“A Moment”… A theatrical performance by students of the College of Fine Arts representing Iraq at the 2025 World Culture Festival in Karachi
In a new achievement added to the record of the College of Fine Arts at Diyala University, students from the college presented the play “Moment” as part of the 2025 World Culture Festival held in Karachi, Pakistan. The performance was attended by a large audience, mostly members of the Iraqi community residing there, who expressed their pride and joy at seeing the Iraqi flag flying at one of the most important international cultural events.
The performance was met with great acclaim and enthusiastic response from the audience, who appreciated its expressive artistic and intellectual vision. It blended authentic Iraqi identity with a modern, experimental style of theatrical performance, showcasing the students of the College of Fine Arts and their ability to compete at international festivals.
The theater was packed with attendees who came to see the play and remained until the very last moment, a testament to the overwhelming appreciation and admiration for the Iraqi theatrical work.
The play “Moment” is an experience belonging to the literature of the absurd and the irrational. Its script is based on a dramatic adaptation inspired by texts by the world-renowned writer Samuel Beckett and the Iraqi writer Abdul Karim Al-Amiri, all crafted within a unified directorial vision by Professor Mohammed Khalis Ibrahim. The roles were performed by a group of students from the Department of Art Education, with the participation of several graduates of the department, in a unique artistic initiative aimed at fostering communication between theatrical generations.
The play revolves around four characters engaged in an internal struggle to assert themselves and express their dreams and aspirations, within a closed, circular dramatic structure that embodies the essence of absurdist literature. Despite the text’s Western origins, the directorial treatment is imbued with a profound Iraqi and Eastern spirit, reflecting the local environment and the concerns of the Iraqi people in a sophisticated symbolic style.
This performance marks the first participation of its kind by an Iraqi university in an international cultural festival of this scale, a distinguished national and academic achievement that highlights the pioneering role of Diyala University and the College of Fine Arts in promoting Iraqi art on the international stage.
The Dean of the College, Assistant Professor Dr. Golan Hussein Alwan, expressed her immense pleasure with the students’ theatrical performance, which garnered the audience’s admiration and interaction. She emphasized that this success is a source of great pride for the College of Fine Arts and Diyala University. In a statement, she said:
“We are proud of our creative students who embodied Iraqi creativity in its finest form and raised the name of the College of Fine Arts and Diyala University high in international forums, affirming that art is a message of peace and a culture of communication between peoples.”
At the conclusion of their participation, the team expressed their sincere gratitude and appreciation to the President of Diyala University, Professor Dr. Tahseen Hussein Mubarak, and to the Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Assistant Professor Dr. Golan Hussein Alwan, for their continuous support and encouragement of the college’s students and their unwavering commitment to enabling them to represent Iraq at international cultural and artistic festivals.
This achievement fulfills one of the Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
