The General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts, in cooperation with the Yonan Hozaya Center for Research and Future Studies, has announced the launch of its preparations for the first Syriac Symposium in the country, for the period 5-8 September at Ankawa District Centre in Erbil Governorate, under the slogan: “Syriac as a living culture… despite Challenges to its Survival.”
The head of the Symposium’s Organising Committee, author and writer Peter Nabati, stated, “The research will address various fields, and we particularly welcome research that deals with Syriac folk heritage, Syriac visual arts and crafts, Syriac music and song, Syriac theatre, theatrical arts, and cinema, Syriac village life, Syriac media, and how to develop its performance,” noting that the deadline for receiving abstracts from researchers and academics wishing to participate is June 15.
Through its invitation to researchers, the Symposium emphasises that Syriac is not just a liturgical language for a marginalised Middle Eastern religious minority, but is rather the cultural language of an indigenous people in the modern era. Participants will discuss how the Syriac language and culture were able to survive and persevere throughout these times despite the many challenges that face it, as well as strategies for its continued existence.
At the end of his message, Nabati hopes that the Symposium’s Organising Committee will receive research on the extent of Syriac’s relevance to today’s cultural reality, in addition to strategies for our people’s future resilience and survival on their original lands.
It is worth noting that the first Syriac Symposium will be held in the conference hall of Patriarch Mar Joseph VI Audo at the Monastery of the Martyr Gabriel Danbo, in Ankawa, Erbil, and will include visits to the Cultural Center for the Preservation of Syriac Manuscripts “Scriptorium Syriacum,” the Syriac Heritage Museum and the Oriental Manuscripts Digital Documentation Center (CNMO).
To fnd out more about the conditions and how to apply, please click on the link below: