Join us for a lecture with Shahram Khosravi, writer, anthropologist and researcher at Stockholm University, followed by a conversation with Konsthall C's artistic Director Mariam Elnozahy.

Imam Hossein, the grandson of the Prophet, was martyred in the month of Muharram, 61 A.H. (approximately October 680 A.D.). That day is commemorated as Ashura. In Shiite tradition, the story of Ashura embodies themes of loneliness, loss, grief, as well as courage and resistance against oppression.The annual observance of Ashura is a significant ritual for Shiite Muslims, spanning regions from the Middle East to South Asia and the Caribbean. Typically, the ceremony is a complex arrangement of collective, ritualized mourning, including public recitations, the chanting of elegies, and theatrical representations of the tragedy. However, the event of Karbala transcends its historical context. It is a paradigm that shapes political subjectivity, ensures social cohesion, and embodies an ideal way of life. In this presentation, Shahram Khosravi will discuss the ongoing relevance and transformation of the Karbala lamentation in the contemporary political landscape of the Middle East.

The event will take place between 16.00 and 18.00.

*Note this event will take place in English.

Credit: Shahram Khosravi

Shahram Khosravi is an anthropologist of Iran and the Middle East, migration, displacement and border studies. Among his publications are Young and Defiant in Tehran (University of Pennsylvania Press), The “Illegal” Traveler: An Auto-Ethnography of Borders (Palgrave) and Precarious Lives: Waiting and Hope in Iran (University of Pennsylvania Press). He has edited and co-edited numerous volumes including, After Deportation: Ethnographic Perspectives, Waiting and the Temporalities of Irregular Migration och Seeing Like a Smuggler: Borders from Below.