Ashraf Fayadh
Ashraf Fayadh , also Ashraf Fajadh ( Arabic اشرف فياض; * 1980 in Saudi Arabia ), is a Palestinian stateless person, poet who writes in Arabic and is the curator of several exhibitions.
Life
The refugee son Fayadh grew up in Saudi Arabia, acquired education and professional reputation as an exhibition curator, but received no Saudi civil rights and the citizenship of the country for which he designed the Saudi pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale . He was arrested twice because his art was viewed as critical of Islam: in August 2013, then again on January 1, 2014. The second arrest in Abha in May 2014 was followed by a Saudi religious court sentence of four years in prison and 800 lashes . After filing a revision by Fayadh followed a retrial, which on 17 November 2015, the verdict of the death penalty ended: The court accused the poet before, the shift away from the Muslim faith to have been guilty. In ultra-conservative Islam, turning away from faith is equated with mocking the prophet.
Ashraf Fayadh's father fled Palestine to Saudi Arabia. In 2008 his volume of poetry Instruction Within (instructions inside / from inside - in Arabic: at-Ta'limat bi-d-dakhil ) was published. Fayadh joined the British-Saudi artist group Edge of Arabia , curated art exhibitions in Jedda and the Venice Biennale, and worked on exhibitions of Arabic art at London's Tate Modern .
Over 70 authors' associations and human rights organizations took part in protests against the death sentence. On December 2, 2015, the German PEN accepted Ashraf Fayadh as an honorary member and published a renewed pardon addressed to the Saudi Ministry of Justice.
In November 2015, the International Literature Festival Berlin called for a worldwide reading on January 14, 2016 in support of Ashraf Fayadh. The solidarity actions took place in several countries, for example in Egypt and Russia.
Within the following month, the death sentence was commuted to an eight-year prison term.
literature
- Paolo Bancale: Noncredo: n.29 (Italian)
Web links
- Francis Nenik / Abier Bushnaq: The Last Descendants of the Refugees (German first translation of Ashraf Fayadh's poem from "Instruction Within")
- Further poems from Ashraf Faydah, translated into German, from the volume "Instruction Within".
- Rhizoma with "Poem and Instagram photographs by Ashraf Fayadh" (PDF file)
Individual evidence
- ↑ From the Biennale to Death Row , Deutschlandradio, January 14, 2016
- ↑ David Batty: Saudi court sentences poet to death for renouncing Islam . In: Guardian , November 20, 2015.
- ↑ Angus McDowall: Saudi Arabian court sentences Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh to death for apostasy . In: Independent , November 20, 2015.
- ^ PEN sentenced poet and PEN honorary member Ashraf Fayadh to death in Saudi Arabia . Retrieved December 2, 2015.
- ↑ Worldwide reading of poems and texts in support of Ashraf Fayadh .
- ↑ Worldwide Reading Day: Global solidarity campaign for imprisoned poets , Deutschlandradio, January 14, 2016
- ↑ Moscow, of all places: Solidarity for Ashraf Fayadh ( memento from January 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), Deutschlandradio from January 14, 2016
- ↑ Saudi Arabia overturns the death sentence against poet Ashraf Fayadh. spiegel.de, February 3, 2016, accessed on December 11, 2016 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fayadh, Ashraf |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fajadh, Ashraf |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Palestinian poet and exhibition curator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1980 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saudi Arabia |