http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/middleeastnow/index.html

Lectures, events and interviews with artists from the Middle East Now season at the British Museum (18 May - 3 September 2006

---

Zimbabwe's Troubles....
Posted: March 2007

Over the last few weeks, crazy things have been happening in the African nation of Zimbabwe, where the president, Robert Mugabe, has been acting more and more like a dictator.  Opponents who have been speaking up have been beaten and arrested, and newspapers that have been organizing rallies have been shut down.  Freedom of speech is definitely not something that people in Zimbabwe have.

What we're wondering is whether or not people should be allowed to speak out against the government, or whether speaking out against the government should be against the law.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

Orientalism Now: the legacy of Edward Said
Posted: September 2006

Edward Said's 1978 book Orientalism continues to provoke arguments about how the Orient is imagined. Join the debate with Robert Irwin, Maya Jasanoff, Gabriel Piterberg, Michael Wood and Paul Myerscough (chair). Recorded at the British Museum 6 July 2006 as part of the Middle East Now season

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

Between the Image and the Word: shape poems in Persian calligraphy
Posted: September 2006

Artist Jila Peacock has printed a hand-made book of shape poems from Hafez of Shiraz, the great poet of medieval Persia. She explains the importance of Hafez and describes the development of figural calligraphy. Recorded at the British Museum 26 May 2006 as part of the Middle East Now season

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

Israel and the Jews
Posted: September 2006

Rabbi Professor Dan Cohn-Sherbok discusses the religious and political life in Israel, commenting on Israel, the Palestine Israeli conflict and Zionism.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

Middle Eastern Christianity
Posted: September 2006

Dr Anthony O'Mahony discusses the character of the Christian communities in the Middle East, particularly considering issues of displacement, be it physical, or even theological.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

The Mandaeans: an instance of minority survival
Posted: September 2006

Dr Ulrike Al-Khamis first encountered the Mandaeans as an art historian, and so discusses this minority religion which originated in the Middle East, through artistic and cultural channels.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

Gnostic themes in the Abrahamic family of religions
Posted: September 2006

Dr Malise Ruthven discusses how Gnosticism resurfaces in different guises and religions, and also how it often finds itself in conflict with institutionalised religion.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

Faith in the Middle East: panel discussion
Posted: September 2006

Experts on the faiths of the Middle East, including Malise Ruthven, Keith Ward, Ulrike Al-Khamis, Moncef Ben Abdeljelil, Dan Cohn-Sherbok and Anthony O’Mahony come together to investigate the variety and richness of religious faith in the Middle East today and reveal how influential Middle Eastern religious thought and practice have been worldwide for thousands of years. Here the panel take questions from an audience at The British Museum.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

Women and words
Posted: September 2006

Chaired by British novelist Maggie Gee, with editor of Transit Beirut, Malu Halasa, and editor of Qissas, Jo Glanville. Essentially a celebration of women writers from the Middle East, including readings from Palestinian novelist Adania Shibli and Lebanese Palestinian novelist Zeina B Ghandour.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

Elia Suleiman on his film ‘Divine Intervention’
Posted: September 2006

Director Elia Suleiman discusses the making of his film, ‘Divine Intervention.’ The story of ‘Divine Intervention’ follows the story of a man burdened with a sick father, a stalled screenplay and an unrequited love affair with a Palestinian woman whom he is forced to meet in a parking lot due to the Israeli checkpoint on the Nazareth-Ramallah road.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

Charles Glass on Edward Said
Posted: September 2006

Charles Glass gives his personal reflections on Edward Said providing us with an intimate insight into this well known, politically committed Palestinian American intellectual.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

---

Literature and the conflict in the Middle East
Posted: September 2006

How and why does political writing in the Middle East, particularly Israel and Palestine, differ from that of western Europe? This debate, chaired by Jeremy Harding, contributory editor from the London Review of Books, features prominent writers and critics including Jacqueline Rose and Gabriel Piterberg.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.