Refuge-Making: Stories from Iraq
Dr Sana Murrani (Associate Professor in Spatial Practice, University of Plymouth)
Wednesday, 29 January 2025, 5pm to 6pm
Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB
Hosted by Refugee Studies Centre
RSC Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2025
Series convened by Professor Tom Scott-Smith and Professor Catherine Briddick
About the seminar
Join Dr Sana Murrani as she presents her book, Rupturing Architecture, the first to critically and visually examine the spatial practices of refuge in response to war, violence, and displacement in Iraq from 2003 to 2023. Drawing on her experiences as an Iraqi architect who has lived through wars, UN-imposed sanctions, an invasion, and ongoing violence, Dr Murrani will explore how ordinary Iraqis have responded to trauma by creating refuge across homes, urban environments, and border geographies. She will shed light on their creative and adaptive practices, offering fresh perspectives on the intersections of domesticity, urbanity, and borders.
The talk will explore the methods used in the book, including creative deep mapping, memory work, storytelling, and case studies, and focus on the lived experiences of 15 Iraqis. Their resilience underscores broader themes of spatial justice and feminist spatial practices. Dr Murrani will examine rupturing as both a mark of trauma and an act of resistance, shaping spaces of refuge. The talk concludes with a manifesto for spatial justice, advocating for integrated approaches to place, memory, and trauma that resonate globally.
Dr Murrani will bring a few creative outputs to share with the audience. An online visual archive project associated with the book can be found at Ruptured Domesticity.
The seminar will be followed by drinks in the Hall.
Registration not required.
All enquiries should be directed to rsc-outreach@qeh.ox.ac.uk.