Panel discussion, Baqorban

Jin. jiyan, azadi! Women, life, freedom - this was the Kurdish slogan heard loud and clear across the world during the protests in Iran in 2022. What could this slogan mean for feminism outside the Middle East?

Cathrine Linn Kristiansen, leader of Kvinnefronten in Norway, engages in conversation with Kurdish-British activist Elif Sarican and Sámi politician Tatjana Kolpus, discussing the Norwegian, Kurdish, and Sámi women's movements, respectively.

The backdrop for the conversation is Baqorban, the new play by Pia Maria Roll, co-produced with Sara Baban and Rozerin Algunerhan. In this play, we follow Baqorban as she explores the dramatic history of feminism in the Middle East. Kurdish feminism, inspired by Abdullah Öcalan, plays a central role in Baqorban, particularly in Rojava, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria that emerged in 2013.

In Rojava, the Kurds have built a unique multi-ethnic feminist state that was key in fighting against ISIS and is currently under new attacks from Turkish authorities. How can other women's movements support the Rojava movement?

The panel discussion will explore these questions and more.

Elif Sarican is a writer, curator and translator. She has lectured at and collaborated with a number of cultural institutions including Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, HAU Hebbel am Ufer and universities across Europe and North America on topics of feminism, anthropology, politics and history. She is one of the authors of the edited volume She Who Struggles: Revolutionary Women Who Shaped The World, to be published by Pluto Press in Autumn 2023. She is guest editing a special issue of Barnard College’s peer-reviewed Scholar & Feminist Online journal to be published in 2024. Elif is the co-host of Pomegranate Podcast - a podcast bringing stories, histories and alternatives into conversations of the world today.

Tatjana Kolpus is a Sámi politician and cultural worker actively engaged in processes of decolonization of traditional Sámi arts. She is a practicioner of duodji, and sits on the board of Oslo Sámiid Duodji where she also gives courses and workshops in traditional Sámi arts.

Cathrine Linn Kristiansen is a political adviser for the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association and leader of Kvinnefronten.