Keynote Speech by Mazen Darwish

Mazen Darwish, one of Syria’s most prominent human rights activists, will give a speech about his experience in Syria before and after the revolution as a human rights advocate. Afterwards, Darwish will be interviewed by the Norwegian journalist and author Åsne Seierstad.   Mazen Darwish is a Syrian lawyer and free speech advocate, and the…

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Roundtable: Politics of Humanitarian Aid in Syria

On September 30, the Syrian Peace Action Centre (SPACE), the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies (NCHS) and Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) will host a roundtable discussion on the Politics of Humanitarian Aid in Syria. This event is for invited guests. Background Delivering humanitarian aid in conflict situations has always been difficult. Syria is proving to be no exception.…

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Misreading Syria: Sectarian Secularism

Persistent claims that the Syrian regime is “non-sectarian” result from a failure to distinguish between sectarianism as an explicit ideology, and sectarianism as an often unspoken technique of power. Whereas the Assad family has generally purported to act in the name of “national unity”, and accordingly minimised discursive expressions of sectarianism, its actual practices throughout…

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Keynote Speech by Mazen Darwish

Mazen Darwish, one of Syria’s most prominent human rights activists, gave a speech about his experience in Syria before and after the revolution as a human rights advocate. Afterwards, Darwish was interviewed by the Norwegian journalist and author Åsne Seierstad.   Mazen Darwish is a Syrian lawyer and free speech advocate, and the president of…

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Syria Are… – The Question of Syria

Last year, SPACE organized The Question of Syria engaging Norwegians in the struggle of Syrians through panels that focused on the political situation, civil society activism, as well as artistic and cultural practices. This year, the unprecedented scale of violence, the military intervention by Russia as well as the diplomatic stalemate have seriously compromised the…

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Bab Assalam at the Nordic Black Theatre

On May 22, SPACE and the Nordic Black Theatre/Cafeteatret organized a concert by the Franco-Syrian band Bab Assalam, with Khaled Aljaramani (Oud & vocals), Mohanad Aljaramani (Percussion & vocals) and Raphaël Vuillard (Clarinet). Bab Assalam played a blend of Eastern and Western music that had the audience cheering and shouting after every single piece, and…

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Art night at Kunstplass [10]

SPACE and Kunstplass [10] organized a cosy art night on May 20. Shereen El Feki, author of Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World, started the night by introducing and reflecting on the case of the Egyptian author Ahmad Naji who was sentenced to two-year prison for “violating public modesty” in Egypt.…

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Salam to Aleppo – Concert with Bab Assalam

Join us for an intimate concert of Jazz-influenced, Sufi-inspired music with Bab Assalam   Bab Assalam (the gate of peace) is the meeting of two Syrian musicians, Khaled Aljaramani (oud and vocals) and his brother Mohanad Aljaramani (percussion and vocals) with French clarinetist Raphaël Vuillard. They have been playing since 2005, with initial support from…

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