Authors, artists, musicians’ and scholars engaging with Behrouz Boochani and his novel 'No friend but the Mountains' at the Greek Centre, on Wednesday 31 October 2018

Join us for an evening in which artists, writers, scholars and musicians, engage with, and celebrate the work of Kurdish-Iranian writer and journalist Behrouz Boochani, and his extraordinary novel, ‘No Friend but the Mountains’. In a unique event that will cross oceans and cultural boundaries, Boochani will appear live online from Manus Island, and his translator and collaborator, Omid Tofighian, live from Cairo.

The evening will also feature an address from guest speaker, political activist and academic Professor Gary Foley, will be opened by First Nations musician Bart Willoughby and Kurdish musician Fadil Suna, and will be hosted by Nikos Papastergiadis, Director of the Research Unit in Public Cultures at the University of Melbourne, Arnold Zable, writer and human rights advocate, Janet Galbraith, writer and refugee advocate, and award-winning photographer Hoda Afshar.

Behrouz, and those refugees who remain exiled on Manus Island and Nauru are victims of an Australian Government policy that exposes them daily to the abuses of authority, and a brutal process of dehumanisation, that perpetuates a constant cycle of compounded trauma and violence.
The conversation with Boochani and Tofighian, will centre on the power of art as a form of cultural and political resistance and how it can serve as a collective commitment in confronting, understanding, and exposing the truth of repressive government policy.

The audience will also be treated to a fusion of Kurdish and First Nations music as an affirmation of resistance, and Hoda Afshar's award winning images of Behrouz Boochani, weaving together the threads of collective action through a range of artistic practices.

This is a free event however bookings are essential: bit.ly/gc18nofriend

When: Wednesday, 31 October 2018, 6.30pm
Where: Greek Centre (Mezzanine, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne)