Maghrib in Past & Present | Podcasts
Education
In 801 CE, an elephant named Abu’l Abbas landed in Portovenere, Italy from Ifriqiya. According to The Royal Frankish Annals, he was as a gift from Caliph Harun al-Rashid to Charlemagne. Although he appears regularly in any discussion of the period, Abu’l Abbas, like many other animals, remains a cipher. For world history, he tells a story about the circuits of diplomacy and trade that linked the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean or fuels more speculation on the relationship of Holy Roman Christendom to the Islamic Caliphate. For art history, he is translated into the ivories, oliphants and imagery of elephants in the European imagination. Or else, he finds his proper province in children’s fables.
In this podcast, Dr. Radhika Subramaniam, Director of The Sheila Johnson Center and Associate Professor of Art History & Design at the New School / Parsons School of Design reconstructs a plausible tale of this Asian elephant’s travels, which would undoubtedly have been in the company of a mahout or handler, who, although unacknowledged and unnamed, probably accompanied him from India. This podcast is adapted from a longer work-in-progress that is part animal biography, part migration story, part tale of human-animal relationships and all quest narrative. It explores the writing of an animal biography as a challenge to both research and narrative as well as a promise for re-articulating an interspecies relationship.
This episode, part of the Centre d'Études Maghrébines à Tunis (CEMAT) History of the Maghrib / History in the Maghreb lecture series, was recorded at the Library of the Medina of Tunis - Dar Ben Achour - on 12 April 2018.
We thank Ahmed Fetoui for his interpretation of "Bellah Ya Ghazali" for the introduction and conclusion of this podcast.
Curator: Hayet Lansari, Librarian / Liaison Coordinator (CEMA).
La génération du Môle d’Alger et l’avènement d’un art moderne algérien
Climate change, mobilities, and social remittances in Skoura M’Daz, Morocco
Ibn Rushd, Ecotheology, and Morocco’s Environmental Policy
Mobility, Memory, and the performance of Bousaadiya in Libya
Simulation and Simulacra in the Tripoli Trade Fairs
Beit El Bennani, l’histoire d’une archive familiale en Tunisie
Comment disséminer les leçons algériennes ? Nils Anderson et la naissance du ”Tiers-mondisme” 1957-1969
Les modèles théoriques des sciences sociales à l’épreuve du terrain
حماية التراث الليبي من خلال تقوية الرابط بين المجتع و تاريخه
Rencontre avec Ahmed Mahiou autour de son ouvrage: Au fil du temps et des événements, Mémoires.
Making Space(s) for Arts and Culture in Libya
En hommage à feu Rachid Sidi Boumedine (Décédé le 07 novembre 2022): Céramiques d’Alger, toute une histoire
A Critical Analysis of Heritage Preservation in Libya
Roman Dougga (Thougga), Heritage Preservation in an Antique City
Cultural Preservation in the Medina of Tunis: A Conversation with Leila Ben Gacem
A History of Franco-Muslim Education in Morocco and in Northwest Africa
The Worlds of Safia Farhat
Landscape and Identity in Medieval Morocco
Contemporary Art in Tunisia
The ”Lush Garden” of Andalusian Music
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
Summarize | رادیو سامرایز
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast