This year, from May 13-21, eight art students selected from Sada’s Arts Education program in Baghdad traveled to Beirut to participate in the 2013 Beirut Spring Intensive. Made possible with generous support from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), activities included attending much of the programming of the Home Works 6 Forum, critiques, talks with artists and site visits at new and established cultural centers in the city. Participants were joined by director Rijin Sahakian and teaching artists Nedim Kufi and Rheim Alkadhi, who assisted in navigating discussions, student critiques, exhibitions and performances experienced during the week. Participants included: Bassim Al Shakir, Rawan Almukhtar, Taha Al Azzawy, Sajjad Abbas, Sarah Munaf, Ali Eyal, Najwan Ali, and Laith K Daer.

The first Sada Intensive (2012) focused on extensive art history lectures and peer review to begin to address some of the gaps in art education and the lack of critique. The majority of Iraq’s galleries and museums remain closed. Travel in and out of the country is still highly restricted. Opportunities for exhibitions and independent initiatives continue to be limited. For this reason, the second Sada Intensive was designed to provide an opportunity for participants to engage with a series of regional and international exhibitions, performances, talks and production initiatives taking place in Beirut. The Intensives continue to build on Sada’s online distance-teaching program in Baghdad. Internet programming has been presented throughout the academic year since Sada’s initiation in 2011.

Sada is a non-profit project supporting new and emerging arts practices through education initiatives in Iraq and public programs internationally.

Sada Iraq links: FB and Twitter | Photos courtesy Sada Iraq