Papers > Music > Contemporary Iraqi Artistic Tradition As perceived from the perspective of Expatriate Artists in the UK
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Contemporary Iraqi Artistic Tradition As perceived from the perspective of Expatriate Artists in the UK
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...
Indeed the Arab "awakening" took place as much in Iraq as it did in other centers of Arab contemporary thought, namely Egypt. ... Egypt already had its first music institution dealing with the study of the Ud (the Arabic Lute) tradition established in the last two decades of the 19th century. ... Cairos media industry was well on its way in the 1920s and played a major role in the dissemination of Egyptian traditions and artistic schools of thought. The Iraqi schools of thought did not have the same presence or effect in the Arab world not in the least due to the weak media output of the country. ... Trade routes were bound to bring in cultural influences from nations as diverse as East Africa and India. The stable economical position also could have fueled a sense of cultural self dependency from its Arab neighbors. ... Iraqi musicians were different. Their income came from a state supported system of benefits. ... The Baghdad School of Fine Arts was heavily influenced by the relatively large amount of visiting and resident teachers imported from the Soviet block. Western traditional "classical" arts would have been bound to infiltrate the Iraqi school of thought via this medium. State support also provided a basis for a non-commercialization of the artistic and cultural output of the community. ... As in all Socialist cultural institutions that the Iraqi regime tried to copy the philosophy of, it exported its culture as a national banner. ... This would then cause a separation between the schools of thought and a sense of independence by each neighboring tradition. ... The Iraqi-Iran war during the 1980s and the Gulf War in the early 1990s were major turning points. ... Many Iraqi musicians, dancers and artists were forced to leave the due to the lack of opportunities within the country. The expatriate artist communities were suddenly embedded in various foreign cultures. ... The interest that was sparked by what traveling Iraqi performing groups exported in the past decades would have lead to them being acknowledged and well known in academic and artistic circles interested in World music. Surely enough those artists would continue to work and produce according to the many years of training that they received prior to their settlement abroad. The influence of Western "classical" traditions and youth culture would have been bound to infiltrate the musical or artistic language that they brought along with them. The effect of the current isolation of Iraq from the World community is another factor to consider. The amount of interchange between these expatriate communities and the "center" is important to look at. One has to also question the role or simply the existence of the "keepers of the Tradition", the traditionalists that exist in many cultures.
Exploring the Hypotheses
One of the ways to provide answers to the above stated hypotheses is to interact with the contemporary artists themselves that are still working within the tradition. Discussing the above points with them may shed a light on the current trends in the Iraqi artistic worldwide. The UK was one destination that attracted many of the Iraqi artists. ... London, being the center for most of the World music activity takes place due to its multicultural and racial character would be a good base to contact some of these musicians and artists. However, one would only cover half of the answer by speaking to only the expatriate community and not the artists in the Iraqi "center". The difficulties faced in reaching those artists and musicians are currently insurmountable due to the current political atmosphere which prohibits most cultural exchange between Iraq and the World. There is however some dissemination and the expatriate community would be the main point of contact to try and discover what it is and to what degree is it occurring. ... The expatriate artists may also provide an insight on to what degree the Iraqi tradition was kept in its original form, and how much of an effect did their resettlement and possible amalgamation in a foreign culture have on this tradition.
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Paper Information
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Title: Contemporary Iraqi Artistic Tradition As perceived from the perspective of Expatriate Artists in the UK
Words: 3359
Rating: None
Pages: 13.4
submitted by: Sweyfieh
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