Torn by successive wars, oppressive regimes and Al-Qaida and ISIS occupations, life has become a struggle in Iraqi cities. Needless to say, the cultural scene has suffered greatly under these conditions. This is why the Goethe-Institute initiated the Spotlight Iraq project as part of Ta’ziz Partnership program in 2018. Spotlight Iraq’s aims to revive the cultural scene in Iraq by funding cultural projects of young Iraqi artists.
Taking place every year since 2018, Spotlight Iraq receives around 100 yearly submissions from all over the country, a quarter of which from women, which underlines the project’s role in promoting female artists in the conservative Iraqi society. The jury then chooses the most promising applications based on cultural relevance, diversity, expected reception and feasibility. In 2018 13 projects were funded, 11 in 2019 and 17 in 2020, whereas the 2021-selection process is currently running. Funded participants receive qualification workshops from professional trainers on necessary practical skills, such as cultural management, self-marketing, networking and fundraising. In 2019, a workshop on artists’ role in civil society inspired the Instagram page Spotlight Iraq, which still functions as an interactive platform for networking and discussion.
The category with the most submissions is film. For example, Door of the East, Haram by Huda AlKadhimi tells the story of three Middle Eastern women escaping to France, only to find out that the discrimination of women is not bound by borders and exists everywhere. Another funded film on women’s rights is I Will Wait for You whose protagonist is an Iraqi single mother who longs for an independent life despite repressive social norms. Accused of offending the Kurdish society, the film’s director, Muhammad Sherwani, defends it, saying: “If I present the heroin, I also have to present the villain, who is backward-looking and conservative and wants to suffocate women’s yearnings in life.” The film’s trailer can be seen on Spotlight Iraq’s Instagram page. Other films focused on the discrimination of minorities in Iraq such as the Kurds under the regime of Saddam Hussein in Kulher by Salman Salman, whose own family was threatened by deportation due to their Kurdish roots. Also, Manal by Ragheed AlBanaa gives a voice to the often-marginalized Iraqis with disabilities through its deaf-mute female protagonist Manal. Documentaries include The Memory of a Place Returns in a Historical Context by Hemin Hamed and Sherko Abbas. It is about the Amna Suraka prison in Sulaymaniyya and Erbil’s citadel that are supposed to be transformed by the government. To preserve the memories of these places, the artists used interviews with the locals, photos and maps. They criticized the transformations saying “ [they] cannot be neutral actions, if political bias and power decide whose story to keep and whose to erase.”
Funded performing arts submissions include the Goal Project by Sarah AlZubaidi, a theater workshop aiming to restore Kerbala’s neglected cultural scene and to normalize the participation of women in theater. Meanwhile, Light by Amin Muqdad organizes violin workshops and public performances in Mossul in participant groups with just as many females as males under the motto “music against gender segregation”.
Other funded projects focus on literary arts. Diversity Strengthens Our Existence by Jameel Jameel, is a literary forum in Ninive that invites Kurds, Arabs, Yazidis, Shabak, Kaka’i and all other ethnic groups of the region to overcome their differences and produce poetry collections that reflect the ethnic diversity of the region. In Sinjar, Kamiran Kamal’s Books Public Library is constructing a new library for the city whose library was destroyed by ISIS attacks.
Another project is Southern Rugs Development, a business collaboration between Noor Hashim and local female carpet weavers. The project aims to preserve the cultural heritage of weaving handmade carpets and to empower working women. On Spotlight Iraq’s workshops, Hashim met and collaborated with film director Albaqer Jaffer to produce the documentary, that can be seen here.
Before it was hit by war and occupation, Iraq has been a prominent cultural hub in the Middle East. Not surprising for the land that was home to one of the oldest civilizations that existed. A lot is yet to be done to restore this position. Nevertheless, Spotlight Iraq has been a step in the right direction.