Culture project

Poem By: Aso Jabar Gaze from the fate of an evening A breath at the shore of this dream is meaningless Where are the doors of the seasons? Where is the dream full of lusty stars?! Where is the seagull and the brimful whiny chest of…

Newroz Sinjari  Our brief encounters did not allow me to express my love for you properly. Perhaps they were not brief per se, but never as long as they should have been. The moments we created were too short, our kisses too brief,…

By: Aso Jabar My soul is brimful from a storm of a dream A sorrow of an Autumn will take me I turn to the rain and I will rain on a tryst of a garden Drop drop I will pour under the feet of an Autumn flower I will pass between…

By Sandy Buglass Originating from Turkey’s Kurdish community ( North Kurdistan), Aynur Doğan (known as Aynur) is a world-renowned singer and artist. Having received praise from both the Turkish and global press, Aynur is one of the most…

Houzan Mahmoud is the Co-Founder of Culture Project. She is a women’s rights activist, campaigner, and defender, and a feminist. In this wide-ranging and exclusive interview, Mahmoud discusses the Kurds, Iraq, women’s rights, and more.…

On the 6th of April in a ceremony hosted at the Garden Court Chambers, Houzan Mahmoud, co-founder of Culture Project, won the Emma Humphrey’s Memorial Award. The awarded is presented to an individual woman who has, through writing or…

It is an artist’s responsibility to expose and unveil hidden truths. The artist must comment on, criticise, raise questions and above all, take risks that challenge norms, deconstruct societal structures, and ignite debates. These are…

In the evening of 12th of March 2017, Culture Project and Periscope Books co-hosted an event to launch the first ever Kurdish novel translated into and published in English. The event was hosted in Hampstead’s elegant Burgh House, packed…

Following nominations from members and supporters, the elected council of the National Secular Society selected six people on a shortlist for the Irwin Prize for Secularist of the Year. The National secular society is an organisation with…

On the 27th of August 2016 an exhibition by artist Sahira Ismail entitled ‘a house made of Rags’ was launched. Hosted at the museum of Sulaymania, the exhibition contained fourteen unique abstract works of art typically collage in form and…

Sulaymani 23-25th September 2016  On an invitation by Dabiran Platfomr a secular Organisation based in Kurdistan, Houzan Mahmoud gave a talk at the largest secular conference in the city of Sulaymania. The conference took three days, and…

Globalisation, Diaspora and Transnational Belonging June 15-16, 2017, Middlesex University, London, UK Call for abstracts – Deadline: March 1st, 2017 Conference Aims and Objectives Following the success of the first international Kurdish…

CfP Kurdish Migration Conference panel ‘Gendering the Kurdish Diaspora’, abstract (300 words) by the 1st March Gendering the Kurdish Diaspora Panel Convenor:  Houzan Mahmoud The Kurdish diaspora is considered one of the largest stateless…

Zhiwar Jawhar The society in which we live has been shaped by fairy tales and historical, mythical, and religious stories. These fairy tales and stories reinforce stereotypes, and these stereotypes often substantiate and even engender…

In its efforts to break the normalisation of male dominated public spaces, Culture Project initiated another female photo project, this time in Duhok - a beautiful small town in Iraqi Kurdistan. In the afternoon of Tuesday 6th of December…