TEDxBaghdad 2011

“Good times for a change” said Mr. Morrissey, a sentence that perfectly fits what in these later times is happening within the Arab World. Some months ago, the Arab Spring, and now, after years of continuous disaster and more than four decades of brain-drain, Baghdad “makes the impossible, possible” and brings back its deeply rooted cultural talent thanks to TEDxBaghdad. This international conference aims to create an environment to nourishing ideas while providing a stage for focussing the attention they are worth of. Next November 12, Baghdad will be the international center for spreading ideas, promoting Iraqi talents, enhancing the image of Iraq. There will be the opportunity to get inspired by some stories of people overcoming adversity through their personal commitment with human beings and social development.

The Speakers program includes some of the best Iraqi talents, representatives of several disciplines such as: architecture, medicine, visual arts, civic rights, heritage, film, music, philanthropy or sustainability. Do not miss the opportunity of listening the Iraqi musicians Naseer Shamma and Kadim Al-Sahir, the architects Manhal Al-Habbobi and Ihsan Fethi, in additon to the activists Azzam Alwash for environment, Wisam Al-Tuwaijri for autism, and Suroor Yousif, who will speak about equal opportunities for blinded people. There will be also the opportunity to share experiences with people of the arts, such as Mohamed Al-Daradji, director of the acclaimed movie Son of Babylon; Maysa Ibrahim, founder of The Young  Mesopotamians providing gifted individuals in Iraq with unmatched educational opportunities; and the art educator Rawa Naimi, President of Enki Organization for Arts, which provides education and support to vulnerable groups including Iraq’s numerous orphans, widows and those with special needs.

Besides, there will be some presence for health care and philantropy with Inaam Jawad, founder of Dina Lodging Institute, an organization that houses over sixty physically or mentally disabled children and adults. Also, Dr. Ali Majid will share his experience as a plastic surgeon and finally, the philanthropist Jeremy Courtney who will share his experiences as founder of Preemptive Love Coalition, an organization training local heart surgeons and nurses until they can eradicate the 30,000+ backlog of children waiting in line for lifesaving surgery.

The lectures will be accompanied by some selected short speechs by applicants who wanted to share and promote an idea for Iraq’s development. You can find all the application videos available in this YouTube channel. Finally, our best wishes for احمد عبد الكريم, with his project “Lost&Found”, really what Baghdad needs: finding itself after the loss.

For those who will not be able to attend TEDxBaghdad onsite, you will be able to follow it live through streaming and participate in the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.