Newsletter April 2025

During the ten-day book fair, free German trial lessons will be offered daily from 5-7 PM, where beginners and advanced learners can improve their language skills.

To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Thomas Mann, the Goethe-Institut Irak is organizing a panel discussion entitled “Thomas Mann: The Triumph of Humans” in cooperation with the Al-Mada Reading Club. This will take place on Friday, April 11 on the main stage at the annual book fair in Erbil at 1 PM.

As part of the historical photo archiving of the Yazidi community, architect Marc Marin Webb and cultural historian Dr. Nathaniel Brunt will talk aboutthe importance of archivingfor the preservation of history on April 12 at 5 PM. This panel discussion will take place on the main stage of the book fair.

Under the motto “Bridges of Hope (Pirên Hêviyê)”, the Kurdish poet and translator Tinkzar Marini and Janine Rego Jean, German writer, will talk about the importance of translation. This panel discussion will be presented on April 18 on the main stage of the book fair at 6 PM.

On April 12 and 19 from 5-6 PM, thoughts will take flight again when six- to nine-year-old participants read stories at Bulbul and then turn them into an artistic activity. The event is organized as part of the book fair in Erbil and takes place at the stand of the Goethe-Institut Irak (C22).

The Sersal Project is an initiative led by an international collective of researchers, journalists, and creative professionals to preserve and disseminate historical photographic archives of the Yazidi community. In April 2025, the Sersal Project is organizing a series of exhibitions in Erbil, Bashiqa-Bahzani, and Sinjar, in partnership with the Goethe-Institut, Mirzo Music Foundation, and the University of Victoria Libraries. These exhibitions will show approximately 300 previously unseen early 20th-century photographs from the University of Pennsylvania Archies, representing some of the earliest images of Yazidi towns in Iraq.

The exhibition will be presented in Erbil during the book fair (April 9-19, 2025) next to the main stage.

There will be music on the same evening of April 12! In keeping with the photo exhibition, the traditional Yezidi Mirzo Band from Shingal will be performing various folklore songs on the main stage of the book fair at 7 PM.