Al Merbed is the name of the annual Poetry Festival in Basrah, in the south of Iraq. This year, from April 2nd till 4th 2004, was the first time after the fall of Saddam and brought together Iraqi poets, writers and other artists from all parts of Iraq and from the diaspora. Until last year the regime exploited this well known festival for his own political purposes, but this time it was free: a celebration of liberation, a meeting of old friends a first attempt to deal with past pains and articulate a future for free artistic expression and contributing to enlightenment and development of Iraqi society at large.

TIGRIS STREAM TIME

The Tigris is a river that flows from the Turkish mountains through Kurdish, Syrian and Iraqi lands to Basrah in the south. It is a connecting element and a metaphor for the continuity of history and culture, for imagination and liberation. In Baghdad its banks have been ruined by Saddam Hussein and again occupied by military forces of the Coalition. In the north the Tigris is object of mega projects like the Great Anatolian Project, in the south the swamps are the scene of lasting havock of pollution, repression and resistance. The Tigris itself is in need of liberation: it can become part of public life again, and a source of civilization like it used to be in Sumerian times. Radio Reedflute takes the Tigris as the starting point for doing just that: the stream will be transformed into a stream of sounds and images on the internet, through local radio stations and web based networked projects it will promote civil activities in architecture, poetry, music and popular expression. Architects, artists and reconstruction workers will be challenged to look at Baghdad from the river and reshape the public sphere. Reclaiming the Tigris entails regaining the pleasure, but also processing the pain.