PAST EVENT
A Mesopotamian Evening
The P21 Gallery, 21-27 Charlton Street, London, NW1 1JD
Saturday, 25th October, 6:00 PM
The event comprised of three performances – one in Arabic, one in English, and one in Arabic and English.
The first performance was Badia Obaid’s ‘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 (or documented) her devotion to the goddess Ishtar at a time of civil war and unrest. This performance (Enheduanna) was a world premiere.
The second performance was June Peters’ ‘Innana and Ebih.’ It had similarities to the 42 poems ascribed to Enheduanna.
The last performance was the ‘Dialogue of Pessimism’—a literary dialogue between an indecisive master and his not-so-helpful servant. The master proposed a series of ventures with which the servant agreed—but then the master changed his mind and the servant purported to support him. This performance had previously been performed at the Iraqi Business Council in Amman for an audience including a member of the Jordanian Royal Family. The end had a wonderful sting in the tail which always went down well with audiences.
The evening lasted about an hour and was accompanied by the beautiful harp music of Tara Jaff. The Enheduanna Society would like to thank everyone who attended the event.
