How accurate is our perception of Iraq? At this event, we talk to photographers Stefano Carini and Dario Bosio and to journalist Anneke van Ammelrooy about the country, press freedom and image crafting both here and there.
Photographer Stefano Carini is working to reshape perceptions of the country – one of the most dangerous countries for journalists to work in. Press freedom in Iraq is limited, yet Anneke van Ammelrooy persists in the fight for independent media and truthful stories. Meanwhile, our European news is rather silent about the situation in Iraq, even though a lot is happening in the country.
Musician Sattar AlSaadi speaks out a column about his Iraq. Come and join this conversation.
About the speakers
Stefano Carini is former editor-in-chief of Metrography, Iraq’s first independent photo agency. With his peers at Metrography and with photographer Dario Bosio Stefano started the Map of Displacement project. Using images and personal stories, it reports on the plight of the tens of thousands of people who have fled the war between Iraq and ISIS into Kurdistan since 2014. Stefano and Dario are also the founders of DARST projects, a nomadic art studio for documentary projects.
Anneke van Ammelrooy is a journalist and set-up the newspaper al-Sabah al-Gadeed (The New Morning) with her husband in Iraq. She was also the director of the NGO Civil Pillar, where she, among other activities, developed trainings for journalists. In 2008, Anneke and her husband built a satellite television station in the Kurdish capital of Erbil. After this was closed by the government, she decided to return to the Netherlands.
Sattar AlSaadi is a well known musician, specialized in ethnic Iraqi Arabic music. He was born in Bagdad, but fled to the Netherland in the 1990s.
Moderator Hassnae Bouazza is a journalist, columnist, translator and program maker. Hassnae was the director and editor in chief of the much discussed documentary series Seks en de Zonde (Sex and the Sin) and she has her own online glossy Aicha Qandisha. In her book Arabieren Kijken she offers a different perspective on the Arab world: that of the common man.
About the picture
The above photo was taken by Seivan Salim, a female Iraqi photographer at Metrography, and is part of the story ‘Escaped’ by Map of Displacement. ISIS soldiers invaded the Iraqi city Sinjar on 3 August 2014. Thousands of Yazidis were killed, and over 5,000 women were kidnapped and sold as sex slaves. A year later, Salim photographed several women who managed to escape. She portrays them in traditional Yazidi wedding dresses, as a symbol of purity.