Previous Conferences

The Gingko Conference Series – intended for scholars, public figures and members of the wider public who are engaged with issues concerning the MENA region – fosters dialogue between the West and the Middle East, and promotes mutual understanding based upon our shared interests and concerns.

The First World War and its Aftermath: The Shaping of the Middle East

2014 Conference
Iran’s Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and the Narratives of the Enlightenment

2015 Conference

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The Mercantile Effect: On Art and Exchange in the Islamicate World During 17th ̶18th Centuries

2016 Conference

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Religious Imaginations: How Narratives Of Faith Are Shaping Today’s World

2017 Conference

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Missed our latest newsletter? You can view it here:
https://mailchi.mp/e20b990211e1/after-the-nobel-prize
Read it to get a 30% discount on Gingko’s latest publication, After the Nobel Prize 1989-1994: The Non Fiction Writing of Naguib Mahfouz Vol. IV
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Translated by R. Neil Hewison. With an introduction by Rasheed El-Enany . .
Naguib Mahfouz was familiar to newspaper readers across Egypt for his column in the leading daily Al-Ahram, in which he reflected on issues of the day, from domestic and international events, politics and economics to culture. This volume brings together his articles written between January 1989 and the knife attack in October 1994 that almost ended his life. In carefully crafted short texts his social conscience is revealed as he highlights political shortcomings, economic injustice, and corruption in Egypt and the wider Arab world. His philosophical sensitivity comes to the fore as he contemplates the meaning of a historic event, the contribution of an influential person, or what is required to lead a good life. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the New World Order, the Oslo Peace Accords, the spread of terrorism, the Cairo earthquake and even climate change – these and more come under Naguib Mahfouz’s fine scrutiny. . . Learn more about this book here: https://www.gingko.org.uk/title/after-the-nobel-prize-1989-1994/
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#Mahfouz #Non-Fiction #Egypt #NobelPrizeWinner #Translation #Gingko

Upcoming: A Celebration of Poetry & Dialogue acros

Upcoming: A Celebration of Poetry & Dialogue across Borders!
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We invite you to join us for an evening of poetry and discussion to celebrate the launch of our New Divan website. .
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 With New Divan poets Nujoom Alghanem, Mourid Barghouti, Tara Bergin, George Szirtes and other contributors to the project, plus co-editors of “A New Divan”, Barbara Schwepcke and Bill Swainson. .
. Featuring poetry readings, a discussion around this historic literary project and our invitation to our audience to continue the dialogue started by Goethe two hundred years ago. .
. ‪Wednesday 24th June, 6-7pm‬ UK time (BST) via Zoom .
. Free but RSVP essential via this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/tZUrfuytrzkoE9TjSTnlEKjcQBzvdM9X1Q6D/
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#Poetry #Translation #Literature #Goethe #Celebration #MiddleEast #NewDivan

Image: Copper ewer decorated with enamel, Guangzho

Image: Copper ewer decorated with enamel, Guangzhou, China, 1776. Kalfayan Collection
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Each week we are showcasing a striking image from Gingko's Art Series. This week it’s taken from “Art, Trade and Culture in the Islamic World and Beyond: From the Fatimids to the Mughals”, edited by Alison Ohta, Michael Rogers, and Rosalind Wade Haddon. .
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This enamelled ewer with its curious spout and colourful floral decoration was made, so its inscription tells us, for the Armenian Prince Hovsep in the year 1776. It forms part of an interesting group of objects each of which is branded with an inscription or monogram identifying it as having been commissioned by a member of the Armenian community, probably belonging to one of the network of merchant families which controlled extensive trade networks across the whole of Asia. Discussed by George Manginis in ‘Armenian Patrons for Chinese Commodities. Trade Networks and Cultural Exchange across Asia’, this article is one of twenty-three in Art, Trade and Culture in the Islamic World and Beyond: From the Fatimids to the Mughals whichlook at topics as varied as epigraphy, book art, painting, textiles, metalware, ceramics, wood inlay, paper collage, lacquerwork and the built environment. . .

Learn more about this book here: ‪https://www.gingko.org.uk/title/art-trade-and-culture-in-the-islamic-world-and-beyond/‬ . .

Email ‪gingko@gingkolibrary.com‬ to order your copy with a 30% discount. .
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#Gingko #ArtSeries #Books #ArtBooks #Art #Trade #Culture #islamicworld

Each week we are showcasing a striking image from

Each week we are showcasing a striking image from Gingko's Art Series. This week it’s taken from “Architectural Heritage of Yemen: Buildings that Fill my Eye”, edited by Trevor Marchand. .
. Image: The freestanding minaret of the Madrasa Mosque in the Old City of Sanaa, constructed in 1519-20. Photograph by T.H.J. Marchand . . As a young anthropologist Trevor Marchand, the mastermind and editor of Architectural Heritage of Yemen: Buildings that Fill my Eye, worked for a year as a builder in Sanaa. He joined a specialised team of minaret builders headed by brothers Ahmad and Muhammad al-Maswari. They constructed their first minaret alongside their father in the early 1980s; in order to better understand the unique structure of these buildings, they closely surveyed the mid-eighteenth century minaret of the Musa Mosque that stands in the heart of the Old City and is shown here. The collection of twenty articles in this book offer a remarkable insight into the varied history, use and meaning of Yemen’s many domestic and public places, ranging from the famous tower houses and the many citadels, minarets, mausoleums and mosques, some of which no longer stand today as a result of the destructive war that started in 2015. .
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Learn more about this book here: https://www.gingko.org.uk/title/architectural-heritage-of-yemen/
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For every copy sold, £5 is donated to the UNHCR Yemen Emergency Appeal. Email gingko@gingkolibrary.com to order your copy.