The writer Haytham El-Wardany engages with traditions of storytelling that lend agency to seemingly lifeless objects. In his writings, they become subjects. In his reading of the short story In the Wrong Place, El-Wardany creates a verbal
space that encourages us to rethink the concept of a “source of inspiration”. Like many other modern artists, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff called the art of the regions of Asia, Africa, Oceania and South America “sources of inspiration” for his own works. El-Wardany’s reading and discussion intend to render the voids of labor in the socalled “sources of inspiration” visible. In his performance, El-Wardany works with the book Kalīla wa Dimna [Kalila and Dimna], a collection of fables recorded in Arabic by the Basra, Iraqborn writer and scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ
in the 8th century.
Haytham El-Wardany is an Egyptian writer of short stories and experimental prose who lives and works in Berlin. He is the author of The Book of Sleep (2017, Alkarma Publishing House, Cairo / 2020 Seagull Books, Calcutta) and How to Disappear (2013, Kayfa Ta Publications, Cairo / 2018, Sternberg Press, Berlin/NY). His recent short story collection is titled Irremediable (2020, Alkarma Publishing House, Cairo).
Please note: Participation is only possible with complete vaccination protection or proof of convalescent status + a booster vaccination or rapid test (no self-test). The current distance and hygiene regulations apply, as well as a general FFP2 mask requirement.
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