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News Release

Last modified: Monday, March 29, 2010

IU Art Museum to host three evenings of Middle Eastern poetry readings during National Poetry Month

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2010

Bloomington, Ind. -- In honor of National Poetry Month, the IU Art Museum will host "INTERSECTIONS: Middle Eastern Poetries and the Arts," a series of three consecutive Thursday evenings of Middle Eastern poetry featuring different themes. The readings are scheduled for April 1, 8 and 15 from 7 p.m.-9 p.m. in the Thomas T. Solley Atrium.

Each evening will include poetry readings in both the original language and in English, live music and a gallery talk and tour of the Art Museum's Middle Eastern art holdings, presented by Juliet Istrabadi Graver, curatorial assistant for ancient art. "INTERSECTIONS" is presented in partnership with the IU Turkish Student Association, the IU Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and the IU Art Museum.

• April 1: Arabic, Persian and Turkish poetry with a Turkish musical performance. Performers include Paul Losensky (Persian poetry), Joseph Hermes and Zeynep Elbasan (Turkish poetry) and Ihsan Colak (Turkish music).
• April 8: Hebrew, Persian and Arabic poetry with a Turkish musical performance. Performers include Stephen Katz (Hebrew poetry), Sheila Akbar (Persian poetry), Cigdem Balim (Turkish poetry), Waed Athamneh and Talar Kharadijian (Arabic poetry) and Serdar Abaci (Turkish music).
• April 15: African, Arabic and Turkish poetry with an open mic/additional musical performance. Performers include Muhammed Al-Munir Gibrill and Nana Bentil-Mawusi (African poetry), Hussain Abulfaraj/Mustafa Binmayaba (Arabic poetry), Durmus Gokmen (Turkish poetry) and Nazif Shahrani (Dari poetry).

For more information about the IU Art Museum, see www.indiana.edu.

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