For more than a decade, I have been conducting ethnographic field research with Kurdish  artists in IRAQI KURDISTAN. There, I have applied a qualitative approach to understanding the production of Kurdish ethnonationalist narratives, intraethnic and intracultural conflict arising from the politics of ethnicity.

     My RESEARCH  is situated at the intersection of decolonial theory, activist art, conflict, and culture. Critically considering the production of artwork, my work utilizes the work of activist-artists to better understand the nuances of Kurdish nation building.

     I engage with Kurdish activist-art because, in Iraq, Kurdish artists stand at the frontlines of several CRITICAL CONFLICTS. Some are direct, military conflicts with external forces such as ISIS. Some are internal conflicts over power relationships between Kurdish political parties. Others take the form of struggles to resist ongoing colonialism and to decolonize societal, cultural, and governmental structures within Kurdish society. Still others resist traditional patterns of leadership that have enshrined the authoritarian rule of a few, producing significant structural inequalities, continuing colonial legacies, and impeding the growth of democracy.

     My work is INTERDISCIPLINARY and engages broadly with the disciplines of International Conflict Management and Anthropology, to consider the intersections where these contiguous fields engage with the cultural dimensions of conflict and how meaning translates into ideas and behaviors, potentially, producing moments of conflict.

     ART, then, becomes a way to interrogate the contemporary products of a uniquely Kurdish heritage in Iraq.

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View My Full C.V. HERE