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31
Jan
2017

This is Yemen

The Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies and the Yemen Peace Project are bringing together a group of incredibly talented Yemeni artists to bring a piece of Yemeni culture, art and spirit to Canada’s capital, Ottawa.

Yemeni youth artists, each in their own medium, of music, film and photography will highlight a piece of their very own “Yemen experience”. This event will also feature a photo exhibit of Yemeni photographer Thana Faroq.

Hosted by the University of Ottawa’s Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC). “This is Yemen 2016” is a rare opportunity to hear from Yemeni experts who will recount their experiences and present an assessment of Canada’s relations and potential means for engagement regarding the situation in Yemen.

• Two day Program •

November 24, 2016:
7:00 pm – Opening reception and screening of “Karama Has No Walls”, the first Yemeni film to be nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary Short Subject (2014). Other short documentaries by young Yemeni filmmakers will also be screened, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker Abdurahman Hussain.

November 25, 2016:
09:00 am Opening Remarks
09:30 am Panel discussion on “Exploring the ongoing economic, social and political crises in Yemen”
11:00 am Musical presentation by Methal Al-Hammadi
12:00 pm Lunch
1:30 pm Panel discussion on “Art and Revolution in Yemen”
3:30 pm -Closing Remarks

Panelists and Performers :

– Farea Al-Muslimi (Chairman of the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies)
Farea Al-Muslimi is a co-founder of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies. He is also a non-resident Fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center and the Middle East Institute in Washington DC. In 2013, he was named by Foreign Policy Magazine among the Top 100 Global Thinkers and in 2014 he was named by The Guardian as among the Top 30 under 30 young leaders in digital media around the world.
His articles and analyses have been published in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the New York Times, The Independent, The Guardian, Al-Hayyat, Assafir, Al-Monitor, and many other publications. In August 2016, he was appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as a member of the Advisory Group for the Progress Study on UNSC resolution 2250 (2015) on Youth, Peace and Security.

– Abdullah Al-Mansoob is the Director of Development at the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies. In addition to identifying thematic areas and project partners, he also runs companies in the technology and logistics sectors.

– Abdurahman Hussein, (also known by the name “Afro”), is an award-winning filmmaker and producer. Known for the love of his craft and high quality work, his ability to capture beautiful moving images with masterful ease has lead him to be considered as the godfather of the nascent Yemen film movement.
Afro gained international fame as Assistant Director of the first Yemeni film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for the Best Documentary Short Subject Category (2013) entitled “Karama Has No Walls”, which was shot as a chronicle of the events of the 2011 popular uprising in Yemen against the Saleh regime. In 2011 he co-founded the media collective #SupportYemen and produced and directed Yemen’s most circulated and well-acclaimed short films, engaging with issues of social justice creating a vision for a better Yemen.

Abdurahman’s work includes producing short documentaries and videos for various international and local television channels, NGOs, and news agencies, including: Reuters, Oxfam, BBC, Al Jazeera, Chatham House, Saferworld and Resonate Yemen.

– Methal Al-Hammadi is a Yemeni musician, singer and songwriter. Methal is one of the first female musicians to have the courage to play in public in a very conservative society where women are forbidden from singing or playing music. Methal became an active artist after the 2011 revolution and has supported various human rights campaigns by singing about important issues ranging from women’s rights to the conflict situation in Yemen. Currently, she is working on her first album where most of her songs are influenced by society’s pressure on female artists and the ongoing war.

Location:

November 24: The Film is being shown at Alumni Auditorium, Jock Turcot Centre (85 University, uOttawa)

November 25: Discussion panels and performances: Fauteux Hall room 570, 57 Louis-Pasteur, uOttawa
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The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies (SCSS) is an independent policy and research think-tank that provides new approaches to understanding Yemen and the surrounding region, through balanced perspectives, in-depth studies and expert analysis. Founded in 2014, the SCSS conducts research and consultations in the fields of political, economic, civil and social development, in addition to providing technical and analytical advice regarding key issues of local, regional and international concern.