Saving Iraq's Cultural Heritage with Stuart Mather Gibson January 24, 2006

?Saving Iraq?s Cultural Heritage? will be the topic when Stuart Mather Gibson, winter term scholar-in-residence for the Carleton College economics department, speaks on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 4:30 p.m. in the Gould Library Athenaeum. This event is free and open to the public.

Gibson specializes in assisting cultural organizations and governments during economic and political transition. In his lecture Gibson will discuss his experience as an advisor to Iraq?s Ministry of Culture.

A fine arts and cultural heritage consultant, Gibson works to promote nonprofit cultural organizations and governments primarily in Central Asia, Central Eastern Europe, China and the Middle East by introducing enhanced management skills and links with organizations in western Europe and North America. In addition to his work in Iraq, Gibson is the director of the UNESCO Hermitage Project in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Gibson?s visit is sponsored by Carleton?s economics department. His talk is part of the ?Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art? exhibition at Carleton?s Art Gallery from January 6 through February 12.

Several related events will be held during the exhibition. Curator Nada Shabout will speak on ?Iraqi Art: Continuity Through Contemporaneity? on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Boliou Hall, Room 104. Her talk will be followed by the exhibit?s opening reception in the Art Gallery from 8:30 to 10 p.m. The 2004 award-winning film ?About Baghdad,? which documents that city after decades of oppression, war, sanctions and occupation, will be shown on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. in Boliou Hall, Room 104. Finally, Iraqi artist Mohammed al-Shammarey will speak on ?Art from the Ashes? on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. in Boliou Hall, Room 104, and will lead an informal discussion on ?Art and Life in Iraq Today,? on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Gould Library Athenaeum.

The Carleton art gallery is sponsoring the exhibit, the film, and Shabout and al-Shammarey?s lectures. The film is co-sponsored by the Carleton Film Society. Gibson?s lecture is sponsored by the economics department. The exhibition was organized by the University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton, Texas and supported by the Texas Commission on the Arts. For more information about the exhibition and disability accommodations, call director of exhibitions Laurel Bradley at (507) 646-4342. For more information on Gibson?s visit and for disability accommodations, call the Carleton economics department at (507) 646-4109.