A Mesopotamian Evening

The P21 Gallery, 21-27 Charlton Street, London, NW1 1JD

Saturday, 25th October, 6:00 PM

This evening’s event comprises of three performances – one in Arabic, one in English and one in Arabic and English. The first performance by Badia Obaid is ‘The First Ever Female Poet’ – the story of Enheduanna, priestess of the Moon God and daughter to Sargon, king of Akkad. In around 2300 BCE, Enheduanna wrote hymns in the Sumerian language which document her devotion to the goddess Ishtar at a time of civil war and unrest.

The first performance (Enheduanna) is a world premiere. The last has been performed at the Iraqi Business Council in Amman for an audience including a member of the Jordanian Royal Family. The second performance by June Peters is ‘Innana and Ebih’. It has similarities to the 42 poems ascribed to Enheduanna. The last performance is the ‘Dialogue of Pessimism’ – a literary dialogue between an indecisive master and his not-so-helpful servant. The master proposes a series of ventures with which the servant agrees – but then the master changes his mind and the servant purports to support him. The end has a wonderful sting in the tail which always goes down well with audiences.

The evening will last about an hour and be accompanied by the beautiful harp music of Tara Jaff.