The Arab world lost one of its most prolific and gifted writers on January 24, 2004, when Syrian-Iraqi novelist and writer Abdel Rahman Munif (b. 1933) passed away at his home in Damascus. On the occasion of the first anniversary of his death, the Anis Makdisi Program in Literature at AUB dedicated the afternoon of January 26, 2005, to his memory. Abdel Rahman Munif’s family and friends, AUB faculty, and many of his fans attended the event, which was held in West Hall. The afternoon started with introductory remarks by Professor Maher Jarrar, who spoke of Abdel Rahman Munif’s death as a huge loss, “comparable to the one we sensed with the death of Edward Said.” He also described the universality of Munif’s novels and their power to adapt to time and place. In this regard, Professor Jarrar noted that this generation’s perception of Munif’s novels is “a pessimistic one, which does not necessarily reflect the nature of the novel itself. Rather, this reflects the overall ambiance of pessimism that reigns over the young in the contemporary Arab world.” The program began with the reading of excerpts from Munif’s novels by AUB students, which were selected from Khumasiyyat mudun al-milh, Sharq al-mutawassit, and Al-Ashjar wa ightiyal Marzuq. This was followed by a presentation entitled “Abd al-Rahman Munif’s Interest in Modern Art: Friendship, Symbolic Exchange” by Sonja Mejcher-Atassi, who shed light on a hitherto neglected aspect of Munif’s life: his interest in modern art. Mejcher-Atassi, who is a PhD candidate at Oxford University and visiting student at AUB, discussed Munif’s interest in modern art and specifically that of Arab artists. He not only collected their work, but also established friendships with three major Arab artists, Fateh al-Moudarres, Dia al-Azzawi, and Marwan Qassab Bashi, with whom he worked closely to produce cover designs and illustrations for his books. “Munif wanted to establish his novels as a bridge between literature and art,” said Sonja. Munif also wrote long essays on Arab painters. Sonja described Azzawi’s paintings as a search to find answers to questions addressed in Munif’s novels. Sonja said that the artists shared similar ideologies and experiences of exile with Munif, which resulted in harmony in their work. The program concluded with the showing of a documentary film produced by Oussama Mohammed about the life of Abdel Rahman Munif.
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