We are undertaking a collective endeavour, collaborating as students, researchers and individuals to travel to Iraq. Going beyond the context of the seminar room, moving the site of discussion in order to engage with fellow art students and emerging artists under a different set of conditions. This alternative perspective, outside the frame of information coming from the region, allows for a more complex understanding of a situation and a culture to which we are inextricably linked to as UK and American citizens.

We will be traveling to northern Iraq, Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, to meet with artists, art students and other individuals working in the cultural sector. The project is part of the MA Art and Politcs program at Goldsmiths, University of London, however the university will not grant us any funds for the trip. We have received a grant to cover the cost of the flights and are now trying to raise the rest of the funds to cover accommodations, insurance and in country transportation.

The act of travelling to Iraq, problematizes the engagement with a site of conflict and demands that we take a position. Our role is that of the guest, and as such we partake in the ritual of hospitality, a convention which allows for the interaction and exchange between the stranger and the host. In an environment of excess production, our contribution to the MA Art and Politics group project is in the frame of a 'holiday'. This label is intended to focus the trip on the experience itself and the serendipitous encounters that can occur rather than any planned outcomes or output. The idea of a 'holiday' is also meant to acknowledge and contest a sense of apathy in our generation and in a way open the potentiality agency for a 'holiday' of students.

The trip is in collaboration with ArtRole, a UK-based contemporary arts organisation whose aim is to contribute to the cultural, artistic and educational life of the Middle East through establishing a regular programme of cross-cultural arts activity between the UK and Middle East, including artist exchanges, residencies, presentations and workshops. ArtRole is helping to plan our trip and provide help and contacts on the ground as well as arranging for translators.

Our itinerary for the eleven days includes a flight directly from London to Erbil, the capital of Kurdish Iraq, where will be for four days, acclimatizing to the 40º+ C (100º+ F) weather and having an introduction to life in Iraq. Then we will travel to Sulaimaniyah where we will be meeting with artists and students from Salahaddin University. Daily blog posts from the participants is aimed to provide an alternative source of information on the current situation and opinions as well as providing an account of the trip itself. Upon returning to London we will be giving a talk about the trip at Goldsmiths and working with other members in our group to look into the possibility of further presentations and actions.





Image: Iraq is Flying, by Jamal Penjweny