Alissa Everett
Ami Gaston
C. Eduardo Vargas
Kathryn Pilkington
Kimberly Schultz
Kathryn Schulz
Megan Hoelle
Michael Jordan
Paul Emerson
Timothy Frakes
Sign up for email updatesIVAP Journalist Kathryn Schulz was published in Foreign Policy writing about the Iraqi Refguee Crisis in her article, Life In Hell. You can read the article here.
The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue features IVAP
Megan Hoelle was featured in The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue, a forum for academic, social, and timely issues affecting religious communities around the world. Hoelle reflects on her opportunity to meet with Iraqi refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria who vary in religious tradition but share a common challenge.
Wishes of the Sailor
On December 8, the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) hosted a special dance performance and discussion on the situation of Iraqi refugees. Intersections’ C. Eduardo Vargas was an invited panel discussant on Iraqi refugee issues, following a dance performance entitled Wishes of the Sailor by the Washington, DC-based contemporary dance company CityDance Ensemble.
CityDance Ensemble, and their Artistic Director and Co-Founder, Paul Gordon Emerson, presented an original work based on their experiences with the Iraqi refugee communities in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria as part of the delegation of artists gathered by Intersections International’s Iraqi Voices Amplification Project (IVAP).
After the dance performance, Paul Emerson and Kathryn Pilkington—who also traveled with IVAP—joined C. Eduardo Vargas, Dr. Michel Gabaudan, Regional Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and Christopher Morgan, City Dance’s Choreographer in a lively panel discussion concerning the motivation for the dance piece and the plight of Iraqi refugees.
Hosting the event were U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and Co-Chairman Congressman Alcee L. Hastings. This event that marked a new chapter in Intersections’ IVAP continued advocacy for Iraqi refugees, was held at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC.
Earlier that week, CityDance premiered Wishes of the Sailor in three sold-out performances at the Strathmore Center.
Hillary Clinton on the importance of ARTS in promoting human rights
On Monday, December 14, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlighted the importance of the arts and artists in her remarks at Georgetown University on the Human Rights Agenda for the 21st Century. During a question and answer session, Secretary of State Clinton was asked about the importance of the arts and artists in helping to promote human rights. In her reply, Clinton stated:
“I remember some years ago seeing a play about women in Bosnia during the conflict there. It was so gripping. I still see the faces of those women who were pulled from their homes, separated from their husbands, often raped and left just as garbage on the side of the road. So I think that artists both individually and through their works can illustrate better than any speech I can give or any government policy we can promulgate that the spirit that lives within each of us, the right to think and dream and expand our boundaries, is not confined, no matter how hard they try, by any regime anywhere in the world. There is no way that you can deprive people from feeling those stirrings inside their soul. And artists can give voice to that. They can give shape and movement to it. And it is so important in places where people feel forgotten and marginalized and depressed and hopeless to have that glimmer that there is a better future, that there is a better way that they just have to hold onto.”
Reactions from D.C.
I recently had the privilege of watching our first artistic piece from IVAP “go public”. Paul Emerson and CityDance premiered their new piece, “Wishes of the Sailor” at the Capitol Visitors’ Center.
The piece was amazing- moving and powerful, which was no surprise coming from the talented Paul and fellow sojourner Kathryn Pilkington. What did surprise me was what relief I felt to not be alone on this issue—to be in the company of those who also wanted movement on this issue.
Coming back home after this amazing trip to the Middle East and trying to share with people the importance and complexities of this issue has been challenging to say the least. Mostly, because no one seems to know anything about it! (It is INDEED one of the most underreported crises of this century.) I certainly didn’t before this trip! So I have felt a great weight to inform people and tell the stories of the Iraqis I met. So, you can imagine the relief to hear senators and congressmen and generally people of high status speaking to this issue, all caused and inspired by the artistic piece performed.
I felt it was a real tribute to not only the work of CityDance, but also Intersections and what they have created here with IVAP. It is ALREADY making a difference! ART is helping to make a difference, to give voice to those who have none. We are creating conversations and opening doors for change around this issue.
Keep talking about the Iraqi refugee crisis. Keep the conversation alive. The Iraqis are counting on us.
IVAP Wrap Video (Short Version)
Hi Everyone,
We’ve cut together a short highlight video from the trip, please take a look and feel free to pass it along. A longer version will be posted later this week. And of course the video on the crisis is still to come, look for that in the spring.
All the best,
IVAP Team
Join Intersections in Washington DC for the first Iraqi Voices Amplification Project production!
The U.S. Helsinki Commission and CityDance Ensemble present:
Still Waiting, Still Suffering: A dance performance and discussion about Iraqi refugees
Tuesday, Dec. 8th, 4-5:30 PM (doors open at 3PM)
U.S. Capitol Visitor Center – Main Auditorium
FREE and open to the Public.
The IVAP team included members of the CityDance Ensemble, and will be presenting an original work this week, based on its experiences with refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The event is presented by the U.S. Helsinki Commission, CityDance, and Intersections. After the performance, the artists will join the U.S. Helsinki Commission and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for a Q/A session.
Speakers include:
Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman
Representative Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Co-Chairman
Dr. Michel Gabaudan, UNHCR Representative for the United States and the Caribbean
Paul Gordon Emerson, CityDance Ensemble Artistic Director & Co-Founder, and members of the Company
And On Saturday:
Join IVAP team members Paul Gordon Emerson and Kathryn Pilkington in the performance Wishes of the Sailor, a collaborative work based on their experiences working with the Iraqi refugee community in the Middle East as part of Intersections IVAP team.
Saturday, Dec. 5th, 5 PM
Room 405, Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
To order tickets for the Saturday show, visit www.strathmore.org
prostitution
…another outcome of our war in Iraq and another tragedy for the Iraqi refugee women…
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1259243063998
Are Iraqis Undead? Why the Refugees in Damascus Are More Like Edward Cullen Than You Think
IVAP team member Kathryn Schulz posts again for the Huffington Post. Check out her article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathryn-schulz/are-iraqis-undead-why-the_b_364880.html
