Erbil, Tuesday (June 9, 2026)
As part of the cultural activities of the Kurdish Book Fair at the Erbil International Fairground, an open scientific panel titled “The Role of Art and Literature in Presenting and Documenting the Kurdish Genocide” was held. The panel was organized and moderated by Assistant Lecturer Ashwaq Ihsan Ramadhan, a faculty member at the Department of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts, Salahaddin University.
At the beginning of the panel, the moderator opened the floor for discussion by highlighting the importance of the topic in reflecting the suffering and history of the Kurdish people through cultural and artistic mediums.
Following the introduction, the panelists—comprising a group of university professors and researchers—presented their topics as follows:
- Assistant Professor Dr. Ibrahim Sadiq Malazada (Faculty Member at Soran University): Discussed the issue of genocide from a sociological and nation-building perspective, highlighting the sociological impact of this phenomenon on national identity.
- Assistant Professor Rezan Osman Mustafa (Faculty Member at the College of Fine Arts, Salahaddin University): Focused on the issue of genocide from the perspective of Kurdish literature, specifically through novels. She highlighted examples of several literary works by Kurdish writers, poets, and novelists who have addressed this national issue.
- Dr. Adalet Omar (Writer, Researcher, and Founder of the Kurdistan National Genocide Archive): Discussed the subject from a documentary perspective, emphasizing the critical importance of documenting and archiving records across several distinct and vital dimensions.
- Dr. Sabah Hussein Salih (Faculty Member at the College of Fine Arts, Salahaddin University): Discussed the influential role of art in general, emphasizing the message of music, visual arts, photography, and the media in serving and raising awareness about the Kurdish genocide.
About the Fair: This fair is currently being held at the Erbil International Fairground (located inside Sami Abdulrahman Park), featuring the participation of a significant number of Kurdish publishing houses and printing centers. Alongside displaying books, the fair has become an important hub for meetings, intellectual dialogues, and raising public awareness.
