project,
designated Muslim traditions in secular Europe,
is intended to create and consolidate a network
of researchers in Europe and North America
researching the question of Islam and Europe.
The research network periodically organises
themed seminars with the aim of exchanging
work experiences and seeking ways to strengthen scientific cooperation between countries
and their respective academic institutions.
On May 26th and 27th, 2009, the network
held a seminar in Casa Árabe on the topics of
Law and policies and After multiculturalism:
towards a cosmopolitan dialogue in a pluralist
Europe?
The following researchers took part:
• Schirin Amir-Moazami (European
University Viadrina)
• Elena Arigita Maza (Casa Árabe-IEAM)
• Carmen Becker (Radboud University
Nijmegen)
• Martin van Bruinessen (University of
Utrecht)
• Alexandre Caeiro (University of Utrecht)
• Sarah Dornhof (European University
Viadrina)
• Knut Graw (ZMO)
• Heiko Henkel (University of Copenhagen)
• Christine Jacobsen (University of Oslo)
• Jeanette Jouili (University of Amsterdam)
• Martjin de Koning (University of
Amsterdam)
• Jens Kutscher (University of ErlangenNuremberg)
• Ruth Mas (University of Colorado at
Boulder)
• Gema Martín Muñoz (Casa Árabe-IEAM)
• Annelies Moors (University of
Amsterdam)
• Simona Pagano (European University
Viadrina)
• Frank Peter (European University
Viadrina)
• Dietrich Reetz (ZMO)
• Javier Rosón Lorente (Casa Árabe-IEAM)
• Annemeik Schlatmann (European
University Viadrina)
Casa Árabe 2009
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The International Institute of Arab and Muslim World Studies
a
Ár
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20
09
The Islamic Movements in Europe project coordinated by Frank Peter (University of Bern) and
Rafael Ortega Rodrigo (Casa Árabe-IEAM) sets
out to make highly specialised academic knowledge on Islamism and Islamic movements
accessible to a broad public with an academic
and/or professional interest (journalists, political
and social activists, religious leaders, etc.). The
project will result in a book to be published in
2010. This work is intended to respond to an
interested public so as to make available empirical knowledge of Islamic groups (structure,
leadership, members, activities, networks or
relationships between them…). Likewise, concepts and models are proposed to allow readers to contextualise the information coming
from the media, concise theses are presented
on the activities of these groups and the reasons for their (apparent) success among sectors of the Muslim communities, and a context
is provided and extended for a debate on the
usage of such concepts as Islamic, fundamentalist, Islamist, radical or extremist and the problems that arise out of their ideologisation.
In addition to the coordinators, the following
senior and junior researchers from European
and Arab countries are taking part in the
project:
• Samim Akgönül (Marc Bloch University,
Strasbourg)
• Chris Allen (University of Birmingham)
• Samir Amghar (Higher Studies School for
the Social Sciences, Paris)
• Schirin Amir-Moazami (Free University
Berlin)
• Elena Arigita Maza (Casa Árabe-IEAM)
• Akil N. Awan (Royal Holloway, University
of London)
• Jørgen Bæk Simonsen (University of
Copenhagen)
• Synnove Bendixsen (University of Bergen)
• Yahya Birt (Islamic Foundation, Leicester)
• Sarah Bracke (Catholic University of
Louvain)
• Alexandre Caeiro (Erlangen Center for
Islam and the Law in Europe, University of
Utrecht)
• Mohamed Darif (King Hassan II University,
Casablanca)
• Mohamed El Battiui (Free University,
Brussels)
• Nadia Fadil (Catholic University of Louvain)
• Annalisa Frisina (University of Padua)
• Bettina Gräf (Free University, Berlin)
• Sadek Hamid (University of Chester)
• Jan-Peter Hartung (School of Oriental and
African Studies, University of London)
• Heiko Henkel (University of Copenhagen)
• Tina Gudrun Jensen (The Danish National
Centre for Social Research, Copenhagen)
• Dorthe Høvids Possing (University of
Copenhagen)
• Gerdien Jonker (Georg-Eckert Institute für
internationale Schulbuchforschun,
Brunswick)
• Jeanette Jouili (University of Amsterdam)
• Melanie Kamp (Zentrum Moderner Orient,
ZMO, Berlin)
• Martijn de Koning (Radboud University of
Nijmegen)
• Philip Lewis (University of Bradford)
• Inge Liengaard (University of Aarhus)
• Ural Manço (Saint-Louis University
Schools, Brussels)
• Ermete Mariani (University of Lyon)
• Seán McLoughlin (University of Leeds)
• Imran Mogra (University of Central
England, Birmingham)
• Jordi Moreras (Rovira i Virgili University,
Tarragona)
• Shaida Nabi (University de Manchester)
• Jon Alix Olsen (University of Copenhagen)
• Firdaous Oueslati (University of Leyden)
• Muzammil Quraishi (University of Salford)
• Dietrich Reetz (ZMO)
• Lutz Rogler (University of Leipzig)
• F. Javier Rosón Lorente (Casa Árabe-IEAM)
• Salman Sayyid (University of Leeds)
• Birgitte Schepelern Johansen (University
of Copenhagen)
• Werner Schiffauer (European University
Viadrina, Frankfurt on the Oder)
• Tallat Shakoor (independent researcher,
Copenhagen)
• Mohammad Siddique Seddon (University
of Chester)
Researchers of IEAM
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Since December, 2008, Casa Árabe has been
taking part in this European project led by the
Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia (OBERAXE) of the Spanish Ministry of Labour and
Immigration. Co-financed by the specific programme for Constitutional Rights and
Citizenship (2007-2013) and managed by the
European Commission’s Directorate-General
for Justice, Freedom and Security, this project
aims to promote a European discourse of tolerance, generate arguments for co-existence
and respect, recognition of differences and the
construction of a European citizenship free from
any form of racism or xenophobia. This project
brings together NGOs and institutions from
Spain (OBERAXE, Casa Árabe, Consortium of
Entities for Integrated Action with Migrants,
CEPAIM, the Spanish Red Cross, Barcelona
Provincial Council, Movement against
Intolerance), Finland (the Home Affairs Ministry
and Ihmisoikeusliitto, the Finnish League for
Human Rights, FLHR), Sweden (Centrum mot
rasism or Centre against Racism), Netherlands
(Erasmus University in Rotterdam), Portugal
(High Commissioner for Immigration and
Intercultural Dialogue, ACIDI, and Commission
for Citizenship and Gender Equality, CIG) and
Ireland (The Equality Authority).
Islamic movements in Europe
Meeting of the Living Together project
as
Living together: European Citizenship
against Racism and Xenophobia
Casa Árabe 2009
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The International Institute of Arab and Muslim World Studies
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These two projects which came to an end in
2009 will result in the publication of various
monographical studies in 2010.
The first project analyses the development
and recent evolution of industrial policies in
Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and their respective policies are compared. The research
has been carried out, in the case of Algeria,
by Fatiha Talahite (researcher at the
National Centre for Scientific Research,
CNRS, in the Paris 13 Nord University) and
Rafik Bouklia-Hassane (lecturer at the
tive research into the education systems in
Maghreb and their strengths and weaknesses in a landscape of profound change
within the context of globalisation. In his
work, he deals with issues such as the
spread of primary education, illiteracy, the
debate on privatisation, linguistic diversity
and teacher training. The results of the
study will be published in Spanish and
French in 2010.
The second project is directed by José María
Mella, professor in the Department of
Economic Structure and Development
Economics at the Autonomous University in
Madrid, and analyses the impact of Spanish
business cooperation in the Tangiers region,
immersed in an intensive process of development in recent years. Through interviews with
companies, social representatives and
Spanish and Moroccan institutions in the
region, the study analyses the penetration
and impact Spanish companies are having on
the local productive, social, territorial and institutional fabric in this urban area.
This new programme began in 2009 with the
aim of disseminating analysis and academic
knowledge of the legacy and contributions of
al-Andalus. Its main goal is to publicise the
multiple facets of Andalusia’s Arab heritage as
a living legacy that impinges on everyday life
in Spanish society. Likewise, it is intended to
provide a forum for debate and reflection that
deconstructs both the idealising myths and
the denial of Andalusia’s Arab legacy in the
history of Spain. The starting point for this
programme was the project Casa Árabe
carried out on the 4th Centenary of the
Expulsion of the Moriscos.
Educational systems in Maghreb facing
globalisation. Comparative study
In 2009, Abdeljalil Akkari (lecturer at the
University of Geneva) carried out compara-
Rethinking al-Andalus: historic legacies in
the construction of the present
The scientific coordinating committee of this
programme comprises Gema Martín Muñoz
(Casa Árabe-IEAM), Eduardo Manzano
Moreno (Centre for Human and Social
Sciences, CSIC), María Antonia Martínez Núñez
(University of Málaga), Emilio González Ferrín
(University of Seville), José María Perceval
(Autonomous University of Barcelona) and
Elena Arigita Maza (Casa Árabe-IEAM).
The European Union and the Arab world:
What do Arabs think of and expect from
Europe?
This project, developed in collaboration with
the Cidob Foundation, is intended to analyse
Arab perceptions, opinions and perspectives
with respect to Europe and its policy in the
Arab region. Notable specialists taking part
are: Bichara Khader (director of the Centre of
Studies and Research into the Contemporary
Arab World of the Catholic University of
Louvain); Abdullah Baabood (director of the
Gulf Research Centre at the University of
Cambridge); Bassma Kodmani (executive
director of the Arab Reform Initiative); Khaled
Hroub (director of the Cambridge Arab Media
Project at the University of Cambridge) and
Mongi Bousnina (ex director-general of the
Arab League Educational, Cultural and
Scientific Organisation ( ALECSO ). These
specialists, along with researchers in the
IEAM of Casa Árabe and the Cidob
Foundation, have made an assessment of
Euro-Arab relations, recommendations on
this subject, and the state of Arab public
opinion regarding European countries. The
results of this project, undertaken in 2009,
will be published in 2010.
Meeting of the Scientific Coordination Committee of the
Rethinking al-Andalus programme
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Industrial policies in the Maghreb and the
impact of Hispano-Moroccan business
cooperation in the Tangiers region
University of Oran); Tunisia is dealt with by
Azzam Mahjoub (lecturer at the University
of Tunis and also the main author of the
comparative study); Morocco is examined
by Larabi Jaidi (lecturer at the King
Mohamed V-Agdal University in Rabat). The
purpose of this study is to analyse how
these policies were put into effect, their
results and impact on the industrial fabric of
each country, as well as the challenges to
be faced in the context of liberalisation
developed through the European Union
partnership agreements.
From left to right: Sophie Bessis, Gema Martín Muñoz and
Alfonso Carlos Bolado
as
• Guido Steinberg (Stiftung Wissenschaft
und Politik, SWP, Berlin)
• Thijl Sunier (University of Amsterdam)
• Suha Taji-Farouki (University of Exeter)
• Hossam Tamam (independent researcher,
Cairo)
• Sol Tarrés (University of Huelva)
• Jörn Thielmann (Erlangen Centre for Islam
and the Law in Europe)
• Dominique Thomas (Higher Studies
School for the Social Sciences, Paris)
• David Tyrer (John Moores University,
Liverpool)
• Jenny White (University of Boston)
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Gema Martín Muñoz and Habib Ayeb in the seminar Water in the Arab world:
global perceptions and local realities
Water in the Arab world: global perceptions
and local realities
In this seminar held at Casa Árabe, eleven
Arab and European specialists spent a day
and a half analysing different aspects related to competition for, management and
use of water resources in the Arab countries, from Morocco to Iraq. The seminar
was open to the public and more than one
hundred people from different spheres (universities, research centres, public institutions, companies and NGOs) were registered as attending. The seminar was led by
Habib Ayeb (associate researcher at the
Social Research Center of the American
University in Cairo and lecturer at Paris 8
Saint Denis University). The participants
included: Moutaz A. Al-Dabbas (Baghdad
University School of Sciences), Reem
Saad (Social Research Center of the
American University at Cairo), Mauro van
Aken (University of Milan-Bicocca), Héla
Youssfi (Paris Dauphine University),
Mohamed Elloumi (researcher at the
Tunisian National Agricultural Research
Centre,
INRAT ),
Annabelle
Houdret
(Principal project coordinator for Adelphi
Research GmbH in Berlin), Mohamed
Mahdi (National School of Agriculture in
Meknès), Barbara Casciarri (Paris 8 SaintDenis University and Centre for Economic,
Legal,
and
Social
Studies
and
Documentation,
CEDEJ ,
Khartoum),
Abderrahmane Moussaoui (University of
Provence, Aix en Provence) and Antonio
Perdomo Molina (La Laguna School of
Agricultural Engineering). Their papers on
the subject will be published in a collective
work in 2010.
International seminars and conferences
Islamophobia under discussion
Casa Árabe and the Comparative Ethnic
Studies Programme at the Department of
Ethnic Studies of the University of California
in Berkeley organised the international seminar Islamophobia under discussion, led by
Gema Martín Muñoz and Ramón Grosfoguel.
In the course of the seminar, which took place
at Casa Árabe in Madrid on May 28th and
29th, the analytical and conceptual value of
Islamophobia and its limitations were explo-
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Islamisms in context: political participation,
contestation and rebellion
From August 31st to September 4th, in collaboration with the French Middle East Institute
(IFPO) in Damascus, Casa Árabe organised this
seminar in the framework of the Menéndez
Pelayo International University (UIMP) summer
courses. Directed by Gema Martín Muñoz
(director general of Casa Árabe-IEAM) and
François Burgat (director of the IFPO), the
seminar offered an analysis of Islamist movements explaining the origin, concepts and
diversity of options which, depending on the
contexts, are developing in the present-day
Islamist world. In addition to the two seminar
leaders, the seminar was delivered by:
Mustafa Akyol (Hürriyet Daily News), Nazanin
Amirian
(Spanish
National
Distance
Education University, UNED), Elena Arigita
Maza (Casa Árabe-IEAM), Dolors Bramon
Planas (University of Barcelona), Khaled
From left to right: Mustafa Akyol, Eva Wegner, François Burgat and Khaled Hroub in the
course on Islamisms in context
as
The seminar brought together national and
international experts. In addition to the seminar leaders, the speakers were: Nasr Hamid
Abu Zayd (University of Utrecht), Farish
Ahmad-Noor (S. Rajaratnam School of
International Studies, RSIS, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore), Elena
Arigita Maza (Casa Árabe-IEAM), Luis
Bernabé Pons (University of Alicante),
Ioannis Dimitrakopoulos (the European
Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, FRA),
Vincent Geisser (Arab and Muslim World
Study and Research Institute, IREMAM, Aix en
Provence), Knut Graw (Zentrum Moderner
Orient, ZMO), Heiko Henkel (University of
Copenhagen), Joan Lacomba (University of
Valencia),
Nelson
Maldonado-Torres
(University of California in Berkeley), Annelies
Moors (University of Amsterdam), Laura
Navarro (Minority Media, University of
Poitiers), José María Perceval (Autonomous
University in Barcelona), Javier Rosón
Lorente (Casa Árabe-IEAM), Salman Sayyid
(University of Leeds), Abdool Karim Vakil
(King's College, London).
Toni Serra (on the left) and Majid Seddati in the seminar Arts
and education through new technologies. The value of media
libraries
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red from an interdisciplinary perspective, as
were all the aspects, discourses and experiences related to this subject.
Hroub (Cambridge Arab Media Project,
University of Cambridge), Rafael Ortega
Rodrigo (Casa Árabe-IEAM), Rocío Vázquez
Martí (Casa Árabe-IEAM) and Eva Wegner
(University of Cape Town).
Arts and education through new
technologies. The value of media libraries
To mark the inauguration of the media
library, Casa Árabe organised this seminar
on October 14th and 15th with the aim of
proposing a multidisciplinary reflection on
the enormous usefulness of media libraries
as new spaces for communication and creativity in an era when images and the
Internet are breaking down barriers, establishing new forms of interculturality and
diversifying the possibilities of creativity
and knowledge. The seminar tackled the
spread of knowledge through media libraries, contemporary Arab audio-visual culture, the Internet era and the museum of
the future, the possibilities of developing
transnational networks for exchange and
cooperation as well as the impact of the
Internet and new technologies on the artistic sphere.
The people taking part in the seminar were
directors of media libraries, directors of virtual
arts and museum projects and Arab and
European audio-visual artists: Catherine
David (chief curator of France’s General
Inspectorate of Museums), Sahar Talaat (lecturer on the European Master’s programme
Inter-Mediterranean
Mediation,
MIM,
Autonomous University in Barcelona),
Carmen Farràs i Piqués (director of the Media
Art Space media library of the La Caixa
Savings
Bank’s
Social
Foundation,
Barcelona), Mourad Diouri (lecturer at the
Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab
World, University of Edinburgh), Rogelio
López Cuenca (visual artist, Spain), Nisrien
Boukhari (visual artist, Syria), Majid Seddati
International seminars and conferences
(director of the International Festival of Visual
Arts and New Media, FAN, Casablanca), Toni
Serra (co-director of the Unidentified Video
Observatory, OVNI, and author of videos,
texts and programmes, Spain), Khalid Khreis
(director of the National Fine Arts Gallery in
Jordan), Vera Tamari (director of the Virtual
Gallery and Museum of Art and Ethnography
of Birzeit University, Ramallah), Gerhard
Haupt and Pat Binder (editors of Nafas Art
Magazine, on-line journal of the Institut für
Auslandsbeziehungen IFA, Stuttgart).
Towards a universal moratorium on
the death penalty. The case of the Arab
countries
The international seminar Towards a universal moratorium on the death penalty. The
case of the Arab countries took place on
July 14th and 15th, organised by Casa
Árabe and the Directorate General for
United Nations, Global Matters and Human
Rights at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation. Its purpose was to
assess the situation of criminal law and the
death penalty in the Arab countries, and
analyse the initiatives under way for those
States to accept an indefinite moratorium on
its application or its abolition. Those taking
part were legal experts, human rights activists and government representatives from
various Arab countries: Asunta Cavaller
(Amnesty International), Taghreed Jaber
(Penal
Reform
International),
Saul
Lehrfreund (Death Penalty Project, London),
Robert Renny Cushing (Murder Victims
Families for Human Rights), Ayman Aqeel
(Maat Center for Juridical and Constitutional
Studies), Mahmoud Rached M. Ghaleb
(Arab Standing Committee on Human
Rights, League of Arab States), Mona
Chamass (World Coalition against the Death
Penalty), Mohamed Bendjedidi (The French
National Consultative Commission on
Human Rights), Hafez Abu Seada (Egyptian
Casa Árabe 2009
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United States-Maghreb: challenges and
perspectives
The French International Relations Institute
(IFRI) and Casa Árabe, within the framework of
a collaboration agreement foreseeing the joint
organisation of combined annual seminars,
organised the seminar entitled United StatesMaghreb: challenges and perspectives in Paris,
on April 17th. This seminar analyzed the role of
the United States in North Africa and the perspectives emerging with the new Democrat
Administration on such issues as trade and
energy, security, governance and conflict resolution. A large group of European, North African
and US analysts took part: Khadija MohsenFinan (IFRI), Gema Martín Muñoz (Casa ÁrabeIEAM), Alan Pino (National Intelligence Council,
Washington), Stephanie Williams (State
Department of the United States), François
Raffenne (Strategic Affairs Delegation, Ministry
of Defence, France), Philip Naylor (Marquette
University, Milwaukee), Jean-Pierre Filiu
(Political Sciences, Paris), David Kirsch
(Market Intelligence Service, PFC Energy,
Washington),
Abdenour
Keramane
(Medenergie, Algiers), Ihsane El Kadi (Les
Afriques, Algeria), Moulay Driss Alaoui
M’daghri (Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane),
Francis Ghilès (Cidob Foundation, Barcelona),
Amar Drissi (Office Chérifien des Phosphates,
OCP, Casablanca), Azzedine Layachi (St.
John’s University, New York), Chekib Nouira
(Arab Institute for CEOs, Tunisia), Paul
Burkhead (Office of the United States Trade
Representative, Washington), William Jordan
(United States Embassy in Paris), Abdeslam
Maghraoui (Duke University, Durham), Eric
Goldstein (Human Rights Watch, Washington),
I. William Zartman (School of Advanced
International Studies, SAIS, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore), Isaías Barreñada Bajo
(Casa Árabe-IEAM) and Amine Aït Chaalal
(Catholic University of Louvain).
From left to right: Olivia Orozco, Khadija Elmadmad,
Ali Bensaad and Cheikh Oumar Ba at the session
closing the seminar on Sub-Saharan migrants in the
Maghreb
From left to right: Salman Sayyid, Abdool Karim Vakil,
Knut Graw and Javier Rosón at the seminar on
Islamophobia under discussion
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Organisation for Human Rights), Abboud AlSaraj (University of Damascus), Ibrahim
Najjar (former Justice Minister in Lebanon),
Mohamed Mustapha Raissouni (Human
Rights Consultative Committee, Morocco),
Taleb Al-Saqqaf (rapporteur to the
Committee of Experts in Human Rights for
the League of Arab States), Hisham El
Bastawisi (Lord Justice on the bench of the
Egyptian Appeal Court), Amina Bouayach
(Moroccan Human Rights Organisation,
OMDH) and Boutros Harb (legal expert and
politician, Lebanon).
The Maghreb and the Middle East in
contemporary international society
Season of nine lectures given by three experts
in different subjects and from different countries in Córdoba, Jaén and Madrid from March
30th to May 6th, 2009, analyzing the political,
economic and social realities of the Maghreb
and the Middle East. The lectures were given
at the Faculty of Law and Business Sciences
at the University of Córdoba, the Faculty of
Law at the University of Jaén and at the headquarters of Casa Árabe in Madrid. Casa Árabe
received the collaboration of the Three
Mediterranean Cultures Foundation and the
Unesco Chair for Conflict Resolution at the
University of Córdoba. The lecturers were:
Raed Raffei, a Lebanese journalist, a war
correspondent specialising in Middle Eastern
conflicts and a political analyst on the region,
who spoke on the subject of “Lebanon and
the conflicts in the Middle East: present and
future”; Djamshid Momtaz, a lecturer in
International Public Law at the University of
Teheran, spoke on “Security in the Persian
Gulf and the Iranian nuclear dossier”; Saïd
Ihrai, vice-principal of the King Mohamed VAgdal University (Rabat) and lecturer at the
Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social
Sciences, specialising in international relations, and also a lecturer at the Higher Royal
College of Military Learning (CREMS) in Kenitra,
gave a talk on “The democratic principle in
international law: the strategy of the Arab and
Muslim states”.
Reem Saad
Catherine David
Sub-Saharan migrants in the Maghreb
Organised in collaboration with the
Alternatives Foundation and the Friedrich
Ebert Foundation in Spain, this seminar
dealt mainly with the sphere of social associations and trade unions, with representatives from Europe and the Maghreb,
although it also included several sessions
open to the public, including a discussion in
Casa Árabe on the situation of Sub-Saharan
migrations in the Maghreb, setting out in
particular the cases of Morocco, Algeria
International seminars and conferences
and Mauritania. The open discussion included the participation of three of the seminar’s experts, Khadija Elmadmad (Unesco
Chair of Migrations and Human Rights at
the King Hassan II University in
Casablanca), Ali Bensaad (Algerian expert
and researcher at the Arab and Muslim
World Study and Research Institute, IREMAM,
in Aix en Provence), and Cheikh Oumar Ba
(founding member of the Centre for Social
Policy Research, CREPOS, in Dakar). Other
speakers in the seminar were: Hassan
Boubakri (lecturer in Geography at the
University of Susa), Mustafa Ben Ahmed
(coordinator for the Tunisian General
Worker’s Trade Union, UGTT), Nadia Khrouz
(responsible for welfare assistance for
immigrants at the Moroccan association
Anti-racist Group Accompanying and
Defending Foreigners and Migrants, GADEM,
and member of the Maghreb Social Forum),
Emmanuel Mbolela (former president of the
Association of Congolese Refugees and
Asylum Seekers in Morocco, ARCOM) and
Yassine Temlali (an Algerian journalist).
The management of intellectual property
rights in the Euro-Mediterranean area
Round table organised by Casa Árabe within
the framework of the 6th Forum of SpanishMoroccan Lawyers held in Tangiers for the
analysis of the situation of copyright protection in Spain and in Arab countries, especially
on the subject of controlling Internet-related
crimes and discussions of the main aspects
and issues to be included in a possible future
Good Practice Code for the management of
intellectual property in the Mediterranean. The
speakers leading the discussions were Abid
Kabadi, a Moroccan lawyer and expert consultant on intellectual property, who spoke on
criminal penalties on audio-visual piracy in
Morocco; Miguel Ángel Calle, the central
registrar for intellectual property at the
Ministry of Culture in Spain, who set out the
situation of the defence of intellectual property in Spain, with particular attention for the
Good Practice Manual published by the
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Arab and Islamic world: political realities
and social dynamics
From July 6th to 9th, Casa Árabe coorganised
the summer course on the Arab and Islamic
World: political realities and social dynamics
at the University of Burgos, the purpose of
which was to offer an approach to the diversity of the modern Arab and Muslim world
through its social, political and cultural reality.
The speakers included: Gema Martín Muñoz
(Casa Árabe-IEAM), Juan M. Ibeas (University
of Burgos), Rafael Ortega Rodrigo (Casa
Árabe-IEAM), Francisco Javier Peña Pérez
(University of Burgos), Federico Sanz
(University of Burgos), María Asunción
Cifuentes (University of Burgos), Eduard
Soler i Lecha (Cidob Foundation), Isaías
Barreñada Bajo (Casa Árabe-IEAM), José
Abu-Tarbush Quevedo (University of La
Laguna), Paloma González del Miño
(Complutense University in Madrid), Javier
Aisa (Institute for the Promotion of Social
Studies, IPES, Pamplona), Ndeye Andújar
(Islamic Council of Catalonia), Enrique
Vázquez Domínguez (journalist), Salwa ElGharbi (Unesco Centre in Catalonia), Laila
Louadji (University of Tangiers), Mohamed El
Gheryb (Association of Immigrant Workers
from Morocco, ATIM, Logroño) and Sonia
Rodríguez Cobos (“Burgos Acoge”).
Meeting on Spanish-Moroccan Translation
and Publishing
On October 15th and 16th, Rabat hosted the
first
Meeting
on
Spanish-Moroccan
Translation and Publishing, jointly organised
by the Cervantes Institute, the Spanish
Embassy in Morocco, Casa Árabe-IEAM, the
Directorate-General for Books at the Spanish
Ministry of Culture, the Directorate for Books
at the Moroccan Ministry of Culture and the
Three Mediterranean Cultures Foundation.
The meeting brought together representatives of institutions, publishers and translators
and analyzed the state of translation and
publishing of Moroccan books in Spain and
Spanish books in Morocco, flagging up
potential routes for cooperation. Participants
included Federico Arbós Ayuso (Cervantes
Institute, Rabat), Pedro Rojo (Al Fanar
Translations, Rabat), Said Benabdelouahed
(King Hassan II University, Casablanca),
Fatiha Benlabbah (King Mohamed V-Agdal
University, Rabat), Mohamed Bennis (Éditions Toubkal), Driss Bouissef Rekab (Saad
Warzazi Éditions), Hassan Boutakka (King
Hassan II University, Casablanca), Rachid
Chraïbi (Éditions Marsam), Leila Chaouni
(Éditions Le Fennec), Ibrahim El Khatib (King
Mohamed V-Agdal University, Rabat), Daniel
Gil Flores (Casa Árabe-IEAM), Antonio
Huerga (Huerga y Fierro Editores),
Inmaculada Jiménez Morell (Ediciones del
Oriente y del Mediterráneo), Juan Marsá
Fuentes (University of Granada), Anna
Monjo Omedes (Icaria Editorial), Nour Taïbi
(King Fahd Higher School for Translation,
Tangiers), Carmen Ruiz Bravo-Villasante
(Editorial CantArabia), Juan José Sánchez
Sandoval (Editorial Quorum) and Souad
Reggala (King Fahd Higher School for
Translation, Tangiers).
History of economic thought in Islam,
Mediter Group, Paris
On November 24th, 2009, Casa Árabe took
part in the seminar on History of economic
thought in Islam held at the Economics Centre
of the Paris 13-Nord University as the third session of the season devoted to Flows, exchanges and institutions in trans-Mediterranean
relations, organised by the Mediter Group
under the supervision of Fatiha Talahite and
Saïd Souam, with the support of the
International Development Research Group
into Euro-Mediterranean Economic Research
(GDRI-DREEM) at the French National Centre
for Scientific Research (CNRS). The participants
in the seminar included Ramón Verrier (lecturer
at the University of Tours), Omar Akalay (a
Moroccan economist), Olivia Orozco de la
Torre (coordinator of Casa Árabe’s
Socioeconomic and Business Programme) and
Keltoum Touba (an expert in law and sociology
from the Universities of Paris X Nanterre and
Paris 13-Nord). In the course of the seminar,
the discussions analyzed the main aspects of
economic thought in Islam until the 15th century, with special emphasis on the development of the concept of markets, currency and
work ethics, in the various scholastic traditions
and religious corpora of both Christians and
Muslims, during the mediaeval period and until
the 15th century.
The legal and economic situation of
women in Morocco
Seminar held in collaboration with the
Spanish Distance Learning University, UNED,
with the presence of two Moroccan experts in
the subject, Idriss El Fakhouri and Mounir
Mehdi, from the King Mohamed I University in
Oujda.
On Globalisation (I and II). CECO course for
Arab diplomats
With regard to training and dissemination
activities, continuing with the line of previous
years, Casa Árabe collaborated with the
Centre for Economic and Commercial Studies
(CECO) of Spain’s Foreign Trade Institute (ICEX)
in the organisation of two training sessions
held at our headquarters on March 3rd and
December 9th for Egyptian diplomats and
public servants as part of the On Globalisation
programme. These courses are intended to
showcase the experience of the Spanish
administration and economic players in general aspects of international trade, the promotion of exports, foreign investments and in the
areas of marketing, management, strategies
and their related practical facets. Each of the
sessions included the participation of a score
of specialists and advisers from various
secretariats and departments of the Egyptian
Ministry of Trade and Industry, to whom the
tools and cooperation opportunities offered
by Casa Árabe were explained, with special
emphasis on the promotion of investments
and the opportunities for business cooperation opening up in the field of renewable energies in both our countries.
25th Congress of Journalists in the
Straits. Cooperation between Spain and
Morocco. Future prospects
In collaboration with the Association of
Journalists in Campo de Gibraltar, Casa
Árabe organised the 25th edition of the
Congress of Journalists in the Straits, which
brought together in Córdoba reporters from
Seminar on Art and education through new technologies. The value of
media libraries
as
Ministry to prosecute crimes against intellectual property; and José Francisco Estévez, a
partner at the law firm of Cremades & CalvoSotelo, who also spoke on intellectual property law in Spain and digitalisation. Others
participating in the debate were Tarik
Mossadek (Association of Lawyers in
Casablanca), José Rey (director of the
Ediciones Facta publishing house in Spain),
Jaafar Laidi (head of the Garrigues law office
in Tangiers), Anas Lemrini (judge of a Court of
First Instance in Arcila), as well as several lawyers from Tangiers.
Saïd Ihrai
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International seminars and conferences
Casa Árabe 2009
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International seminars and conferences
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Salón de Actos de la Delegación de
Gobierno de la Junta de Andalucía.
C/ San Felipe nº 5
Córdoba
2009
15.18
octubre
Sede de Casa Árabe- IEAM.
c/Martínez Rucker 9. 14003 Córdoba
Omar Azziman and Teresa Sáez Carrascosa at the inauguration
of the 25th Congress of Journalists from the Straits
www.casaarabe.es
Djamchid Momtaz
a
Ár
PERSPECTIVAS
DE FUTURO
For the second year, the Madinat al Zahra
Centre and Casa Árabe organised this course
as part of the Cordvba 2009 Summer
University, directed by Antonio Vallejo, the
Centre’s director, with the aim of offering participants an extensive understanding of the
history and archaeology of al Andalus and to
delve deeper into the projection of the
archaeological finds at Madinat al Zahra in the
world of academia. The course, held from July
6th to 11th, was mainly aimed at final-year
undergraduate students, doctoral candidates,
archaeologists, specialists in heritage and the
general public.
Meeting of the Spanish Network
of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean
Foundation for Inter-Cultural
Dialogue
The Spanish Network of the Anna Lindh
Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for InterCultural Dialogue held its regular meeting
at the headquarters of Casa Árabe in
Madrid on November 11th. The meeting
brought together about fifty participants in
the network to consider the outcome of
their activities and plan future actions at
the Spanish and regional levels. The occasion was marked by the presence of
Gianluca Solera, the network coordinator
of the Anna Lindh Foundation.
Raed Raffei
a
LA COOPERACIÓN ENTRE
ESPAÑA Y MARRUECOS:
Madinat al-Zahra. Course in the history
and archaeology of al Andalus
Seminar on progress towards a universal moratorium on the
death penalty. The case of Arab countries
as
25
CONGRESO DE PERIODISTAS
DEL ESTRECHO
Campo de Gibraltar and other locations in
Andalusia, as well as from several cities in
northern Morocco from October 15th to
18th. In this edition, the contents of the congress were devoted to reflection and analysis of the cooperation between Spain and
Morocco, with consideration, in the form of
various panels, of the future prospects in the
fields of energy, the environment, ports and
culture. Speakers participating included:
Estanislao Ramírez (president of the Campo
de Gibraltar Press Association), Mustapha
Labassi (president of the North Moroccan
Press Association), Gema Martín Muñoz
(director general of Casa Árabe-IEAM),
Teresa Sáez Carrascosa (director general of
the Andalusian Foreign Promotion Agency),
Omar Azziman (the Moroccan Ambassador
to Spain), Andrés Alcántara (responsible in
Spain for the institutional relations of the
International Union for the Conservation of
Nature), Abdelkader Lahlou (lecturer at the
Faculty of Law, Politics and Social Sciences
at the King Mohamed V University in Rabat
and Morocco’s representative at United
Nations international conferences), Manuel
Pérez Pérez (director of Córdoba City
Council’s Cultural Capital Office), Sellam
Berrada (Moroccan consul in Algeciras),
Manuel Morón Ledró (president of the
Algeciras Bay Port Authority), Hassan
Abkari (representative of the Port Authority
for Tangiers) and Maica Pérez Gil (treasurer
of the Press Association for Campo de
Gibraltar).
Casa Árabe 2009
37
Gema Martín Muñoz, director
general of Casa Árabe, and
José Antonio Martínez de
Villarreal, director of the
Diplomatic School
In 2009, in collaboration with the Diplomatic
School, Casa Árabe coordinated the module
on “Maghreb and the Middle East” in the
Inter-university Master in diplomacy and international relations taught by the Diplomatic
School for the third year running. This module, directed by Gema Martín Muñoz and coordinated by Víctor Gutiérrez Castillo, consists
in 35 lectures on history, economics, society,
politics, law, security, conflicts and international relations given by Ignacio ÁlvarezOssorio (University of Alicante), Elena Arigita
(Casa Árabe-IEAM), Isaías Barreñada (Casa
Árabe-IEAM), Rafael Bustos (Complutense
University in Madrid), Gonzalo Escribano
(Spanish National Distance University, UNED),
Rafael Escudero (Complutense University in
Madrid), Gonzalo Fernández Parrilla
(Autonomous University in Madrid), José Mª
Ferré (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation), Paloma García Picazo
(Spanish National Distance Learning
University, UNED), Ana González Santamaría
(Casa Árabe-IEAM), Víctor Gutiérrez Castillo
(University of Jaén, Casa Árabe-IEAM), Pedro
López de Aguirrebengoa (Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation), Gema Martín
Muñoz (Casa Árabe-IEAM), Miguel Ángel
Martín (Open University of Catalonia), Rafael
Matos (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation), Nuria Medina García (Casa
Árabe-IEAM), Olivia Orozco (Casa ÁrabeIEAM), Rafael Ortega Rodrigo (Casa ÁrabeIEAM), Waleed Saleh Alkhalifa (Autonomous
University in Madrid), Víctor Manuel Sánchez
(Open University of Catalonia), Antoni Segura
(University of Barcelona), Fidel Sendagorta
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation),
Juan José Tamayo (Complutense University
in Madrid) and José Abu Tarbush (University
of La Laguna).
May 4th to June 2nd were the dates for the
course organised by the Diplomatic School
and Casa Árabe on Islam and Muslims: historic dimension and contemporary dynamics,
under the supervision of Gema Martín
Muñoz, director general of Casa Árabe and
José María Ferré de la Peña, Spain’s roving
ambassador for relations with Muslim
Communities and Organisations Abroad. The
course is structured in several thematic
blocks dealing with Islam as a religion in its
historic and legal dimensions; Islamisms as a
phenomenon of political participation, contestation and violent action; the international
Courses with the Diplomatic School
institutions of Islam and the issue of Islam in
international relations; Islam and Muslims in
European societies and, in particular, in Spain.
The course began with an opening lecture by
Dolors Bramon Planas on “The Foundations
of power in classical Islam” and concluded
with a round table discussing Representation
and leadership in the Muslim communities of
Spain, with the participation of Mohammed
Chaib Akhdim (a Member of the Regional
Parliament of Catalonia and founder of the Ibn
Batuta Sociocultural Association, ASCIB),
Mohamed Kharchich (secretary of the
Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious
Entities, FEERI), Said Kirlani (in representation of the Association of Moroccan University
Students in Madrid) and Gabriel Jairodin
Riaza (member of the Union of Islamic
Communities, UCIDE).
The course was taught by Luis F. Bernabé
Pons (University of Alicante), Dolors Bramon
Planas (University of Barcelona), Juan José
Escobar (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation), José María Ferré de la Peña
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation),
Amira Kedier (Casa Árabe-IEAM), Joan
Lacomba (University of Valencia), Justo
Lacunza Balda (Pontifical Institute for Arab
and Islamic Studies, PISAI), Bernabé López
García (Autonomous University in Madrid),
Eduardo Manzano (Centre for Human and
Social Sciences, CSIC), Juan Antonio Macías
(University of Granada), Gema Martín Muñoz
(Casa Árabe-IEAM), Bahige Mulla Huech
(Islamologist), Gustavo de Arístegui (Member
of the Spanish Parliament), Tomás Alfaro (IE
Business School and Francisco de Vitoria
University, Madrid), Nazanin Amiriam (UNED),
Elena Arigita Maza (Casa Árabe-IEAM), Laura
Navarro (Minority Media-University of
Poitiers), Juan Antonio Pacheco (University of
Seville), Ana Planet (Autonomous University in
Madrid), Abdennur Prado (Islamic Council of
Catalonia), Fidel Sendagorta (Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Cooperation), Fernando
Vallespín (Autonomous University in Madrid),
José Juan Toharia (Autonomous University in
Madrid and Metroscopia), Ignacio de la Torre
(IE Business School, Madrid), Olivia Orozco
de la Torre (Casa Árabe-IEAM), Rafael Ortega
Rodrigo (Casa Árabe-IEAM), Caridad Ruiz de
Almodóvar (University of Granada) and
Waleed Saleh Alkhalifa (Autonomous
University in Madrid).
Casa Árabe 2009
39
A A
A AQ
New era of AWRAQ journal
CASA ÁRABE AND THE SPANISH AGENCY OF INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION FOR DEVELOPMENT (AECID) AGREED IN 2009 TO
INITIATE A NEW ERA OF AWRAQ
Casa Árabe and the Spanish Agency of
International Cooperation for Development
(AECID) agreed in 2009 to re-launch Awraq.
Journal of analysis and ideas about the contemporary Arab and Islamic world, published
under the joint editorship of Gema Martín
Muñoz and Carlos Alberdi Alonso. In this
new period, the journal publishes two issues
a year and its international scientific board
comprises Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (Ibn Rushd
Chair of Islam and Humanism, Humanities
University in Utrecht), María Victoria
Alberola Fioravanti (director of the Félix
María Pareja Islamic Library, AECID), Talal
Asad (lecturer in Anthropology, City
University of New York), Dolors Bramon
Planas (lecturer in Arab and Islamic Studies,
University of Barcelona), François Burgat
(director of the French Institute of the Middle
East, IFPO, Damascus), Alfonso Carmona
(president of the Spanish Society for Arab
Studies, SEEA), Gonzalo Escribano Francés
(lecturer in Applied Economics, UNED), John
Esposito (director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin
Talal
Center
for
Muslim-Christian
Understanding, University of Georgetown),
Joan Lacomba (lecturer in Social Work and
Social Services, University of Valencia),
Saba Mahmood (associate professor at the
Department of Anthropology, University of
California in Berkeley), Mona Makram-Ebeid
(lecturer in the Department of Humanities,
Political and Social Sciences, American
University in Cairo), María Antonia Martínez
Núñez (lecturer in the Area of Arab and
Islamic Studies, University of Málaga),
Khadija Mohsen-Finan (senior researcher at
the French International Relations Institute,
IFRI, Paris), Hamurabi Noufouri (director of
the degree in Arab, American-Arab and
Islamic Studies of the Tres de Febrero
National University, Argentina), José María
Perceval (lecturer in the Faculty of
Communication Sciences, Autonomous
University in Barcelona), James Piscatori
(deputy director of the Centre for Arab and
Islamic Studies, National University of
Australia, Canberra), Magali Rheault (senior
analyst at the Gallup Center for Muslim
Studies and senior adviser to the Gallup
World Poll, The Gallup Organisation,
Washington), Caridad Ruiz de Almodóvar
(lecturer in the Area of Arab and Islamic
Studies, University of Granada), Waleed
Saleh Alkhalifa (lecturer at the Department
of Arab and Islamic Studies, Autonomous
University in Madrid), Elias Sanbar (ambassador, permanent observer with the
Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to
the United Nations, Unesco, Paris), Antoni
Segura (director of the International History
Study Centre, CEHI, University of
Barcelona), Mohamed Tozy (professor at the
Faculty of Arts, University of Provence, Aix
en Provence) and Oswaldo Truzzi (associate
professor at the Production Engineering
Department, São Carlos Federal University).
The first issue, published at the start of 2010,
is devoted to The diverging paths of reform
in Islam.
Casa Árabe 2009
41
In collaboration with the Spanish Embassy in
Morocco, the Spanish Commercial Office and
the Association for the Advancement of
Managers (APD), an Arabic version of the
Boletín de Economía y Negocios de Casa
Árabe (Casa Árabe Economics and Business
Newsletter) was presented in Casablanca on
June 23rd, 2009. The newsletter was presented to an audience comprising representatives
of close to sixty Spanish companies and institutions active in the country as an ideal instrument to make commercial relations between
Morocco and Spain more dynamic and promote Spanish companies in Arab countries.
CASA ÁRABE’S BUSINESS FORUM
PROMOTES AND SUPPORTS BUSINESS
OPPORTUNITIES IN ARAB COUNTRIES
Within Casa Árabe’s Business Forum, a new
line of activity has been set up to promote and
support the investment opportunities in Arab
countries. The first action in this area was the
organisation of a Seminar on investment
opportunities in Tunisia, in collaboration with
the Chamber of Commerce in Madrid and the
Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA)
of Tunisia. This activity attracted the participation of over seventy representatives of
Spanish companies together with a Tunisian
delegation led by the Secretary of State for
Cooperation and Foreign Investments in
Tunisia, Abdelhamid Triki, and the director
general of the FIPA, Mongia Khemiri.
PRESENTATION OF THE
NEWSLETTER AS AN IDEAL
TOOL FOR MAKING TRADE
RELATIONS BETWEEN
MOROCCO AND SPAIN MORE
DYNAMIC
This publication by Casa Árabe’s Socioeconomic
and Business Programme was presented in
Morocco as this is the leading client for
Spanish exports and investments in the Arab
world, with over five hundred companies
active in the country. In addition to the
Spanish Ambassador, Luis Planas, and the
director general of Casa Árabe, Gema Martín
Muñoz, others speaking at the presentation
included Nizar Baraka, the Minister in charge
of Economic and General Affairs, and Saad
Kettani, president of APD Maroc and member of the Advisory Board of Casa Árabe.
Casa Árabe 2009
43
CASA ÁRABE ORGANISES
TWO SEMINARS DEVOTED TO THIS
IMPORTANT SUBJECT
Another matter of great interest and essential
for an understanding of Arab countries is the
scope of the food crisis that, as a result of climate change and the inflation affecting raw
material prices, has afflicted some Middle
Eastern countries, such as Egypt and
Palestine, with food security issues. As a
result, we organised two discussion panels
devoted to this important topic. Habib Ayeb,
an expert in the geopolitics of water and agriculture in the Arab world at the Social
Research Center of the American University in
Cairo, gave a lecture on Crisis and food sovereignty in the Arab world: the case of Egypt
while Nader Hrimat of the Applied Research
Institute in Jerusalem (ARIJ) analyzed the
Challenges for agriculture and food security in
southern and eastern Mediterranean: the case
of Palestine.
POSSIBILITIES FOR EXPANSION
AND COOPERATION IN SPAIN
Seminar with Spanish and Arabic experts
organised with the IE Business School and
devoted to the analysis of the model of
Islamic banking and the study of the possibilities of its development in our country. The
guest expert was Ibrahim Aboulola, a lecturer
in Economics at the King Abdulaziz University
in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
In this regard, Olivia Orozco de la Torre, coordinator of Casa Árabe’s Socioeconomic and
Business Programme, took part on December
9th in the 3rd French Forum on Islamic
Finance, organised in Paris by Les Échos, the
Franco-Arab Chamber of Commerce and
Secure Finance.
Casa Árabe 2009
45
Political personalities at Casa Árabe
CASA ÁRABE PLAYS A KEY ROLE
IN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BY
ACCOMPANYING SPAIN’S POLICY
WITH ARAB COUNTRIES AS THE
REFERENCE INSTITUTION
SPECIALISING IN THE SAME
The President of Lebanon, Michel Sleiman, speaking
to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Miguel Ángel
Moratinos, and the Director General of Casa Árabe,
Gema Martín Muñoz
On the occasion of his official trip to Spain, the
president of the Lebanese Republic, General
Michel Sleiman, visited Casa Árabe accompanied by the Lebanese Ministers for Foreign
Affairs, Defence and Tourism. He was welcomed to our institution by the Minister for
Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Secretary
of State for Foreign Affairs and the Director
General of Casa Árabe, with whom he held a
short meeting. After touring the building, he
uncovered a plaque commemorating his visit.
The President of Lebanon, Michel Sleiman, uncovering a plaque commemorating his visit to Casa Árabe
Casa Árabe plays a key role in public diplomacy by accompanying Spain’s policy with
Arab countries as the reference institution
specialising in the same. Within this framework, we have received visits during 2009
from major personalities of the Arab world
and the director general has undertaken several activities abroad.
Casa Árabe 2009
47
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Tunisia’s Secretary of State for Cooperation
and Foreign Investments, Abdelhamid Triki,
visited Casa Árabe on May 20th, 2009, on the
occasion of a business meeting between
Spain and Tunisia.
Within the framework of the seminar held
in Beirut, Lebanon announced its adhesion
to the group of friends of the Alliance of
Civilisations
The director general of Casa Árabe has travelled to Beirut, Damascus, Casablanca, Rabat,
Egypt, Canada and United States, among other
In Lebanon, as part of the Alliance of
Civilisations initiative, Casa Árabe organised, in
collaboration with the Spanish Embassy, the
Saint-Joseph University in Beirut, the Lebanese
University and the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), the seminar For a globalisation with a human face, aimed at extending the
experience of the Alliance of Civilisations to
Lebanon. At the end of the seminar, which lasted for three days, Lebanon announced its decision to join the group of friends of the Alliance of
Civilisations. The seminar included the presence
of the Lebanese Minister for Information, Tarek
Mitri, and the Spanish Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, Ángel Lossada, as well as
Lebanese and Spanish experts and academics
who discussed various aspects of the relations
between the Arab world and the West from the
different perspectives of Lebanon and the western world. The participants included Gema
Martín Muñoz (director general of Casa ÁrabeIEAM), Juan Carlos Gafo (Spain’s ambassador
to Lebanon), Máximo Cajal (coordinator of the
National Plan for the Alliance of Civilisations),
Marta Ruedas (resident representative UNDP
Lebanon), Abbas Halabi (president of the Arab
Working Group on Muslim-Christian Dialogue),
Carole al-Sharabati (lecturer in political science
at Saint-Joseph University in Beirut), Isaías
Barreñada Bajo (coordinator of Educational
Programmes and Publications at Casa ÁrabeIEAM), Hisham Nashabi (director of the Institute
of Islamic Studies, Beirut), Wajih Kawtharani
(research director at the Centre for Arab Unity
Studies, Beirut), Santiago Petschen (emeritus
professor of international relations at the
Complutense University in Madrid), Rafael Díaz
de Salazar (lecturer at the Faculty of Political
Science and Sociology at the Complutense
University in Madrid), Samir Makdissy (lecturer
at the American University in Beirut), Georges
Corm (lecturer in Political Science at the SaintJoseph University in Beirut), Marco Calamai
(UNDP adviser in Beirut), Saoud El Mawla (lecturer at the Institute for Islamo-Christian Studies
of the Saint-Joseph University in Beirut), Abdel
Halim Fadlallah (director of the Consultative
Center for Studies and Documentation, Beirut),
Daoud El Sayegh (legal expert and writer), Talal
Atreessy (lecturer in political science at the
Lebanese University), and Nawaf El Moussawi
(researcher).
“For a globalisation with a human face” seminar held
in Beirut
a
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Palestine, Riyad al-Malki, with the director
general of Casa Árabe
as
The former prime minister of Sudan and president of the al-Umma party, al-Imam al-Sadeq
al-Mahdi, visited Casa Árabe on July 18th and
gave a talk in which he analysed the future of
the relations between Europe and Arab countries at the institution’s headquarters in Madrid.
destinations, to present the various programmes of Casa Árabe and to participate in international fora. In Istanbul, she took part in the
Second Forum of the Alliance of Civilisations.
Casa Árabe, in collaboration with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation,
hosted the meeting of the Nyon Process on
Religion and Social Activism, chaired by Jorge
Sampaio, the former president of Portugal and
now high representative of United Nations for
the Alliance of Civilisations. It included the participation of renowned international specialists: Jorge Sampaio (high representative of
United Nations for the Alliance of Civilisations),
Gema Martin Muñoz (director general of Casa
Árabe-IEAM), María Victoria González Román
(roving ambassador for the Alliance of
Civilisations), Oliver McTernan (director of
Forward Thinking, London), Helena Barroco
(adviser to Jorge Sampaio), José María Ferré
de la Peña (roving ambassador for relations
with Muslim Communities and Organisations
Abroad), José María Contreras (director general of Relations with Religious Confessions),
John Esposito (director of the Prince Alwaleed
Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian
Understanding, University of Georgetown),
Jean-Nicolas Bitter (adviser on Religious
Affairs, Policy and Conflicts at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in Switzerland), Marc Scheuer
(director of the Secretariat of the Alliance of
Civilisations, United Nations), Shamil Idriss
(adviser to the Secretariat of the Alliance of
Civilisations, United Nations), Abdel Moneim
Abul Futuh (secretary general of the Arab
Medical Union, Egypt), Hesham El Hammamy
Jorge Sampaio chairing the Nyon Process
meeting
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The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Palestine,
Riyad al-Malki, also visited Casa Árabe
during his official visit to Spain on December
18th and 19th. After a work meeting with the
director general, he visited the exhibition on
Jerusalem at the start of the 20th century.
Heritage and culture.
Political personalities at Casa Árabe
(director of the Cultural Centre of the Arab
Medical Union, Egypt), Anas Altikriti (director
general of the Córdoba Foundation, London),
Mokhtar Benabdallaoui (lecturer in contemporary Islamic thought at the King Hassan II
University in Casablanca and secretary general of the Forum for Citizenhood, Morocco),
Nabil Al-Kofahi (former mayor for the Islamic
Action Front party, Jordan), Ali Fayyad (director of the Consultative Center for Studies and
Documentation, Beirut), Abdul Karim
Gheewala (secretary general of the Indian
Muslim Association and president of the
Islamic Education Trust and the Federation of
Muslim Organisations, Leicestershire), Bob
Roberts (pastor of Northwood Church, Texas),
Chris Seiple (founder and director of the
Institute for Global Engagement, Arlington),
Merete Bilde (senior adviser to the Council of
the European Union), Esra Bulut (Institute for
European Union Security Studies), Ibrahim
Kalın (Siyaset, Ekonomi Ve Toplum Aras, tırmaları Vakfı —SETA—, Ankara), Abdullah Al Faliq
(research director, Córdoba Foundation,
London), Mohammed Sawalha (president of
the British Muslim Initiative), Gloria de
Pascual-Teresa Fernández (Spanish Ministry
of the Presidency, Alliance of Civilisations),
and Joel Hunter (pastor of Northland Church,
Florida, and member of the Executive
Committee of the National Association of
Evangelicals).
Casa Árabe 2009
49
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The conclusions of the seminar were later
analysed in the course of a public discussion
with the participation of Tarik Yousef and
José Antonio Ocampo (professor and codirector of the Initiative for Dialogue on Public
Policies at Columbia University, New York,
and a former Minister for the Exchequer and
Public Credit in Colombia). The conclusions
and the working document drawn up for the
seminar on the impact of the crisis on the
Arab world will give rise to a joint publication
in Spanish, English and Arabic in 2010.
Abdulkareem El-Eryani
a
Ár
ter for relations with the Parliament and a
former ambassador to Spain), Ghassan
Finianos (lecturer in philosophy at the
University of Damascus, in Arab thought at
the Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux 3
University and director of the Terre des
Hommes NGO in Syria), Gonzalo Escribano
(professor of applied economics at the
National Distance Learning University, UNED),
Tarik Yousef (founding dean of the Dubai
School of Government and co-director of the
Brookings Institution’s Middle East Youth
Initiative) and Francis Ghilès (senior researcher at the Cidob Foundation). It was attended by over twenty experts and significant
figures from the Spanish and Arab political
and academic panorama.
From left to right: Tarik Yousef, Ibrahim Awad, Enrique Vázquez and
Abdeslam Baraka
a
In collaboration with the Club of Madrid,
Casa Árabe organised a seminar entitled The
political dimensions of the global economic
The former Prime Minister of Sudan, al-Imam al-Sadeq al-Mahdi,
signing the Guest Book at Casa Árabe
as
Members of the Club of Madrid and
Spanish and international experts assess
the consequences of the global crisis on
Arab countries
crisis: a perspective from the Arab world on
Wednesday October 28th, 2009. The seminar brought together a group of Spanish and
international experts to assess the consequences of the global crisis in the region.
Following the inauguration by Fernando
Perpiñá-Robert and Gema Martín Muñoz,
the participants in the seminar included
Felipe González (former Prime Minister of
Spain), Abdulkareem El-Eryani (former
Prime Minister of Yemen), Sofiane Khatib
(associate director for the Middle East and
North Africa at the World Economic Forum,
WEF ), Justin Alexander (editor of The
Economist, London), Fatiha Talahite (sociologist and researcher at the French National
Centre for Scientific Research, CNRS ),
Abdeslam Baraka (former Moroccan minis-
The former Prime Minister of Spain, Felipe González
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Casa Árabe organised together with the
Qatar Foundation the presentation in Spain
of the Qatar Symphony that took place at
the National Auditorium on February 26th,
2009. The concert in Madrid kicked off the
European tour of the Qatar Symphony
Orchestra, an initiative of Sheikha Mozah
bint Nasser al-Missned in her capacity as
president of the Qatar Foundation.
Political personalities at Casa Árabe
Casa Árabe 2009
51
Fourth Centenary of the Expulsion of the Moriscos
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE FOURTH
CENTENARY OF THE EXPULSION OF THE
MORISCOS, CASA ÁRABE PRODUCED A
FEATURE FILM AND OTHER ACTIVITIES
The cast and director of “Expulsados 1609. La
tragedia de los moriscos” with the director
general of Casa Árabe, Gema Martín Muñoz
Public discussion panel on the Meaning and
consequences of the expulsion of the Moriscos
In 2009, the Casa Árabe commemorated the
4th centenary of the expulsion of the
Moriscos. On the occasion of this anniversary,
a feature-length fictional documentary entitled
Expulsados 1609. La tragedia de los moriscos
(Expelled 1609. The Tragedy of the Moriscos)
was produced. The project was a joint production with Sagrera Audiovisual, Televisió de
Catalunya (TV3), Televisión Española (TVE),
Aragón Televisión, Canal Historia, the Catalan
Institute for Cultural Industries (ICIC) and the
Regional Government of Aragon. The film
received the input of the leading specialists in
the subject matter and reconstructs the history of a family of Moriscos before and during
their expulsion to Tunisia, at the same time as
it provides details and analysis of the historical
context through interviews with the experts.
The shooting of the feature-length film was
accompanied by three divulgatory shorts
devoted to the Geography, Life and Figures of
the Moriscos. The film was premiered at the
Zarzuela Theatre in Madrid on April 28th.
To accompany the film, Casa Árabe organised a public discussion on May 26th on the
Meaning and consequences of the expulsion
of the Moriscos with the participation of
Gema Martín Muñoz (director general of
Casa Árabe-IEAM), Bernard Vincent (a lecturer in history at the Higher Studies School
for the Social Sciences, EHESS, Paris), Luis
Bernabé Pons (professor of Arab and
Islamic Studies at the University of Alicante)
and José María Perceval (lecturer in history
and journalism at the Autonomous University
in Barcelona and the film’s scientific adviser).
The next day, May 27th, a concert entitled
Zambra de moriscos was given in the Casa
Árabe’s auditorium by the ancient music
Casa Árabe 2009
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PELÍCULA CONMEMORATIVA DEL IV CENTENARIO DE LA EXPULSIÓN DE LOS MORISCOS
DIRIGIDA POR: MIGUEL E. LÓPEZ LORCA
PABLO DERQUI FERNANDO GUILLÉN ANA ALONSO JULI FÀBREGAS PABLO RIVERO
WWW.CASAARABE.ES
Un proyecto de:
Coproducido por:
Con la ayuda de:
WWW.EXPULSADOS1609.COM
At the end of the year, Casa Árabe published a DVD containing, in addition to the
feature film, the three documentary shorts
on the geography, life, and figures of the
Moriscos, together with additional contents
including a photo gallery and the trailer for
the film.
Zambra de moriscos” concert
as
group of Eduardo Paniagua, with Said
Belcadi as the guest musician. The concert
included items based on texts taken from
17th century collections of ballads set to
music by Juan del Encina and popular dances converted into highbrow music by
renowned composers from the age. These
musical items, merged with the rhythms
inherent to the Moriscos and AndalusianMoroccan tradition, highlighted the spirit of
the zambra dances so unknown to modern
audiences.
Images of the seminar held in New York on the expulsion
of the Moriscos
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Zambra de moriscos” concert
F
CEN OURT
H
T
OF HE EX TENA
THE PU RY
MO LSIO OF
R IS N
COS
Fourth Centenary of the Expulsion of the Moriscos
Stills from the shooting of the “Expulsados 1609. La tragedia de los moriscos” feature film
In the course of 2009, numerous educational and cultural institutions in Spain and abroad projected the film as part of their programmes devoted to the 4th Centenary of the Expulsion or as part
of joint events on the subject organised with Casa Árabe:
CERVANTES INSTITUTE IN NEW YORK, FESTIVAL OF THE ARAB WORLD IN
MONTREAL, COLLEGE OF SPAIN (PARIS), KING MOHAMED V UNIVERSITY
(RABAT), ABDELMALEK ESAADI UNIVERSITY (TETOUAN), CÓRDOBA FILM
LIBRARY, EURO-ARAB FOUNDATION (GRANADA), INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS
THE MORISCOS (GRANADA), ARAGUANEY FOUNDATION (SANTIAGO DE
COMPOSTELA), 2ND FESTIVAL OF ARAB AND MEDITERRANEAN FILMS IN
CATALONIA (BARCELONA), SEMINAR ON MORISCO CULTURE (SEGOVIA),
UNIVERSITY OF ALICANTE, OFFICIAL LANGUAGE SCHOOL IN VÉLEZ-MÁLAGA,
HORNACHOS TOWN COUNCIL, AL-ANDALUS CULTURAL CENTRE (JEREZ),
MORISCOS DAYS IN CALPE, ALCOY CENTRE FOR HISTORIC AND
ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES (CAEHA), MARTIL AL-ANDALUS CULTURAL
CENTRE (TETOUAN), ALMOROIG HISTORY INSTITUTE (ALCOY,
VALENCIA), UNIVERSITY OF EXTREMADURA
Casa Árabe 2009
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White Night
Visitors to Arab Cosmovisions
during White Night
As in previous years, Casa Árabe took part in
the White Night organised by Madrid City
Council with the contribution of numerous
Madrid institutions. And so, on the night of
September 19th, the building of the Madrid
headquarters of Casa Árabe was transformed
by a light and sound show that illuminated its
walls, tower and garden in a very special way.
Throughout the night the doors remained
open to the public so they could visit the photographic exhibition Arab Cosmovisions inside. Documentary information was provided
on the institution and the activities it carries
out, and different images of those activities
were also projected in the grounds of the
headquarters.
Book Night
On April 23rd, Casa Árabe joined in the events
of the Book Night held by the Regional
Government of Madrid, organising a double
activity around contemporary Iraqi poetry. First,
a round table on Iraqi poetry was held with the
participation of two specialists in the subject,
lecturers from the Autonomous University in
Madrid, Rosa Isabel Martínez Lillo and Waleed
Saleh Alkhalifa, and the poets Abdulhadi
Sadoun (Iraq) and Luis Rafael Hernández
(Cuba). Next came a recital of contemporary
Iraqi poetry by the performer Carmen Arribas
and the Egyptian poet Ahmed Yamani, who
read a selection of texts in Spanish and Arabic,
taken from the book Otros mesopotámicos
raros: antología de la última poesía iraquí (Other
odd Mesopotamians: anthology of the latest
Iraqi poetry), recently published jointly by Casa
Árabe and Cosmopoética.
Iraqi poetry recital on Book Night
Casa Árabe headquarters in Madrid illuminated on White Night
Special nights
Casa Árabe 2009
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SI
Septiembre 2009
N
D
AL MA
A
DS
en Casa Árabe y Lavapiés
MÚSICA
Jueves 10 de septiembre
Hamid El Kasri (Marruecos)
C
N
Viernes 11 de septiembre
Afel Bocoum (Mali)
Sábado 12 de septiembre
Natacha
Atlas
& The Mazeeka Ensemble (Egipto)
From left to right: Afel Bocoum, Natacha Atlas and Hamid el Kasri
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HT S L
Special nights
Ramadan Nights
Following the success of its two previous
incarnations, Casa Árabe again organised the
Ramadan Nights Festival in September, 2009.
Year after year, this is becoming known as a
major annual event in the city of Madrid. On
this occasion the festival, as well as following
the line previously adopted, extended its activities with the collaboration of Casa África in
Las Palmas, on Gran Canaria island. The festival continued to disseminate social and cultural aspects of the Ramadan festivity, over
and above its religious character. The Festival
programme, held between September 9th
and 21st in the neighbourhood of Lavapiés in
central Madrid, included three concerts
(Hamid El Kasri from Morocco, Afel Bocoum
from Mali and Natacha Atlas & the Mazeeka
Ensemble from Egypt), a parade by the company Le Caramantran, the projection of two
musical documentaries (Sufi Soul. The mystical music of Islam, by Simon Broughton, and
Voices from Morocco, by Izza Genini) and the
films Française (French) by Souad El Bouhati
and Bab’Aziz, the Sufi sage, by Nacer
Khemir.
Lugar: Parque Casino de la Reina (Metro: Embajadores y Lavapiés)
Hora: 22:00h (apertura de puertas a las 21:00h)
Entrada libre
Antes de los conciertos, desde las 20:30h, pasacalles con marionetas gigantes
y música por las calles de Lavapiés
Además… cine, charlas y actividades para niños y jóvenes
Toda la información en
Organiza:
Con la participación de:
A.V. LA CORRALA, A.V. CENTRO – LA LATINA, AISE - ASOCIACIÓN DE INMIGRANTES SENEGALESES EN ESPAÑA, ASOCIACIÓN DE BANGALDESH EN ESPAÑA, ASOCIACIÓN SOCIO-CULTURAL AL
FALAH, ASOCIACIÓN DISTRITO 12, ASOCIACIÓN MUSULMANA DE SENEGALESES “MOURIDE”, ASOCIACIÓN SEN TERANGA, ASOCIACIÓN SOCIO-CULTURAL IBN BATUTA, ASOCIACIÓN VALIENTE
BANGLA, ATILA, BAIBARS LIBRERÍA DE CASA ÁRABE, CENTRO COMUNITARIO CASINO DE LA REINA, CENTRO CULTURAL CÁNOVAS DEL CASTILLO, CENTRO CULTURAL EL POZO TÍO RAIMUNDO,
CEPI HISPANO MARROQUÍ, CUCO, ASOCIACIÓN CULTURA Y COOPERACIÓN AL DESARROLLO, FILMOTECA ESPAÑOLA, PAIDEIA ASOCIACIÓN PARA LA INTEGRACIÓN DEL MENOR, TRITOMA,
SERVICIO MUNICIPAL DE CONVIVENCIA INTERCULTURAL (AYTO. DE ALCORCÓN).
Colaboran:
Casa Árabe es un consorcio formado por:
Performance by Hamid el Kasri
www.casaarabe.es
Casa Árabe 2009
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Presentation of a concert in the Festival
Parade before
Pasacalles
the concerts
previo a los conciertos
Ramadan Nights Festival Tea Room
as
Recreational and educational activities for
children were also organised, in collabora-
tion with cultural organisations in the neighbourhood of Lavapiés: the workshop on El
periódico del Ramadán (The Ramadan
Newspaper) was conducted with the CUCO
Pro-culture
and
Cooperation
with
Development Association and the Centre-La
Latina Residents Association), Games and
Traditional Tales from Morocco and an Arab
calligraphy workshop (with the HispanoMoroccan Centre of the Department of
Immigration and Cooperation of the Madrid
Regional Government), a storytelling session with El sabio Moyut (Wise Old Moyut)
performed by the Bernes Company in
collaboration with Tritoma, a shadow puppet theatre workshop The Magic Lantern
(with
the
“La
Claqueta”
Cultural
Association), as well as a football championship (with the Ibn Batuta Sociocultural
Association, ASCIB).
One of the children’s workshops for Ramadan Nights
Casa Árabe’s Baibars bookshop during the Ramadan Nights Festival
S
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A lecture was organised to explain the sociocultural dimension of the Ramadan festivities and
their different manifestations in the Islamic
world. Delivered by the anthropologist Sol
Tarrés, it was entitled “Night and day: abstinence and celebration in the month of Ramadan”. In
addition, introductory talks were organised
under the title “What is Ramadan? Fasting, festivities and custom”, and delivered by Virtudes
Téllez, Hamid Bellahcene and M’hani Belrhirib,
in cultural centres in different neighbourhoods of
Madrid (“Casino de la Reina” Community
Cultural Centre, “Cánovas del Castillo”
Community Cultural Centre in Usera, “Santa
Petronila” Cultural Centre in Villaverde, “El Pozo
del Tío Raimundo” Cultural Centre in Vallecas
and the Municipal Arts Centre in Alcorcón).
Special nights
Casa Árabe 2009
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In order to promote the dissemination of
Arab topics and authors published in
Spanish, Casa Árabe took part in the
Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) in
Mexico, considered the most important
Spanish-language fair in the world, because
of its size. Casa Árabe’s bookshop had a
stand with a very representative sample of
books on Arab topics published in Spain.
Donations were requested from the main
Spanish publishers with titles related to the
Arab world and at the end of the fair the entire bibliographical collection on display was
donated to the University of Guadalajara
Foundation. Also, Casa Árabe took the
Lebanese novelist Rabih Alameddine and
the Syrian poet Maram al-Masri to Mexico.
Both were able to engage in a dialogue with
their Mexican counterparts Ignacio Padilla
and Raúl Bañuelos in two events in the fair
sections devoted to “Pages of the World”
and “Poetry Salon”, and maintained a dialogue with each other organised by Casa
Árabe under the title A thousand and one
meanings: contemporary Arab poetry and
novels, presented by the director of the la
FIL, Nubia Macías.
From left to right: Rabih Alameddine,
Karim Hauser, Christina Lembrecht and
Ignacio Padilla
The Guadalajara International Book Fair and other Fairs
Casa Árabe had a stand in three other book
fairs in Spain: Córdoba (April), Seville (May)
and Madrid (May-June). Seville saw the presentation of Muslims in Spain. A Reference
Guide, the book published by Casa Árabe
and the Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR), as well as a recital of
short stories, in Arabic and Spanish, with the
authors Yassin Adnan (Morocco) and
Hipólito G. Navarro (Spain). The novelist
Abdellah Taia (Morocco) was present at the
Madrid Book Fair.
Maram al-Masri
Yassin Adnan
IN ORDER TO PROMOTE THE DISSEMINATION OF ARAB TOPICS AND
AUTHORS PUBLISHED IN SPANISH, CASA ÁRABE TOOK PART IN THE
INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR IN GUADALAJARA
Casa Árabe 2009
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Casa Árabe and the Hay Festival
At the Hay Festival in Segovia (September,
2009) our participation, for the third successive year, focused on the young Lebanese writer Zena al-Khalil, who presented her book
Beirut I love you in a conversation with
Guillermo Altares.
Zena al-Khalil at the Hay Festival in Segovia
For the second year running, Casa Árabe took
part in the Hay Festival in Granada (May,
2009), with the participation of the SyrianLebanese poet Adonis, the Lebanese novelist
Rabih Alameddine and the Lebanese poet
Joumana Haddad. These guests took part in
a number of festival events, bringing Arab voices to the different debates on literature, jour-
Joumana Haddad and a translator read poetry at
the Hay Festival, Cartagena de Indias
At the Hay Festival in Cartagena de Indias
(January, 2009), Casa Árabe focused on Latin
American authors of Arab extraction, and
also sponsored the presence of the
Colombian Luis Fayad, the Lebanese
Joumana Haddad, the Mexican Alberto Ruy
Sánchez and the Peruvian Leyla Bartet. The
authors took part in various activities, especially noteworthy the conversation between
Fayad and Ruy Sánchez on The Arab factor
in our writing/literature, chaired by Bartet.
More than 350 people attended this event
alone, and the presence of Casa Árabe made
it possible to initiate future collaborations
with some Colombian institutions such as the
Externado University of Colombia and the
magazine Arcadia.
nalism and the role of creative writers.
Joumana Haddad took part in a conversation
with the Afghan writer Atiq Rahimi and participated in the final poetry gala. Adonis talked
with the Spanish journalist Andrés Rojo,
going through different aspects of his career
and poetic oeuvre. Finally, Rabih Alameddine
participated in a round table with Rawi Hage,
also Lebanese, and the Frenchman Mathias
Enard; the three spoke about writing, identity
and memory of civil war.
Rawi Hage, Rabih Alameddine and Mathias Luis Fayad, Alberto Ruy Sánchez and Leyla
Enard at the Hay Festival, Alhambra, 2009 Bartet at the Hay Festival, Cartagena de Indias
In 2009, Casa Árabe took part in the three
main international editions of the Hay Festival:
Cartagena de Indias, Segovia and Granada.
Through this activity, our institution is supporting and promoting the presence and knowledge of Arab authors, both those already
established and the younger generation.
Casa Árabe 2009
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The educational exhibition Maghreb: the Arab
West was held within the framework of educational programmes developed by Casa Árabe
for presentation and dissemination in educational and cultural centres.
Casa Árabe has welcomed visits from different
groups of children, teenagers and adults,
coming from associations, schools, cultural centres and courses for senior citizens, interested in
getting to know the institution and its activities.
In the course of 2009, Casa Árabe has received
visits from primary and secondary school pupils,
groups of undergraduate and postgraduate students, senior citizens involved in lifelong learning, cultural centres, women’s organisations, ...
In addition, the institution has been visited by
different foreign delegations: students of artistic
disciplines from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum Foundation and the University of alRuwais (United Arab Emirates), young
Palestinians and Israelis, students from the
French institutes of Morocco, etc.
With the intention of supporting the interchange and dissemination of artistic experiences,
in collaboration with the Emirates Foundation,
Casa Árabe has developed a programme of
artists in residence, hosting the Emirates creative artist Layla Juma in Spain for three
months. This young artist from Sharja created
a work in the Barcelona visual arts production
centre, Hangar, and on the 23rd of April presented the results of this work made during
her stay, in interaction with other artists in
residence.
In addition, Casa Árabe has an internship programme for students who, once the relevant
agreement has been signed with the respective universities, complete the practical components of their undergraduate degree, master’s
degree and postgraduate study in the various
departments of our institution (Autonomous
University in Barcelona-Leonardo da Vinci
European Programme, Autonomous University
in Madrid, Complutense University in Madrid,
International University of Andalusia (UNIA),
Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi University).
Despite the glut of information and images that
reach us every day through the media, and the
growing presence of new, fellow citizens of
Maghreb origin, the wider Spanish public does
not know, or has only a very limited knowledge
of, our neighbours to the south. The Maghreb
continues to be perceived through a number of
simplistic and stereotypical representations that
not only cause distortion, but prevent an
understanding of its realities and pre-condition
or block possibilities of dialogue and co-existence. This exhibition of photographs with accompanying commentary seeks to offer different
visions of North Africa, presenting this region as
it is; the West of the Arab world, very close to the
south of Europe and the Iberian Peninsula,
encompassing great diversity and dynamic
societies. The exhibition is designed to be used
in schools, associations, public libraries and cultural centres. This exhibition has been travelling
around regions such as Madrid, Andalusia, the
Canary Islands, La Rioja, Murcia, Castilla y León
and Castilla La Mancha. Photographs by JuliánÁlvaro Alemany, Alfredo Cáliz, Rubén
Caravaca, Carma Casulá, José Expósito,
Albert González Farrán, Francisco González
Pérez, Joana Mesonero, Pedro Rojo, Luis de
Vega and Vermondo.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Launch of the readers’ guide.
Photo IEMed
Francisco Franco, Mónica Ríus, Elena de
Felipe, Alfonso Carmona, Felisa Sastre and
Guadalupe Sáiz
Casa Árabe and the Spanish Society of Arab
Studies (SEEA) have signed a collaboration
agreement through which, since 2008, Casa
Árabe have supported the annual SEEA Prize for
new Arabist researchers. The 16th Symposium
of the SEEA was held in the Madrid headquarters of Casa Árabe in October. On this occasion the main topics of discussion were
Masters and postgraduate studies in the area
of Arab and Islamic Studies, and Spanish
reviews of Arab and Islamic Studies: criteria for
editorial quality and inclusion in the ISI, as well
as holding the Annual General Meeting of the
association.
Launch of the readers’ guide.
Photo IEMed
Casa Árabe and the European Institute of the
Mediterranean (IEMed) have co-published a
reading guide that follows the pattern of the
guides Mil y un libros para asomarse al mundo
árabe (A thousand and one books to delve into
the Arab world), published by Casa Árabe in
previous years. The Catalan edition, La mar de
llibres per endinsar-se en el món àrab (A sea
of books for glancing at the Arab world), lists
works recently published in that language on
the Arab and Islamic world. More than 250
works are reviewed, grouped according to
genre (essay, literature, language, travel, gastronomy …) demonstrating the existence of significant publishing activity that in turn reveals the
growing interest of a Catalan-language readership and publishers in Arab and Islamic topics.
Casa Árabe 2009
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More than 300 students at the Arabic language centre
Language learning is one of the most effective
ways to approach the Arab world. Although
Spain is the only European country to have a
border with an Arab country, the level of knowledge of the Arabic language is inadequate.
Casa Árabe has decided to contribute to the
teaching of Arabic in its educated and dialectal varieties and to its standardisation as a
foreign language for regular study.
The Arabic Language Centre is located in the
Madrid headquarters and began its activities in
2008. Between October and June, regular
courses in modern standard Arabic and
Moroccan dialectal Arabic are taught at different times: morning, afternoon-evening and
weekends. Summer courses (semi-intensive
and intensive) are offered in July. The centre
has five classrooms, and a collection of
manuals, reference books and teaching
resources. Classes are taught by a team of 12
teachers.
During 2008-2009, between 251 and 316 students took Arabic language courses in each
term, with one hundred attending the summer
courses; this number rose substantially in the
first quarter of 2009-2010. Of these, 90%
study modern standard Arabic and 10% study
Moroccan dialectal Arabic.
One of the classes in the Arabic Language Centre
Some students were able to follow advanced
courses by attending intensive summer courses at the University of Amman, under the auspices of an agreement between Casa Árabe
and this University. Likewise, courses have
been organised in collaboration with the
Diplomatic School for members of the Spanish
parliament, as well as an intensive course for
diplomats and government officials posted to
Arab countries.
First International Congress on Teaching
Arabic as a Foreign Language ARABELE
2009
Organised jointly with the University of Murcia
and the Toledo School of Translators, Casa
Árabe hosted this event at its Madrid headquarters on September 25th and 26th, with
more than 140 participants coming from 12
countries. Aimed at teachers of Arabic, people
interested in the Arabic language and how it is
taught, researchers, graduates and doctoral
students in Arabic, the congress set out to
analyse the situation of Arabic language teaching in Spain, comparing it with other countries; to provide a meeting point for teachers
involved in teaching and researching the
Arabic language; to reflect on the new methodologies in the field of foreign language teaching and their application to Arabic; to analyse the needs of Arabic language teaching in
the 21st century and to disseminate the research on Arabic language teaching, as well as
specific academic actions that will contribute
to improving this.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Casa Árabe at Documenta and PhotoEspaña
Basel Ramsis and Nuria Medina listen to the Palestinian film director
Mai Masri
IN THE FRAMEWORK OF
THE DOCUMENTA
FESTIVAL MADRID 09
OUR THIRD PANORAMA OF
CONTEMPORARY ARAB
DOCUMENTARY CINEMA WAS
DEDICATED TO EXPERIENCES
AND TESTIMONIALS
The third Panorama of contemporary Arab
documentary cinema was held within the framework of the Documenta Festival Madrid
09, on this occasion under the single theme
of Experiences and Testimonials. The curator
of the films, Basel Ramsis, an Egyptian
director expert in documentary cinema,
selected a total of nine documentaries, six of
which brought us closer to Morocco, Algeria,
Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, combining an enquiry into memory with a gaze looking to the present. The other three works
formed part of a special section dedicated to
the Palestinian woman director Mai Masri
who was brought over by Casa Árabe to take
part in the panel of judges for the Madrid
Documenta Festival. Over the course of
these days, Casa Árabe’s audience also had
the opportunity to share with the Palestinian
director her vision of the current reality of the
Middle East and, in particular, the gaze of
Palestinian and Lebanese children and teenagers, something very present in her films.
This third panorama of documentary film
could be seen throughout the year in other
cities such as Córdoba, Granada and
Almería (in collaboration with the Andalusian
Film Library); Vigo (in collaboration with the
Cineclub Lumière); Pontevedra (in collaboration with the Cineclub Padre Feijoo) and
Tetouan (in collaboration with the HispanoMoroccan Centre).
Casa Árabe 2009
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Image of the Arab Cosmovisions exhibition. Works by Lara Baladi and Yto Barrada
The exhibition Arab Cosmovisions was
organised within the framework of
PhotoEspaña 2009 and could be visited in
Madrid between June 3rd and September
27th. On this occasion, the work of artists
Lara Baladi, Nermine Hamman, Mohamed
Bourouissa, Hicham Benohoud and Yto
Barrada was on display, showcasing the
multiplicity of artistic expression within contemporary Arab creativity. The artists included in this exhibition reflected on the Arab
stereotypes lodged in our collective imagination, presented through vernacular photographs the marks that conflicts imprint on
cities, investigated the collective identities
of countries through their iconography and
showed attempts to approach the complexity of individual identity.
From top to bottom and left to right: Factory 1 © Yto Barrada and Galerie Polaris – Paris; Palimpsest 13 © Nermine Hammam;
La morsure © Mohamed Bourouissa and Galerie Les filles du calvaire Paris/Brussels; Version soft 3 © Hicham Benohoud
as
Image of the Arab Cosmovisions exhibition
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DOC ASA
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TOE ENT BE A
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THE ARTISTS INCLUDED IN THIS
EXHIBITION DEMONSTRATED THE
DIVERSITY OF CONTEMPORARY ARAB
CREATIVITY
Casa Árabe at Documenta and PhotoEspaña
Casa Árabe 2009
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Arab music at the Guitar Festival and poetry at Cosmopoética
CASA ÁRABE BRINGS
THE PRESENCE OF ARAB
CREATIVE ARTISTS TO THE
COSMOPOÉTICA INTERNATIONAL
POETRY FESTIVAL
Rabih Abou-Khalil took part in the 29th edition of the Guitar Festival with a concert performed on July 5th at the Gran Teatro in
Córdoba, centred on his work Em Português
(In Portuguese). Along with the fado singer
Ricardo Ribeiro, he gave an impressive concert of Arab-Portuguese fusion. With this concert, Casa Árabe continued our well established collaboration with this Cordovan festival.
Casa Árabe also included the course
Introduction to Arab Music, taught by Luis
Delgado, as part of the festival’s educational
programme. The course, aimed at amateurs
and professionals alike, analysed the iconographical and documentary sources of this
important musical heritage, speaking of its origins, its present and its future. Delgado explained the keys to its structures and dedicated a
special section to points in common and differences between the Arab lute and the guitar.
From left to right: Rachid Errahmouni, Dunya Mikhail and David Leo
García, in a reading at the Luis de Góngora Secondary School in Córdoba
For two years now, Casa Árabe has been taking
part in the Cosmopoética International Poetry
Festival, supporting the presence of Arab creative writers or creative works related to this
world. The Cosmopoética International Poetry
Festival emerged in 2004, with the aim of taking
poetry to all corners of the city, in an attractive
and agreeable way, involving all sectors of the
population. For the April, 2009, edition, the
author chosen by Casa Árabe was the Iraqi
woman poet Dunya Mikhail, who took part in
the activities World Poets in Córdoba (poetry in
high schools), Cosmopoética in the provinces
(Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo) and in launching one
of the titles in the Cosmopoética collection copublished with Casa Árabe: Otros mesopotámicos raros: antología de la última poesía iraquí
(Other odd Mesopotamians: anthology of the
latest Iraqi poetry).
Casa Árabe 2009
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Dunya Mikhail and Abdul Hadi Sadoun at the launch of “Otros
mesopotámicos raros”
09
From left to right: Andrés Ocaña Rabadán, José Manuel Roldán
Nogueras, Gema Martín Muñoz and Manuel Torres Aguilar
Performance in Córdoba of “The place and the word.
Interrupted conversation”. Alberto Núñez (below) and Ziad
Chakaroun (above)
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Within the framework of Casa Árabe’s collaboration with the University of Córdoba, a
concert was held in the month of October in
the Mosaics Hall of Córdoba’s fortress with
the Moroccan singer Amina Alaoui, whose
musical talent is closely linked to the performance of Arab-Andalusian lyrical works.
Also in Córdoba, although in a completely
different musical register, we organised an
Arab hip hop concert in the city’s Corredera
Square at the end of November. The performers were 1ª Generación and Yasín, both of
whom belong to the collective One Salam.
This concert was part of the Third Barter
Days organised by the Youth Department of
Córdoba City Council.
CASA ÁRABE AND THE UNIVERSITY
OF CÓRDOBA PRESENTED AMINA
ALAOUI’S PERFORMANCE OF
ARAB-ANDALUSIAN LYRICAL MUSIC
One Salam
CASA ÁRABE, IN
COLLABORATION WITH
THE CERVANTES
INSTITUTE, STAGES THE
PLACE AND THE WORD.
INTERRUPTED
CONVERSATION
Amina Alaoui
During March and April, in the sphere of the
performing arts, the on-going collaboration
with the Cervantes Institute led to the staging
of The place and the word. Interrupted conversation, the result of research done in Beirut
by the choreographer Fernand Renjifo. The
cities of Córdoba, in the context of its
Cosmopoética 09 Festival, Cádiz and Seville
were also able to see this performance, which
involved the work of actors Ziad Chakaroun
and Alberto Núñez.
Arab music at the Guitar Festival and poetry at Cosmopoética
Casa Árabe 2009
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The Qatar Symphony
Qatar Symphony performed by the SAKO Symphony Orchestra
On February 26th, the SAKO symphony
orchestra of Qatar, conducted by Salem
Abdul-Karem, performed the Qatar Symphony
at the National Auditorium in Madrid. This
project came to fruition for the first time in
Spain thanks to the collaboration between
Casa Árabe and the Qatar Foundation. Qatar
Symphony, a composition in four movements
that evokes in musical terms the story of the
challenges and successes of this Gulf
country, is an initiative of the spouse of the
Emir of Qatar, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah
bint Nasser al-Missned, chairwoman of the
Qatar Foundation, an institution founded ten
years ago to promote education, culture and
the sciences. After its first performance in
Doha, the Qatar Symphony was performed in
Istanbul in October, 2008. Madrid was the
second stop on its international tour.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Friday Film Night at Casa Árabe
During 2009, the Nazharat (Gazes) cinema
programme took on the character of a permanent event after Casa Árabe made the
definitive move in mid-2008 to its Madrid
headquarters, complete with a screening
room. Every Monday and Friday throughout
the year, it has been possible to enjoy a session of Arab cinema, thus building up a
regular audience. A consistent line has been
followed in designing individual, monthly
seasons and collaborating with film festivals
in our country. During 2009, many of these
seasons travelled to other Spanish and
American cities.
The first season in the year was reserved for
the Latin American programme: Arabs and
Americans, the cinema as a mirror, which
began in February with four documentaries by
young directors from both geographical
regions, the Arab and the American. Viva
Guevara, by Maha Shahbah; Tiro libre, by
Marcelo Piña; Soy palestino, by Osama
Qashoo, and El color de los olivos, by
Carolina Rivas. The idea of this season was
to bring closer to the audience the intersecting visions of two Latin Americans (Mexico,
Chile) and two Arabs (Palestine, Egypt) who
explore the realities of the other region with an
innovative lens and a documentary vision.
The season was inaugurated with the presence of Egyptian director Maha Shahbah and a
substantial audience.
The month of March was dedicated to new
Moroccan cinema with a selection of films
grouped
together
under
the
title
Moroccans: a contemporary gaze, in collaboration with the Málaga Festival. Titles
included Samira’s garden, by Latif Lahlou;
Where are you going Moshé?, by Hassan
Benjelloun; Satanic angels, by Ahmed
Boulane; Heart edges, by Hicham Ayouch,
and Ali Zaoua, prince of the streets by Nabil
Ayouch. The five works, all full-length feature films, demonstrate the variety of topics
these film-makers are tackling, and the
good creative moment of Moroccan cinema. Despite achieving great success with
the public in Morocco and in other
European countries, the five films selected
have never been on general release in our
country. The season was launched in the
presence of the Moroccan Ambassador in
Spain and Abdellatif Laassadi, member of
the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre
(CCM). Moreover, some of the directors
were invited by Casa Árabe to maintain
contact with the public after their movies
had been screened. The season was also
shown in Granada and Córdoba in collaboration with the Andalusian Film Library,
under the auspices of the Valladolid
International Film Week (Seminci), and also
integrated into the film programme of the
Sea of Music Festival in Cartagena.
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Friday Film Night at Casa Árabe
as
a
In June, Casa Árabe used its programme
Gazes to recover some of the few works of
Arab cinema shown in cinemas in our
country. Even when issued on general release, most of these works have a short life in
the cinemas, and so many spectators are
grateful for the opportunity to see them
again on the big screen. On this occasion the
works shown included Cuscús, by Abdelatif
Kechiche; Bab’Aziz, the prince who contemplated his soul, by Nacer Khemir; Caramel,
by Nadine Labaki, and The Yacoubian building, by Marwan Hamed, a full-length film
that was also screened in Córdoba in the
First International Forum on Diversity and
Inter-culturality and in the IDEM Festival of
Gay Lesbian Theatre in Andalusia.
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School at the University of Cádiz and in
Algeciras. Similarly, at the end of October the
season was programmed as a parallel session
in the Amal 09 International Festival of EuroArab Cinema (Santiago de Compostela).
The year ended with the re-playing of the season on Urban cartographies: the city in contemporary Arab cinema, curated by Alberto
Elena, university lecturer and specialist in
cinema from the South. With this repetition,
Casa Árabe was responding to the demand
from the regular public that had not had the
opportunity to see the films included in this
season when they were screened in 2008.
Part of this season was also shown in Málaga
in collaboration with the Centre for
Contemporary Art, and was taken in its entirety to the city of New York, thanks to the
collaboration with the Cervantes Institute.
Likewise, the season The first steps of
Maghreb cinema which had been produced in
2008 could be viewed in the Andalusian cities
of Córdoba, Algeciras, Granada and Cádiz.
To support those productions that did
manage to go on general release in our
April was dedicated to the retrospective for
Syrian director Mohammed Malas, organised
in collaboration with the Cinemas of the South
Festival. The films were screened in parallel in
Madrid and Granada. The director was himself present in both cities, where he lectured
on the situation of Syrian cinema.
Continuing with the collaboration undertaken
in 2008 with the Tarifa African Film Festival, a
season on The first steps of Egyptian Cinema
was shown in the Madrid headquarters in
October and included works like The white
rose, by Mohamed Karim; Weddad, by Fritz
Kramp and Gamal Madkoor; Salama is all
right, by Niazi Mostafa; Love and vengeance,
by Youssef Wahbi; also eight animated shorts
by the brothers Herschel, Salomon and David
Frenkel. This season was also put on by the
Andalusian Film Library in its Córdoba and
Algeciras facilities, as well as in the Straits
country, Casa Árabe has collaborated in
the dissemination and previewing of titles
such as Couscous by Abdelatif Kechiche,
or Red Satin, by Raja Amari. Likewise, it is
important to point out the significant number of continuing collaborations with cultural or educational entities and film festivals
in our country that have been paying attention to the so-called “peripheral cinemas”.
This was the case of the Cinemas of the
South Festival (Granada), San Sebastián’s
Cinema in Motion Festival, the Amal 09
International Festival of Euro-Arab Cinema
(Santiago de Compostela), Málaga Film
Festival, Tarifa African Film Festival, 39th
edition of the Alcine Festival in Alcalá de
Henares, the 22nd Festival of the South
(Agüimes), Mondoc, 2nd International
Festival of Documentary Cinema in
Montaverner and the Third Festival of Arab
and Mediterranean Cinema organised by
Sodepau.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Love and Desire in the Hadiqa
WITH THE ARRIVAL OF SUMMER, FOR THE FIRST TIME CASA ÁRABE
SCREENED FILMS IN THE OPEN AIR IN THE HADIQA
With the arrival of summer, for the first time
Casa Árabe screened films in the open air in
the Hadiqa, the garden of the Casa Árabe
headquarters in Madrid. For ten consecutive days in the month of July there were
screenings at night, with a sizeable audience. The film programme was structured
around the season Labyrinth of passions:
love and desire in Arab cinema, curated by
Alberto Elena, who chose five titles related
to issues of gender and sexuality in the
Arab world. This season included both classical films from the Egyptian cinema of the
1940s (A Glass and a cigarette and
Sleepless) and other works of contemporary film-makers from Lebanon and
Morocco (Dunia and Marock). The programme also included the film Red Satin by the
director Raja Amari, and this screening was
its preview in Spain, a few days before it
came out in commercial cinemas.
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Lebanon Week
At the beginning of the month of July, Casa
Árabe organised a Lebanon Week with activities covering the country’s literature, gastronomy, cinema and music. The music section
included two concerts held in Casa Árabe’s
Hadiqa (garden). On July 4th, we had the
opportunity to welcome the Nahawand
ensemble, whose conductor and well known
kanun performer, Nouhad Akiki, is one of the
professional staff linked to the Beirut Music
Conservatory. On July 6th, the Madrid audience could enjoy the renowned lutist Rabih
Abou-Khalil, who was in Casa Árabe performing as part of a trio with Jarrod Cagwin
(drums and percussion) and Luciano
Bondioni (accordion).
Elias Khoury and Juan Cruz
Nouhad Akiki
Images of the concert by the Rabih Abou-Khalil Trio
In the realm of literature, a bilingual recital of
the poet Henri Zoghaib was organised and a
round table was held with the novelists Elias
Khoury and Juan Cruz to celebrate the publication in Spanish of La cueva del sol (The
Cave of the Sun), the first work by Khoury to
be translated into Spanish.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Jerusalem, capital of Arab culture 2009
The exhibition Jerusalem at the beginning of
the 20th century. Heritage and culture could
be seen between December 2nd, 2009, and
February 14th, 2010. It was organised in order
to celebrate Jerusalem as Arab cultural capital 2009 and its aim was to bring the public
closer to the history of the city through old
photographs and traditional costumes.
The Spanish ambassador, Juan Durán-Loriga, Shadia Touqan and General Delegate of Palestine in Spain,
Musa Amer Odeh, listen to Gema Martín Muñoz on the occasion of the inauguration of the exhibition
Jerusalem contains an impressive historical,
artistic and cultural heritage whose preservation is a matter of concern to the whole international community. This programme set out
to contribute a very significant exhibition of
that heritage to make it known, valued and
respected. To this effect we have used the
historical photographic collection of the
French Biblical and Archaeological School,
EBAF (Saint Stephen’s Convent), thanks to its
sub-prior Jean Michel de Tarragon, and also
the Spanish Ambassador Juan Durán-Loriga’s
private collection of Palestinian costumes.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Jerusalem, capital of Arab culture 2009
as
a
To mark this commemoration, Casa Árabe
also organised a series of activities between
November and December. A concert was
held in the Infanta Isabel Theatre in Madrid,
with a performance by the Joubran Trio,
three lute-playing brothers (Samir, Wissam
and Adnan Joubran) who gave the public
great pleasure with virtuoso interpretations
of their repertoire known as Majaz. Also,
Casa Árabe organised a conference entitled
The preservation of the historical and cultural
legacy of Jerusalem, given by Shadia
Touqan, who is in charge of the NGO Welfare
Association’s programme for revitalising
the old city of Jerusalem. Thanks to her very
relevant experience of many years at the
forefront of this programme, the speaker was
able to present images explaining the difficulties
and challenges of preserving the city’s valuable
heritage. Finally, the programme included the
showing of the documentary film Jerusalem …
the history of the east side (2008) by the
director Mohammed Alatar, in which he
offers a vision of the life and current problems
of the city.
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The old traditional costumes allow us to
appreciate the embroidery technique of the
different regions of Palestine, characterised
by the use of eye-catching colours in complicated geometrical designs and floral shapes.
The exhibition included 11 embroidered pieces, some of them genuine masterpieces
that date from the first half of the 20th century and are highly representative of the different regions of Palestine: Bethlehem,
Ramallah, Hebron, Bir-al-Sab’a (Beer Sheva)
and Beit Dayan.
The Joubran Trio accompanied by the percussionist Youssef Hbeish
09
Most of the photographs date from the first
two decades of the 20th century. The EBAF
photographic library has an archive which,
while it accumulated its first images in 1890,
experienced a great thrust between 1905 and
1907. It has a collection of 17,000 negatives,
among them those made by the Spanish
Dominican Manuel Ferrero Gutiérrez when he
was a student at the Biblical School of
Jerusalem between 1929 and 1931.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Hebrón. Arquitectura e identidad de un pueblo
heritage. Its restoration and preservation are
the work of a local institution, the Hebron
Restoration Committee, which has received
substantial support from the Spanish
Agency of International Cooperation for
Development (AECID) since 1998. It has also
created a workshop-school that teaches traditional skills. The different activities of this
Palestinian restoration programme financed
with Spanish funds include the publication
in Spanish, Arabic and English of the book
Hebron. Architecture and magic of a historical city, an exhaustive guide to the legacy
and ethnographical value of the city of
Hebron, as well as the recovery work being
carried out. Casa Árabe hosted the launch
of this publication in our headquarters, with
the inestimable collaboration of the consulgeneral of Spain in Jerusalem, Ramón
Ansoáin and Ali al-Qawasmi, president and
director general of the Hebron Restoration
Committee.
In respect of the historical-artistic heritage
of the city of Hebron (al-Jalil), Casa Árabe
arranged a specific programme during the
month of May including an exhibition of
photographs of the old city of Hebron, considered a jewel of Palestinian architectural
Spain was the first western country to support the laudable work of the Hebron
Restoration Committee. Afterwards, other
donors followed in our footsteps and today
more than a dozen countries and international bodies also finance projects carried out
by this committee.
Casa Árabe 2009
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Lavapiés at Casa Árabe
View of the Us exhibition
Between April 1st and May 3rd, 2009, Casa
Árabe organised the exhibition entitled
Nosotros: un álbum colectivo del barrio de
Lavapiés (Us: a collective album of the
Lavapiés district), curated by Juan Valbuena
and based on the production of a collective
album by the inhabitants of the Lavapiés district in central Madrid. In order to produce the
album, local residents wishing to participate
provided photographs from their own private
One of the neighbours beside the photos contributed
to the exhibition
collections, sometimes accompanied by short
descriptive texts, and this collaboration allowed the creation of a photographic montage
of the history of those living in the most multicultural districts in Madrid city. It was a highly
interactive project in which the protagonists
were the citizens themselves who provided,
each from their diverse origins, cultures and
religions, the images that told their story. The
buy-in to the project by the neighbours in
Lavapiés was very extensive and enriching.
Casa Árabe 2009
97
Manuel Piñeiro, Antoni Nicolau, Gema
Martín Muñoz and Hissa Abdulla Ahmed
Al Otaiba, the Ambassador of the UAE to
Spain
The first exhibition organised in 2009 at the
headquarters of Casa Árabe in Madrid was
entitled Space + Aliens. Spanish artists in the
United Arab Emirates and comprised a sample
of the oeuvre of seven Spanish artists participating in an artistic residence in the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) during 2007 and 2008,
known as the Lab Project. The exhibition was
on display between February 4th and March
15th and the artists who enjoyed this residential opportunity were Maider López, Ana Laura
Aláez, Colectivo Área3, Sergio Belinchón and
Miguel Trillo, Miguel Oriola and Evru.
The initiative for this project came from the
Spanish Embassy in the UAE, with the support
of both its interfaces at the AECID and the
Ministry of Culture. In addition, during each
stage of the residency, support was received
from other institutions (in 2007 the State
Company for Cultural Action Abroad, the
Andalusian Regional Government, the
Raymond Llul Institute, the Sharjah Biennial
and the Department of Culture and Information
of the Government of Sharjah and, in 2008, the
Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation, the
Ghaf Art Gallery and the Abu Dhabi Authority
for Culture and Heritage). The exhibition organised by Casa Árabe was the fruit of the collaboration of all these institutions.
Poster advertising the exhibition
The works displayed represented a selection
of all those produced by the artists during
Spanish artists in the United Arab Emirates
their stay in the UAE. The curator for the artistic residencies and for the exhibition in Casa
Árabe was César Espada, the cultural attaché
to the Spanish Embassy in the UAE between
2005 and 2008.
The Lab Project brings different cultural universes into contact and melds them to produce
intensely contemporary representations. It is a
way to encourage creation through a direct,
polyhedral experience in movement. It is an
active and productive inter-culturality. A way to
interpret other spaces, another way to understand the city and its inhabitants through the
specific creative gaze of the artist discovering a
shocking new horizon. It is subjective and individual, but at the same time social and political.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah… all of the
Emirates, each in its own way, incite the imaginations of the Spanish artists, impact them,
lead them to rethink how the distances between the past and the future may be very
short and radical, how a cosmopolitan universe can be built between the desert and the
sea, how modernisation is translated into a
multitude of paths, attitudes and shapes, with
contradictions and paradoxes.
The final outcome is a transcultural communication that, in the Emirates, contributes to an
understanding of self through the interpretation of others and, in the case of the Spanish
artists, to understand that what is different is
exciting and dynamic. And everything is conjugated between the individual and his or her
personal experience, the best way to break
down barriers and clichés.
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TransArab Contemporary Video
The 32 videos on display were grouped around
seven themes: Visions of daily life, Migrations and
frontiers, Gender and transgender, Mysticism,
Alter Islam, Colonialism, and Experimental
visions. Within each themed section, the videos
were chosen not for their degree of representativeness and formal or conceptual interest but
rather for the flow, the distance covered, the dialogue between reflections and languages created
among them; the disparities they point to, the
gaps or richness they mutually provide.
Visitors watching one of the videos at TransArab: contemporary video
Inauguration of the exhibition
Between October 14th and November 15th,
Casa Árabe hosted the exhibition entitled
TransArab: contemporary video. On the occasion of the inauguration of Casa Árabe’s Media
Library and in order to make audio-visual and
virtual works better known, the display provided a selection of videos from the holdings of
the Unidentified Video Observatory (OVNI in its
Spanish acronym) reflecting some of the realities of the Arab and Muslim world. This exhibition was curated by Toni Serra.
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101
Iraq in the Americas
2005 and 2008, and Waleed Saleh Alkhalifa,
senior lecturer at the Department of Arab and
Islamic Studies in the Autonomous University in
Madrid. On the one hand, the goal was to collaborate with Spain’s Cultural Centres in Central
America and, on the other, to present a more up
to date and closer version of the situation in Iraq
to the public of Latin America.
Due to the interest aroused by the subject of
Iraq in neighbouring countries, the Voices from
Iraq exhibition and the Tales from Iraq film season travelled to Santo Domingo, where they
were shown in collaboration with the Spanish
Cultural Centre in the Dominican Republic and
in the Dominican Film Library. Furthermore,
the Arab Culture Institute in São Paulo included the same film season in the 4th Arab
World Film Festival organised at four cinemas
in São Paulo, the city of Brazil with the largest
population of Arab origin. Finally, Casa Árabe
and Spain’s Cultural Centre in Miami, on the
occasion of the projection of the film season,
invited the director Mohamed Al Daradji to
present his film Ahlaam and to debate the present and future of Iraq with the BBC World
Service journalist, Matías Zibell.
From left to right: Waleed Saleh Alkhalifa, Darío Euraque, Rodolfo Pastor Fasquelle
and Ignacio Rupérez at the inauguration of Voices from Iraq in the National Art
Gallery of Tegucigalpa
One of the characteristic features of 2009 was
the dissemination in the Americas of the activities prepared by Casa Árabe on Iraq. The season of Iraq in Central America consisted in
taking the photography exhibition entitled
Voices from Iraq to Honduras in collaboration
with the Ministry of Culture and Sport of that
central American country. A two-pronged
public discussion panel was conducted in
collaboration with the Honduran Institute for
Anthropology and History (IHAH), in which the
director general of Casa Árabe, Gema Martín
Muñoz, presented American Arabia and the
director of the IHAH, Darío Euraque, spoke of
the Arabs in Honduras. On the other hand, a
film season was also organised with Tales from
Iraq visiting the cities of Tegucigalpa, Antigua
and San Salvador in collaboration with the
Cultural Centres of Spain in Honduras,
Guatemala and El Salvador. The film season
was complemented by a discussion panel on
Iraq, present and future, with the participation
of the director general of Casa Árabe, the
Spanish ambassador to Honduras, Ignacio
Rupérez, who was the Chargé d’Affaires of the
Spanish embassy in Iraq between 1997 and
2000 and Spanish ambassador to Iraq between
Casa Árabe 2009
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Colombian Arab Days
The second day was devoted to the presentation of two documentaries produced by the
Arabic TV channel Al Jazeera as part of its
series on Arabs in Latin America. The documentaries in question, La historia de Lorica
(Lorica’s story) and En directo desde Colombia
(Live from Colombia), analyse respectively the
Arab presence in a small town in Sinú valley
and the leading role played by the descendants
of Arabs in the mass media of Colombia.
Luis Fayad
Within our American Arabia programme, we
organised the Colombian Arab Days in
Madrid during the month of May. Two days in
which to discuss the Arab presence in
Colombia. The first day included a public discussion panel on Colombian Arabs in
Literature with the Colombian author of
Lebanese origin, Luis Fayad, and with José
Antonio de Ory, a diplomat and author of the
book on the now deceased Colombian poet
of Arab origin, Raúl Gómez Jattin: Ángeles
clandestinos. Una memoria oral del poeta
Raúl Gómez Jattin (Clandestine Angels. An
oral memoir of the poet Raúl Gómez Jattin).
Fayad and Jattin are two Colombian literary
figures of Arab origin in whose respective and
very different works there is an underlying
complexity of belonging and identity.
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Electronic American Arabia
In autumn, we opened the auditorium of Casa
Árabe to an avant-garde event, the Electronic
American Arabia, in collaboration with La Casa
Encendida and Experimentaclub, a platform for
the dissemination of experimental music with
over ten years of history in Spain. Two days were
scheduled to be a meeting point for the artists of
sound of Arab and Latin-American origin and as
a venue for the wider dissemination of this alternative musical genre. The participants in the first
session included the Spaniard Javier Piñango,
artist, director of Experimentaclub and co-director of EXP+LIMb0; the Argentinean Jorge Haro,
artist, director of the season of Concerts in
LIMb0, responsible for the Sudamérica
Electrónica label and co-director of EXP+LIMb0;
the Egyptian Mahmoud Refat, artist and director of the label 100Copies Music & 100live
Electronic Music Festival; and the Mexican
Manuel Rocha Iturbide, artist, co-founder and
curator of the International Sound Art Festival in
Mexico. On the second day, these two sound
artists gave an audio-visual presentation of their
work, giving rise to an innovative and infrequent
event at the Casa Árabe’s auditorium due to the
alternative nature of their music.
Jorge Haro, Javier Piñango and Mahmoud Refat
AN EXPERIMENTAL
AVANT-GARDE ACTIVITY
AMONG ARAB AND
LATIN-AMERICAN
MUSICIANS
Casa Árabe 2009
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Workshops and storytelling
lectures given by specialists on the long history of this artistic genre.
Kan ya Makan… On the occasion of the local
festivities in the Salamanca district of Madrid
(October 10th and 11th), the headquarters of the
Casa Árabe hosted a number of activities for children under the title Kan ya Makan… (‘Once upon
a time…’). For two days, the workshops organised focused on puppets, storytelling and films for
children, giving young and old the opportunity to
come and learn more about the stories and characters from the Arab world and the Orient.
Three snapshots of children’s workshops
Arabic calligraphy. For the last three years,
Casa Árabe has been organising beginners’
workshops in Arabic calligraphy. These
workshops, of different levels and duration,
are conducted at the institution’s headquarters and also at educational (primary and
secondary schools) and cultural centres (in
Madrid, Granada, Córdoba), as well as in the
framework of festivals and inter-cultural
events. Most of them are initially intended to
attract people interested in the basics of calligraphy as well as its artistic applications.
Some workshops have been accompanied by
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James Piscatori, “Re-inventing Umma? The
translocality of pan-Islamism”. Presentation
by Gema Martín Muñoz. Madrid, January
13th.
Presentation by Octavio Salazar Benítez
(Córdoba, April 20th), Ana María Ortiz Colón
(Jaén, April 21st) and Juan Martos Quesada
(Madrid, April 22nd).
Haydar Ibrahim Ali, “Sudan, what future?”.
Presentation by Víctor Luis Gutiérrez
Castillo, Juan de Dios Torralba and Manuel
Torres. Córdoba, January 13th.
Saïd Ihrai, “The democratic principle in international law: the strategy of Arab and Muslim
states”. Presentation by Víctor Luis
Gutiérrez Castillo (Córdoba, May 4th, and
Jaén, May 5th) and by Elena Bravo Taberné
(Madrid, May 6th).
Monia Ben Jémia, Irene Blázquez and
Matilde Mérida, Women and Islamic law in
Arab countries. Presentation by José Rebollo
Puig. Córdoba, February 10th.
Abdallah Saaf, “Readings of the current political landscape of Morocco”. Presentation by
Ignacio Cembrero. Madrid, February 17th.
Zaid al-Wardy, “Non-violence and peacebuilding in Iraq: the role of civil society”.
Presentation by Felipe Daza and Juan
Duarte. Madrid, February 26th.
Habib Ayeb, “Crisis and food sovereignty in
the Arab world: the case of Egypt”.
Presentation by Ángeles Sánchez Díez.
Madrid, March 10th.
Dolors Bramon, “The foundations of power
in classical Islam”. Presentation by Gema
Martín Muñoz and José María Ferré de la
Peña. Madrid, May 4th.
Hansi Escobar, “Islamists and democracy:
the impossible debate?”. Presentation by
Thierry Desrues and Rafael Ortega.
Córdoba, May 18th.
Gema Martín Muñoz, Bernard Vincent,
Luis Bernabé Pons and José María
Perceval, Meaning and consequences of
the expulsion of the Moriscos. Madrid, May
26th.
Fabian MacKinnon, “Reckoning the situation
in Gaza: the UNRWA beyond the emergency”. Presentation by Gema Martín
Muñoz. Madrid, March 11th.
Mohammed Chaib Akhdim, Mohamed
Kharchich, Said Kirlani, Gabriel Jairodín
Riaza and Gema Martín Muñoz,
Representation and leadership in Muslim
communities in Spain. Madrid, June 1st.
Season on The Maghreb and Middle East in
contemporary international society.
Córdoba, Jaén and Madrid, March, April and
May.
Saba Mahmood, “Women and Islamic proselytising. The female da‘wa movement in
Egypt”. Presentation by Gema Martín
Muñoz. Madrid, June 16th.
Raed Raffei, “Lebanon and the Middle East
conflicts: present and future”. Presentation
by Octavio Salazar Benítez and Víctor Luis
Gutiérrez Castillo (Córdoba, March 30th and
Jaén, March 31st) and by Alberto Ucelay
(Madrid, April 2nd).
Marta Ruedas, “Governability and citizenship in Lebanon. The experience of the UNDP”.
Presentation by Soraya Rodríguez Ramos
and Gema Martín Muñoz. Madrid, June
17th.
Djamchid Momtaz, “Security in the Persian
Gulf and the Iranian nuclear dossier”.
Al-Imam Al-Sadeq Al-Mahdi, “What future
for Euro-Arab relations?”. Presentation by
Gema Martín Muñoz. Madrid, June 18th.
From top to bottom and left to right: Amadou Alassane, Fathia Hizem, Fabian MacKinnon, Alberto Ucelay, Shadia Touqan, Haydar Ibrahim Ali, Zaid al-Wardi, Monia Ben
Jémia, James Piscatori
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Robert Lanquar, Étienne Pauchant and
Pedro Oviedo, Business cooperation in the
Mediterranean: legal aspects). Málaga, June
27th.
Amin Maalouf, El desajuste del mundo.
Cuando nuestras civilizaciones se agotan
(The mismatch of the world. When our civilisations are exhausted). With the participation
of Gema Martín Muñoz and Javier Rioyo.
Madrid, September 28th.
Javier Piñango, Jorge Haro, Mahmoud
Refat and Manuel Rocha Iturbide, The production of experimental electronic music in
other latitudes. Presentation by Karim
Hauser. Madrid, October 7th.
Brian Katulis, “The policy of the USA in the
Middle East and Afghanistan”. Presentation
by Pere Vilanova. Madrid, October 15th.
Khadija Elmadmad, Ali Bensaad and Cheikh
Oumar Ba, Sub-Saharan migrations in
Maghreb. Presentation by Olivia Orozco.
Madrid, October 20th.
Juan José Tamayo Acosta, “Inter-culturality
in religious traditions. The case of Islam”.
Presentation by Gema Martín Muñoz and
Margarita Pintos. Madrid, October 27th.
Tarik Yousef and José Antonio Ocampo
“The political dimensions of the global economic crisis: a perspective from the Arab
world”. Presentation by Gema Martín
Muñoz. Madrid, October 28th.
Gema Martín Muñoz and Najat El Hachmi,
Arab identity in current Spanish literature.
Presentation by Eduardo Lago. New York,
November 2nd.
Mohamed Smain, Amadou Alassane
Mbow and Fathia Hizem, Human rights
and transitional justice in the Maghreb).
Presentation by Isaías Barreñada. Madrid,
November 5th.
Gema Martín Muñoz, Peter Leuprecht and
Sami Massoud, Meaning and consequences
of the expulsion of the Moriscos.
Presentation by Yasmina Chouakri.
Montreal, November 7th.
Nader Hrimat, “Challenges for agriculture
and food security in the south and east of
the Mediterranean: the case of Palestine”.
Presentation by Olivia Orozco. Madrid,
November 10th.
Gema Martín Muñoz, Manuel Barrios
Aguilera, Luis Bernabé Pons and Rafael
Peinado Santaella, A modern take on the
expulsion the Moriscos. Presentation by
Carmelo Pérez Beltrán. Granada, November
19th.
Shadia Touqan, The conservation of the historic and cultural heritage of Jerusalem.
Presentation by Gema Martín Muñoz.
Madrid, December 1st.
Helen Samhan and Rachad Antonius, Arabs
in North America. Presentation by Karim
Hauser. Madrid, December 17th.
From top to bottom and left to right: Amadou Alassane, Fathia Hizem, Fabian MacKinnon, Alberto Ucelay, Shadia Touqan, Haydar Ibrahim Ali, Zaid al-Wardi, Monia Ben
Jémia, James Piscatori
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Leyla Bartet, Luis Fayad and Alberto Ruy
Sánchez, The Arab essence in our
writings/literatures. Cartagena de Indias,
January 29th.
Joumana Haddad, Giovanni Quessep and
several poets, Poetry gala. Cartagena de
Indias, January 30th.
Joumana Haddad, Marianne Ponsford,
Andrés Hoyos and Amalia Iglesias, Co-habitation in the cultural media: between the digital and the printed word. Cartagena de Indias,
January 31st.
Luis Fayad, Leyla Bartet, Eduardo Lago,
Carmen Boullosa, Alan Pauls, Laura
Restrepo and Enrique Serrano, Favourite
book gala. Cartagena de Indias, February 1st.
Judaísmo e islam profundos: ambigüedad y
espera, fe y entrega (Profound Judaism and
Islam: ambiguity and waiting, faith and surrender). Tribute to its author, Rodolfo Gil
Benumeya Grimau. With the participation of
Joaquín Ortega, M’hammad Benaboud and
Fernando de Ágreda. Madrid, February 5th.
María Rosa de Madariaga, Fondos documentales en archivos españoles sobre la organización de la justicia en el protectorado español
en Marruecos (1912-1956). Guía de situación y
contenido [Documents in Spanish archives on
the organisation of the justice system under the
Spanish protectorate in Morocco (1912-1956).
Guide to their ssituation and contents]. With
the participation of Alfonso Dávila Oliveda and
Farid Aoulouhaj. Madrid, March 5th.
María Dolores López Enamorado (coord.),
España y Marruecos: mujeres en el espacio
público (Spain and Morocco: women in the
public eye). With the participation of Rafael
Valencia and Mohamed Said Saadi. Madrid,
March 12th.
Association of Young Muslims in Madrid,
Queremos la paz. Palabras y dibujos contra la
violencia (We want Peace. Words and drawings against violence). Madrid, March 14th.
Dolores Oliver, El Cantar de Mío Cid: génesis
y autoría árabe (The Cantar de Mío Cid: Arab
genesis and authorship). With the participation
of Jorge Lirola and José Antonio González
Alcantud. Madrid, March 26th.
Jacinto Soles Matutes, La empresa española
en los países árabes: experiencias de inversión
y triangulación (Spanish companies in Arab
countries: experiences of investmens and triangulation). With the participation of Gaspar
Zarrías Arévalo, Gema Martín Muñoz and
Manuel Morón Ledro. Algeciras, March 31st.
Hamdi Abu Golayyel, Ladrones jubilados
(Retired thieves). With the participation of
Mertxe Paris and Vanesa Casanova
(Zaragoza, April 13th), Mertxe Paris, Vanesa
Casanova, Muhsin al-Ramli and María Luz
Comendador (Madrid, April 14th) and Àngels
Santa, Andreu Loncà and German París
(Lleida, April 16th).
Presentation of the television series Nexos.
Un esfuerzo colectivo (Nexos. A collective
effort). With the participation of Federico
Mayor Zaragoza, Javier Pons, Jaume
Roures, Enrique Gaspar and Gema Martín
Muñoz. Madrid, April 15th.
Relatos y dibujos: el futuro de los refugiados
palestinos e iraquíes (Stories and drawings: the
future of Palestinian and Iraqi refugees). Recital
for children with the participation of Fernando
Sabio and Manuel Espinar. Madrid, April 16th.
Bernabé López García and Miguel Hernando
de Larramendi (ed.), Historia y memoria de las
relaciones hispano-marroquíes. Un balance en
el cincuentenario de la independencia de
Marruecos (History and memoir of SpanishMoroccan relations. Taking stock on the fiftieth
anniversary of Morocco’s independence). With
the participation of Omar Azziman and
Raimundo Bassols. Madrid, April 29th.
Presentation of the magazine Manga Ancha.
With the participation of Driss Bouissef Rekab,
Sara Monteiro, Antonio Trinidad, Teresa Vacas
and Jesús Fernández Palacios (Cádiz, May
6th) and Driss Bouissef Rekab, Sara Monteiro,
Antonio Trinidad and Teresa Vacas (Madrid,
May 7th, and Badajoz, May 8th).
Atiq Rahimi in conversation with Joumana
Haddad. Granada, May 7th.
Adonis in conversation with José Andrés
Rojo. Granada, May 8th.
Rabih Alameddine and Rawi Hage in conversation with Mathias Enard. Granada May 9th.
From top to bottom and left to right: Consuelo Rumí, Driss Bouissef, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Amin Maalouf, Rayess Bek, Zena al-Khalil, Ali al-Qawasmi, Elena Madrazo
Hegewisch and Mustapha El Hor
The Bookstand. Books and words
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Rabih Alameddine, El contador de historias
(The Teller of Tales). With the participation of
Álvaro Colomer and Carlota del Amo.
Madrid, May 11th.
Presentation of Cuadernos bilingües AlfarIxbilia. Marruecos y España, escrituras cruzadas (Alfar-Ixbilia bilingual notepads. Morocco
and Spain, crossover writing). With the participation of Hipólito G. Navarro, Yasin Adnan,
Antonio Reyes, Abdellatif El Bazi and
Abdellatif Zenan. Seville, May 21st.
Ana Crespo, Los bellos colores del corazón:
color y sufismo (The beautiful colours of the heart:
colour and Sufism). With the participation of José
Miguel Puerta Vílchez, Marisa Fernández Cid
and Fernando Cabal. Madrid, May 25th.
Antonio Lozano, Las cenizas de Bagdad (The
ashes of Baghdad). With the participation of
Gonzalo Fernández Parrilla and Malika
Embarek. Madrid, June 9th.
Presentation of the monograph on Qatar by
the journal Hesperia. Culturas del
Mediterráneo (Hesperia. Cultures of the
Mediterranean). With the participation of
María Jesús Viguera Molins, Juan Martos
Quesada and Salman Nabit al-Khulaifi.
Madrid, June 23rd.
José Luis Gómez Puyuelo, La República pretoriana: ejército y poder político en Argelia
(1954-1978) [The Praetorian Republic: army
and political power in Algeria (1954-1978)].
With the participation of Rafael Bustos and
Laurence Thieux. Madrid, September 29th.
Andrée Maalouf, La cocina libanesa de ayer y
de hoy (Lebanese cooking yesterday and
today). Madrid, September 29th.
Omar Ben Yúsuf. El diván de las gacelas (The
divan for gazelles). With the participation of
Pablo Beneito and Luce López-Baralt.
Reading of poems with musical accompaniment by Wafir S. Gibril and Eduardo
Paniagua. Madrid, October 13th.
La mar de llibres per endinsar-se en el món
àrab. Guia de lectura (Sea of books to delve
deeper into the Arab world. Reading guide).
With the participation of Senén Florensa,
Dolors Bramon, Theodor Loinaz and Isaías
Barreñada. Barcelona, October 13th.
Presentation of the collection of educational
DVDs Conoce el espíritu Nexos (Get to know
the Nexos spirit). With the participation of
Federico Mayor Zaragoza, José María Luxán
Menéndez, María Victoria Gonzalez Román,
Gema Martín Muñoz and Enrique Gaspar
Rodríguez. Madrid, October 29th.
Mustapha El Hor (coord.), Actas del coloquio
sobre España, Marruecos y la mar
(Proceedings of the discussions on Spain,
Morocco and the sea); Víctor Luis Gutiérrez
Castillo, El Magreb y sus fronteras en el mar:
conflictos de delimitación y propuestas de
solución (The Maghreb and its maritime borders: conflicts of demarcation and proposed
solutions); and Víctor Morales Lezcano
(coord.), Una visión del islam en África y desde
Canarias. Historia de una frontera (A vision of
Islam in Africa and from the Canary Islands.
History of a border). Madrid, November 11th.
Kitín Muñoz Valcárcel, El Moussem de Tan
Tan. Obra maestra del patrimonio oral e inmaterial de la humanidad (The Tan Tan Moussem.
A masterpiece of the world’s oral and intangible heritage). With the participation of Omar
Azziman, Miguel de la Quadra-Salcedo, Ana
Gavín Martín and Gema Martín Muñoz.
Madrid, November 17th.
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, El Corán y el futuro
del islam (The Koran and the future of Islam).
With the participation of Juan José Tamayo,
Raimund Herder and Gema Martín Muñoz.
Madrid, November 18th.
Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio, Siria contemporánea (Contemporary Syria). With the participation of Alberto Ucelay and Teresa Aranguren.
Madrid, December 3rd.
Rabih Alameddine, El contador de historias
(The Teller of Tales). With the participation of
Ignacio Padilla. Guadalajara (Mexico),
December 3rd.
Rabih Alameddine, Maram Al Masri and
Karim Hauser, A thousand and one senses:
novels and poetry in the contemporary Arab
world). Guadalajara (Mexico), December 4th.
María Rosa de Madariaga, Abd-el-Krim el
Jatabi: la lucha por la independencia (Abd-elKrim el Jatabi: The struggle for independence). With the participation of Javier
Valenzuela. Madrid, December 9th.
Los árabes en América Latina: historia de una
emigración (Arabs in Latin America: history of
an emigration) (multiple authors). With the participation of Hamurabi Noufouri and Manuel
Piñeiro. Granada, December 10th.
Los árabes en América Latina: historia de una
emigración (Arabs in Latin America: history of
an emigration) (multiple authors);
Contribuciones árabes a las identidades iberoamericanas (Arab contributions to Latin
American identities) (multiple authors);
Influencia árabe en las letras iberoamericanas
(Arab influence on Latin American writing).
With the participation of Hamurabi Noufouri,
Fernando García Casas, Sergio Macías
Brevis and Gema Martín Muñoz. Madrid,
December 16th.
From top to bottom and left to right: Serene Assir, Mohsen al-Ramli, Hamdi Abu Golayyel, Mohamed Chaib, Teresa Aranguren, Nasr Abu Zayd, Malika Embarek, María Rosa de
Madariaga and Dolores Oliver
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Casa Árabe’s Library
Luis Fayad, Milton Hatoum, Farid Kahhat,
María del Mar Logroño, Carlos Martínez Assad,
Rosa-Isabel Martínez Lillo, Rigoberto
Menéndez, Hamurabi Noufouri, Camila Pastor,
Paulo Hilu Pinto, Oswaldo Truzzi, María del
Pilar Vargas and Zidane Zeraoui. 20 €
Los árabes en América Latina.
Historia de una emigración.
(Arabs in Latin America. History
of an emigration)
Abdeluahed Akmir (coord.). (Joint publication
with Siglo XXI de España). 20 €
This volume is an enlarged and updated edition
of the original book in Arabic published in 2006
by the Arab Unity Study Centre in Beirut, under
the editorial direction of the Moroccan historian
Abdeluahed Akmir. The six countries of South
America studied in the Arabic edition have been
expanded with another seven countries from
Central America and the Caribbean in order to
show a more complete overview of Latin
America. There is also an analysis, in global
terms, of the factors that drove the Arabs from
the Middle East to emigrate to Latin America, as
well as their general process of settlement and
integration in Latin American society.
Contribuciones árabes a las
identidades iberoamericanas
(Arab contributions to Ibero American identities)
Lorenzo Agar, Horacio Cagni, Darío Euraque,
The second volume on the imprint of Arab
migrations in the Americas is the result of the
seminar organised by Casa Árabe and the
Ibero-American Secretariat General (SEGIB) in
November, 2008, in Rio de Janeiro to analyse this reality with the most outstanding specialists in the subject. Thus, the authors of
the work give us, from a range of different
standpoints and approaches, a study of the
contributions Arab-Ibero-Americans have
made in their respective nations from their
arrival to the present. The epilogue by Luis
Fayad, a Colombian, and Milton Hatoum, a
Brazilian, both writers of Arab origin, constitutes a golden clasp to conclude this research effort led by Casa Árabe.
Both volumes were presented on December
10th, 2009, at the Euro-Arab Institute for
Education and Training Foundation, with its
headquarters in Granada. The participants in
the event were Hamurabi Noufouri (director of
the Master’s Programme in Cultural Diversity
at the “Tres de Febrero” National University
(Argentina) and author of one of the chapters),
Manuel Piñeiro (director of the Euro-Arab
Institute for Education and Training
Foundation) and Karim Hauser (coordinator of
Casa Árabe’s American Arabia programme).
The presentation in Madrid also took place in
December, during the first part of the events
devoted to Arabs in both Americas (December
16th to 18th). The goal was to stress the history of the emigration of Arabs to Spanish
America and to disseminate these findings
through the two volumes cited. The presentation included the participation of Gema Martín
Muñoz (director general of Casa Árabe-IEAM),
Fernando García Casas (office director to the
Ibero-American Secretary General), Hamurabi
Noufouri (director of the Master’s Programme
in Cultural Diversity at the “Tres de Febrero”
National University, Argentina) and Sergio
Macías Brevis (author of the book entitled
Influencia árabe en las letras iberoamericanas
[Arab influence on Latin American writing].
This latest work, also recently published by the
International University of Andalusia, UNIA,
contributes another dimension, a literary
dimension, to this vast subject).
Musulmanes en España. Guía
de referencia / Muslims in
Spain. A reference guide
Gema Martín Muñoz (dir.) 8,30 €
One of the first outcomes of our Western
Muslims work line is this guide, published in
Spanish and English. It is the result of Casa
Árabe’s collaboration with the Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR) of the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Casa
Árabe has prepared the first in a series of
specific reference guides on the reality of
Muslims citizens in the OSCE region. The
series, an initiative of the ODIHR, is aimed
at encouraging a greater understanding of
the diversity of the Muslim communities
living in the OSCE region and offers a more
contextualised image of their cultures, lives
and contributions to society. Under the
supervision of Gema Martín Muñoz, this
guide includes contributions from specialists in diverse disciplines on Islam, history
and its contemporary dynamics in Spain
(Elena Arigita Maza, Marian Hens, Iván
Jiménez- Aybar, Amira Kedier, Eduardo
Manzano, Jordi Moreras, Rafael Ortega
Rodrigo, Virtudes Téllez and Rocío
Vázquez Martí). Musulmanes en España.
Guía de referencia is a practical manual to
approach the diversity and plurality of
Muslim communities, at the same time as it
reveals and alerts to the stereotypes affecting this collective.
The presentation of the book in Spain took
place on April 20th at the headquarters of
Casa Árabe and included the presence of the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ángel
Lossada, the Secretary of State for
Immigration and Emigration, Consuelo Rumí,
the director of the ODIHR, Ambassador Janez
Lenarc̆ic̆, director of ODIHR, Mohammed
Chaib, Member of the Regional Parliament of
Catalonia, and Gema Martín Muñoz, director
general of Casa Árabe.
This book was also presented by the director
general of Casa Árabe at the Second Forum of
the Alliance for Civilisations, organised in
Istanbul on April 6th and 7th, and at the OSCE’s
yearly Human Dimension Implementation
Meeting in Warsaw, on October 5th.
Consecuencias económicas y
ecológicas de los conflictos en
el mundo árabe (Economic and
environmental consequences
of conflicts in the Arab world)
Jad Isaac, Marwan Iskandar, Habib Ayeb, Khalid
Muhammad Khalid, Fouad Abdelmoumni and
Hassan Partow. 19 €
In the first quarter of the year, Casa Árabe
published Consecuencias económicas y ecológicas de los conflictos en el mundo árabe, the
result of the series of lectures held with the same
name the previous year, containing the texts of
the six experts giving the lectures (Hassan
Partow, Habib Ayeb, Jad Isaac, Marwan
Iskandar, Khalid Muhammad Khalid and Fouad
Abdelmoumni) together with documentation
and analytical apparatus on the subject prepared by Casa Árabe’s Socioeconomic
Programme.
The book’s presentation took place in the framework of a round table on the use of cluster
bombs in southern Lebanon and its consequences on the economy, especially agriculture, in
the region, starting from the prize awarded by
the UNHCR to the team at the United Nations
Mine Action Coordination Centre in Southern
Lebanon (UNMACC-SL) and the legislation
enacted internationally on these matters. During
the presentation, which took place at Casa Árabe’s headquarters in Madrid, there were contributions from the Greenpeace and InspirAction
NGOs and the projection of the documentary
Fields of Fire: Cluster bombs in Lebanon by the
Integrated Regional Information Networks
(IRIN), a United Nations agency.
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The anatomy of melancholy. Selfati
(With Maragall)
Periodical publications
Otros mesopotámicos raros: antología de
la última poesía iraquí (Other odd
Mesopotamians: anthology of the latest
Iraqi poetry
Abdul Hadi Sadoun (ed.). (with “Juan de
Mairena y de libros”) 20 €
El Magreb y sus fronteras en el mar: conflictos de delimitación y propuestas de
solución (The Maghreb and its maritime
borders: conflicts of demarcation and proposed solutions). Víctor Luis Gutiérrez
Castillo. (With Huygens) 20 €
Boletín de economía y negocios de Casa
Árabe (Casa Árabe Economics and
Business Newsletter)
Issue 10 (December-January), 11 (MarchApril), 12 (May-June), 13 (July-August), 14
(September-October) and 15 (NovemberDecember). Free of charge.
Bagdad. Hanoos (Baghdad. Hanoos)
(With Orense Provincial Council) 10 €
Los moriscos: conflicto, expulsión y diáspora
(Moriscos: conflict, expulsion and diaspora)
Luis F. Bernabé Pons. (With “Los Libros de la
Catarata”) 16 €
Espacios de papel. Said Messari (Paper
spaces. Said Messari)
With the Cervantes Institute) 15 €
Queremos la paz: palabras y dibujos contra la violencia (We want Peace. Words
and drawings against violence)
(With the Association of Young Muslims in
Madrid) 10 €
Atalaya sociopolítica de Casa Árabe (Casa
Árabe Sociopolitical Watchtower)
Issue 4 (January-February), 5 (March-April), 6
(June-July), 7 (September-October) and 8
(November-December). Free of charge.
â«ÑdG Iô°ûæd á«Hô©dG áî°ùædG
∫ɪYC’Gh OÉ°üàbÓd ≈Hô©dG
[Arabic edition of the Casa Árabe Economics
and Business Newsletter]. Issue 10
(December-January), 11 (March-April), 12
(May-June), 13 (July-August), 14 (SeptemberOctober) and 15 (November-December). Free
of charge.
Notas Socioeconómicas (Socioeconomic
notes)
Issue 7: The global economic crisis. Impact
and consequences on the Arab world
(October). Free of charge.
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Exhibition catalogues
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Space + aliens. Artistas españoles en
Emiratos Árabes Unidos (Space + aliens.
Spanish artists in the United Arab Emirates)
Memoria de
actividades 2008
Annual Report 2008
2008
Jerusalén a principios del siglo XX.
Patrimonio y cultura (Jerusalem at the
beginning of the 20th century. Heritage
and culture). 17 €
ᣰûfCG Iôcòe
Free of charge
Nosotros: un álbum colectivo del barrio de Lavapiés (Us: a collective album of the Lavapiés neighbourhood).
20 €
Casa Árabe’s Documents
Reading guides
Iniciativas de reforma judicial en la región euromediterránea. Informe de la Red
Euromediterránea de Derechos Humanos (Judicial reform Initiatives in the Euro-Mediterranean
region. Report by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network).
Siân Lewis-Anthony. Free of charge.
Casa Árabe’s working papers
Issue 5. Inmigrantes y musulmanes: exclusión e integración en el nuevo medio
(Immigrants and Muslims:
exclusion and integration in
the new medium). Joan
Lacomba. Free of charge.
Issue 6. Radicalización islámica: el caso del Estado Califal
de Cemaleddin Kaplan /
Muslim Radicalisation: The
Case of the Caliphate State
of Cemaleddin Kaplan. Werner
Schiffauer. Free of charge.
Issue 7. El Yemen, entre la
integración política y la espiral de la (contra) violencia
(Yemen, between political
integration and the spiral of
(counter-)violence).
François Burgat and Laurent
Bonnefoy. Free of charge.
Mil y un libros para asomarse al mundo
árabe. Guía de lectura 09 (A Thousand
and one books to delve into the Arab
World. Reading guide 2009).
Free of charge.
La mar de llibres per endinsar-se en el
món àrab. Guia de lectura (A sea of books
for glancing at the Arab world. Reading
guide). (Published jointly with the IEMed).
Free of charge.
DVD
Expulsados 1609. La tragedia de los moriscos. (Expelled 1609. The
Tragedy of the Moriscos). Film and documentary series commemorating the 4th centenary of the expulsion of the Moriscos. Languages:
Spanish and Catalan. Subtitles: Arabic, English and French.
19,95 €
Casa Árabe 2009
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TOGETHER WITH THE PROGRAMMES AND ACTIVITIES
CARRIED OUT BY CASA ÁRABE, COOPERATION WITH OTHER
INSTITUTIONS IS ONE OF ITS KEY VOCATIONS IN ORDER TO
BOOST NETWORKING
At the national level, we have
undertaken programmes in collaboration with:
Autonomous University in Madrid (UAM)
Diplomatic School
IE Business School
National Distance Learning University (UNED)
Club de Madrid
European Mediterranean Institute (IEMed)
Cidob Foundation
University of Córdoba (UCO)
International University of Andalusia (UNIA)
Menéndez Pelayo International University
(UIMP)
Madinat al-Zahra Centre
Euro-Arab Institute for Education and
Training Foundation
Araguaney Culture Bridge Foundation
Straits University School (AUE) of the
University of Cádiz
University of Burgos
Centre for Economic and Commercial
Studies (CECO)
Internationally, Casa Árabe has
jointly organised activities with:
The Middle East Programme of the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights of the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (ODIHR-OSCE)
Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB)
French Institute for International Relations (IFRI)
University of California in Berkeley
Network of Excellence for Human Sciences
Research Centres in the Mediterranean
(Ramses2)
Cervantes Institute in New York
University of Utrecht
University of Amsterdam
Viadrina European University (Frankfort on the
Oder)
Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO, Berlin)
British Council
Spanish cultural centres in Miami, El Salvador,
Guatemala and Honduras
Honduran Institute for Anthropology and History
(IHAH)
The College of Mexico
In the Arab region, activities and
programmes have been arranged
with:
Qatar Foundation
Saint-Joseph University in Beirut
Lebanese University
Emirates Foundation
Gulf Research Center
University of Birzeit in Ramallah
French Middle East Institute (IFPO) in
Damascus
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI) in Beirut
French Biblical and Archaeological School
(EBAF)
Sharjah Biennal
Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage
Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ)
Social Research Center of the American
University in Cairo
Cervantes Institutes in Morocco and Syria
Casa Árabe 2009
125
calendario de actividades
6
12
During 2009, Casa Árabe’s Press and
Communications Office increased its actions
aimed at making the general public more
aware of the institution’s activities.
The new web site of Casa Árabe
(www.casaarabe.es) was launched in 2009.
Since the start of the year, work continued on
the design and architecture of a new, faster
and more extensive modern web site that
came on-line at the end of October. The new
site, created with a view to becoming a portal
centralising the various mini-sites of Casa
Árabe (media library, documentation centre
and the Muslims of the West programme), is
visually more attractive and dynamic, allowing
users to adapt it to their own preferences and
requirements. In addition, its content can be
easily exported to social networks (such as
Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Delicious,
among others), thus enabling visitors to the
page, if they so wish, to share the information
about Casa Árabe’s activities with their group
of friends. In this way, Casa Árabe’s web site,
between January 1st and December 31st,
received 143,681 visits from 82,443 unique
visitors, representing an increase of 30% with
respect to the previous year.
Press and communications
JULIO
09
01 02 03 04
04 05
06 07 08 09 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
MAD Del 1 al 2 de julio
observatorio socioeconómico
El agua en el mundo árabe: percepción global y realidades locales
Casa Árabe organiza este Seminario Internacional, dirigido por Habib Ayeb, maître de
conférences en la Universidad París 8 Saint-Denis e investigador asociado del Social
Research Center de la Universidad Americana de El Cairo.
Durante dos días se analizará y debatirá sobre un aspecto clave para el desarrollo social
y económico del mundo árabe: el agua. Catorce expertos internacionales presentarán,
en varias sesiones temáticas, sus investigaciones sobre distintos aspectos relacionados
con la competición, gestión y uso de los recursos hídricos en una serie de países y
regiones árabes, incluyendo Argelia, Egipto, países del Consejo de Cooperación del
Golfo, Iraq, Jordania, Marruecos, Palestina, Sudán, Túnez y Yemen.
Lugar: Auditorio de Casa Árabe en Madrid (c/ Alcalá, 62).
Hora: Miércoles 1 de julio de 09:00 a 13:30 y de 15:00 a 18:30 horas, y jueves 2 de julio de 10:00 a
13:30 horas. Entrada previa inscripción.
Inscripción: Por correo electrónico ([email protected]) o por teléfono (91 563 06 52).
MAD Del 1 al 6 de julio
Semana cultural del Líbano
Casa Árabe dedica una semana al Líbano para dar a conocer diversas manifestaciones
culturales del rico y plural patrimonio del país.
Miércoles 1 de julio: Recital bilingüe de poesía, con el escritor libanés Henri Zoghaib,
poeta y prosista, fundador de la asociación cultural y de la revista poética L´Odyssée.
Zoghaib ha sido articulista y responsable de temas culturales de varias publicaciones
libanesas, y tiene publicados cinco poemarios, uno de los cuales está en vías de
publicarse en España.
Lugar: Auditorio de Casa Árabe en Madrid (c/ Alcalá, 62).
Hora: 20:30 horas. Entrada libre.
Miércoles 1 de julio: Degustación de gastronomía libanesa. A través de esta degustación, Casa Árabe acerca a España la enorme riqueza y diversidad de las costumbres
culinarias de los libaneses y su gran variedad de especialidades. Además, se conocerán
las similitudes y diferencias con la comida mediterránea.
Lugar: Jardín de Casa Árabe en Madrid (c/ Alcalá, 62).
Hora: 21:30 horas. Entrada con invitación.
Recogida de invitaciones: El martes 30 de junio en la sede de Casa Árabe en Madrid (c/ Alcalá,
62), de 10:00 a 14:00 y de 16:00 a 19:00 horas.
Jueves 2 de julio: Conversación con el escritor y periodista libanés Elias Khouri,
destacado intelectual árabe, profesor visitante en la Universidad de Nueva York, redactor
jefe de la sección cultural del diario An-Nahar, y autor de varias novelas, entre ellas la
recientemente traducida La cueva del sol (Alfaguara, 2009).
Lugar: Auditorio de Casa Árabe en Madrid (c/ Alcalá, 62).
Hora: 20:00 horas. Entrada libre.
Viernes 3 de julio: Proyección de la película El último hombre, de Ghassan Salhab
(Líbano/Francia, 2006). Cada mañana, Beirut se despierta con una nueva víctima de lo
que parece un asesino en serie. Las víctimas son halladas sin sangre en su cuerpo. En la
misma ciudad, Khalil, un médico de 40 años de edad, comienza a sentir unos síntomas
anómalos que le desestabilizarán y terminarán por cambiar su vida. Una extraña
conexión vinculará a Khalil con esas víctimas y con su escurridizo asesino.
ce. With a distribution of 10,000 copies in
2009, the Calendar of Casa Árabe’s activities
Sábado 4out
de julio:to
Concierto
del grupo Nahawand.
El conjunto fue creado
is sent
everyone
requesting
it,por Nouhad
either
Akiki, intérprete de kanun, y todos sus integrantes son profesores del Conservatorio
Superior de Música de Beirut. Su repertorio es muy amplio e incluye música clásica
through
the
forms
available
at
the
venues
árabe, música tradicional o folklórica, y obras conocidas de grandes compositores
contemporáneos.
where activities take place, or else through
the electronic
form available for the purpose
Lunes 6 de julio: Concierto de Rabih Abou-Khalil trío. Rabih Abou Khalil se ha asentado
como compositor de vanguardia y ha conseguido crear un lenguaje propio e integrar el
on the
institution’s
web
site. se estructuran con frecuencia
cuarteto
de cuerdas en la música árabe.
Sus composiciones
Lugar: Auditorio de Casa Árabe en Madrid (c/ Alcalá, 62).
Hora: 19:30 horas. Proyección en versión original subtitulada en español. Entrada libre.
Lugar: Jardín de Casa Árabe en Madrid (c/ Alcalá, 62).
Hora: 21:30 horas. Entrada libre.
The figures are even better if the comparison
is limited to only the last two months of the
year, when the new version of the Casa Árabe
web site was on line. In November and
December, 2009, it received 22,980 visitors
who consulted a total of 82,441 pages, an
increase, in only two months, of 10% with
respect to the previous year.
These actions in favour of better communication include the publication of a monthly
calendar setting out all the activities and programmes so as to provide detailed information about them with plenty of time in advan-
sobre una rítmica de jazz contemporáneo, apoyada en el batería estadounidense Jarrod
Cagwin, y en el acordeonista italiano Luciano Biondini.
Lugar: Jardín de Casa Árabe en Madrid (c/ Alcalá, 62).
Hora: 21:30 horas. Entrada libre.
This calendar is complemented by the digital
newsletter Novedades (Latest news)
that
JAÉN Del 9 de junio al 5 de julio
exposiciones
provides
on what
España y el an
mundoupdate
árabe: un siglo every
de relacionesFriday
políticas en imágenes
Esta exposición,are
integrada por
148 fotografías
extraídas del archivo de la
agenciaCasa
Efe,
activities
being
organised
by
recoge los momentos más importantes de las relaciones de España con los países
árabes entre los años 1912 y 2007.
Árabe
over the next seven days, as well as
giving information about any new books or
videos published and links to other events
Del 2 al 3 de julio
cursos
ofCÓRinterest.
Lugar: Centro Cultural Palacio de Villardompardo de Jaén (Pza. Santa Luisa de Marillac, s/n).
Hora: De martes a sábados de 9:00 a 21:30 horas, domingos de 9:00 a 15:00 horas. Cerrado lunes
y festivos. Entrada libre.
Iniciación a la música andalusí
En este curso para aficionados y profesionales, dirigido por Luis Delgado, se estudiarán
las fuentes iconográficas y documentales de la música andalusí. Además se desgranaIn addition,
Casa
strengthened
its
rán las claves de sus
estructurasÁrabe
y se detallaránhas
sus instrumentos,
con un apartado
especial a los puntos comunes y diferenciales entre el laúd árabe y la guitarra.
presence on the social networks by creating
its own page on Facebook, where it already
has
over half a thousand followers, and
on
CÓR Domingo 5 de julio
música
Twitter.
It dehas
also set up its own canal on
Concierto
Rabih Abou-Khalil
Casa Árabe participa,
por tercer
año possible
consecutivo, en el Festival
de la Guitarra
de
Youtube,
where
it is
to view
some
of
Córdoba, organizando el concierto del músico libanés Rabih Abou-Khalil, uno de los
más reputados instrumentistas del oud (laúd árabe).
the institution’s
most significant videos.
Lugar: Gran Teatro de Córdoba (Avda. Gran Capitán, 3).
Hora: De 10:00 a 14:00 horas. 20 plazas previa inscripción.
Inscripción: 25 euros (incluye entrada a concierto de Rabih Abou-Khalil). www.guitarracordoba.com
Lugar: Gran Teatro de Córdoba (Avda. Gran Capitán, 3).
Hora: 21:00 horas.
Entrada: 7 euros. Disponibles en las taquillas del Gran Teatro y en Uniticket (902 360 295).
During 2009, it has also increased the numMAD Del 6 al 9 de julio
cursos
ber
of activities directly targeting journalists,
Curso de iniciación a la caligrafía árabe
withEl calígrafo
more
press
conferences.
For a example,
Ricardo
Vicente Placed
ofrecerá estos cursos de iniciación
la caligrafía
árabe basados en sesiones prácticas. Para inscribirse no se necesitan conocimientos
previos
de lengua o de
escritura árabe.the media presentation
Casa
Árabe
hosted
of Musulmanes en España. Guía de referencia (Muslims in Spain. A reference guide).
Much
emphasis has been placed on thecursos
disBUR Del 6 al 9 de julio
semination
this
volume
Mundo árabe e of
islámico:
realidades
políticas yintended,
dinámicas socialesamong
Lugar: Sede de Casa Árabe en Madrid (c/ Alcalá, 62).
Hora: De 18:00 a 21:00 horas. 20 plazas previa inscripción.
Inscripción: Hasta el 30 de junio por teléfono (91 563 06 52) o correo electrónico
([email protected]).
Casa Árabe y la Universidad de Burgos organizan este curso introductorio a las realidades sociopolíticas del mundo árabo-islámico contemporáneo, con la participación de
ponentes procedentes de distintas disciplinas.
Lugar: Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales de la Universidad de Burgos (Pza.
Infanta Doña Elena, s/n).
Más información: Teléfonos: 947 25 80 80/32; correo electrónico ([email protected]) y en www.ubu.es
Casa Árabe 2009
127
Press and communications
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20
09
In collaboration with the Alianza Editorial
publishing house, Casa Árabe also organised the media presentation of El desajuste
del mundo. Cuando las civilizaciones se agotan (The mismatch of the world. When our
civilisations are exhausted), the latest work
by Amin Maalouf to be translated into
Spanish. The Lebanese writer held interviews with the media at our headquarters in
Madrid, which was also useful to help many
journalists specialising in publications to
become more familiar with Casa Árabe’s
Bookstand programme.
The presentation of the Raks Dance Festival,
the launch of the latest record by Valderrama,
the announcement of the Córdoba Guitar
Festival, with which Casa Árabe has been
collaborating for several years, and the premiere in Madrid of the Qatar Symphony, an
event jointly organised by Casa Árabe, were
other activities for which Casa Árabe called
and hosted press conferences.
Casa Árabe’s Press Office was also involved
in activities to support and disseminate the
visit by the president of the Republic of
Lebanon, General Michel Sleiman, to the
Press conference for the presentation of Data
in Focus 2-Muslims
as
others, for journalists, since it contains
abundant, rigorous information about the
situation of the Muslim community in our
country. In support of this research work on
the situation of Muslims in Spain and
Europe, Casa Árabe also hosted the first
press conference in Europe for the presentation of the report on Muslims in the EU Data
in Focus 2 – Muslims, with the presence of
Ioannis Dimitrakopoulos, head of the
Department of Equality and Citizens’ Rights
at the European Union’s Fundamental Rights
Agency (FRA).
headquarters of Casa Árabe in Madrid, where
he addressed those present.
During 2009, one of the activities requiring the
largest number of communication actions
was the launch of the fictional documentary
Expulsados 1609. La tragedia de los moriscos (Expelled 1609. The Tragedy of the
Moriscos), a project of Casa Árabe for the 4th
centenary of this historic event. This launch
was accompanied by the creation of a specific web site (www.expulsados1609.com) providing full information about the project, with
an exclusive media download area where
journalists could retrieve images and documents. On April 28th, in addition, an exclusive
showing of the film was organised for the
media at the institution’s headquarters in
Madrid, followed by a press conference with
the participation of the film’s director, Miguel
López Lorca, as well as the actors Ana
Alonso, Fernando Guillén and Juli Fàbregas.
This event took place prior to the public preview, which was later the same day at the
Zarzuela Theatre in Madrid. The dissemination of this project has culminated in the
publication of a DVD containing, apart from
the feature film, another three short documentaries on the lives, figures and geography of
the Moriscos, and information that the Casa
Árabe press and communications office has
published through conventional routes (both
on the web site and through the social networks where the institution is present).
Over and above these actions, the communications area has continued with the dissemination of all the institution’s activities, whether
held in Madrid and Córdoba or anywhere else
in Spain, by means of specific mailings targeting either the general public or media professionals.
WATER IN THE ARAB WORLD
Casa Árabe is to organise an international seminar about Water
in the Arab world: global perceptions and local realities
directed by Habib Ayeb, conference director at the University of
Paris 8 Saint Denis and associate researcher of the Social
Research Center of the American University of El Cairo.
Over two days, 14 international experts will analyse and debate
the issue of Water: a crucial element for social and economic
development in the Arab world.
From 25th September to 30th October
CASA ÁRABE’S CALENDAR
SEPT. 2009
NEWS
Al-Sadeq al-Mahdi
conference
Muslims in Spain
The former prime minister of Sudan,
al-Sadeq al-Mahdi, gives a
conference in Casa Árabe entitled:
What future awaits European-Arab
relations?
Casa Árabe is to publish the book
Muslims in Spain, a reference guide,
revealing the diversity of Muslim
communities resident in our
country.
15th September 2009
First session Syrian cinema series.
SEARCH
NEWS AND EVENTS
Text
Amin Maalouf
Casa Árabe’s library
The Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf
presents at Casa Árabe his new
book, The mismatch of world. When
our civilisations get exhausted.
Casa Árabe’s library has published
Economic and environmental
consequences of conflicts in the
Arab world, a compendium of
conferences given during a course
of the same title.
delete
search
Advanced Search
RELATED SITES
Documentation Center
Media Library
Visit of Queen Rania of Jordan
Queen Rania of Jordan visited Casa Árabe in Madrid during
her official visit to Spain. Her Majesty met the Director
General of Casa Árabe, Gema Martín Muñoz, and they
visited together the exhibition City of Mirage. Baghdad, from
Wright to Venturi.
They also studied possible channels of collaboration
between the Spanish institution and the Hashemite kingdom.
Muslims in the West
CASA ÁRABE’S NEWSLETTERS
Boletín de economía
y negocios
de Casa Árabe
Atalaya Sociopolítica
de Casa Árabe
de Casa Árabe
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
ARABELE
Congress 2009
Casa Árabe hosted ARABELE
2009 in September, the first
international congress on the
teaching of Arabic held in Spain
for 50 years.
Festival in Cordoba
Casa Árabe will organise for the
third consecutive year one of the
concerts of the Cordoba Guitar
Festival, with a performance by
Rabih Abou-Khalil from Lebanon.
The Storyteller
On 11 May, Casa Árabe and the
publisher Random House
Mondadori will launch the book The
Hakawati (Storyteller) by the
Lebanese author Rabih Alameddine
at Casa Árabe in Madrid.
Arab Cosmovisions.
PHE. 09
Casa Árabe participates in
PHotoEspaña 09 with the
exhibition Arab Cosmovisions
where five Arab artists show
their views of reality and their
particular interpretation of the
world.
Casa Árabe 2009
129
MADRID HEADQUARTERS
Raquel Mallouh Verdeal
Media Library Assistant
Gema Martín Muñoz
Director General
Khadija Douieb Díaz
Cultural Programmes Assistant
Sergio Vidueira Martínez
Manager
Maribel Gálvez Casado
Personal Assistant Director General and
General Archive
Cristina Pensado Banet
Executive Adviser
Isaías Barreñada Bajo
Coordinator of Educational Programmes and
Publications
Nadia Makki Hornedo
Secretary to the Director General’s office
Irene González Blanco
Administrative Assistant
Nuria Medina García
Coordinator of Cultural Programmes
Almudena Rubio Gálvez
Administrative Assistant Management
Olivia Orozco de la Torre
Coordinator of Socioeconomic and Business
Programme
Naglaa Abd El Monem
Administrative Assistant Socioeconomic and
Educational Programmes
Tamim El Dalati Huguet
Press Officer
Irene Quintana Suárez
Administrative Assistant Culture and
Tribunes
Karim Hauser Askalani
Arabia Americana Programme
Jaime López Francisco
Media Library
CÓRDOBA HEADQUARTERS
Nuria Torres Santo Domingo
Documentation Centre
Gema Martín Muñoz
Director General
Rafael Marcos Gómez
Management Associate
Víctor Luis Gutiérrez Castillo
Institutional and Academic Relations
Jumana Trad Yunes
Seminars and Tribunes (Logistics)
Rafael Santiago Reyes
Management and Human Resources
Daniel Gil Flores
Associate Educational Programmes and
Publications
Rafael Ortega Rodrigo
Senior Researcher
Ana Isabel González Santamaría
Associate Socioeconomic and Business
Programme
Elena González González
Associate Cultural Programmes
Paula Santillán Grimm
Associate Arabic Language Centre
Javier Lesaca Esquiroz
Research Assistant at the Socioeconomic
Observatory
Ruth Pimentel Touya
Press Office Assistant
Yolanda Rodríguez Ramírez
Management Assistant
M’hani Belrhrib El Hamdouni
Educational Programmes Assistant
Elena Arigita Maza
Senior Researcher
Rocío Vázquez Martí
Researcher
Amira Kedier
Researcher
Francisco Javier Rosón Lorente
Researcher
Mariló Sancho Velázquez
Seminars and Tribunes (Logistics)
Casa Árabe
2009 Annual Report
Rosario Carrasco Pérez
Administrative Assistant
The present report is available on
www.casaarabe.es
Published by Casa Árabe
Translation by Edward Ewing
Designed by rez
Printed by Rotosa
Date of publication September 2010
Legal deposit nº M-38989-2010
Madrid
Alcalá, 62. 28009 Madrid
Tel.: +34 91 563 30 66
Fax: +34 91 563 30 24
Córdoba
Martínez Rucker, 9. 14003 Córdoba
Tel.: +34 957 498 413
Fax: +34 957 478 025
www.casaarabe.es
www.casaarabe.es
ANNUAL REPORT
2009