Beauty, Revolution and Sufi Soul

The 0^th day of the Hammamet Conference begins. Like all British Council events, this is very much about Cultural exchange, and according to my understanding, this trip is about engaging with North Africans on issues of politics, youth activism and change. Themes of revolution place Tunisia as the perfect backdrop to the conference, yet ironically, 5-star treatment lends a curious lens to such discourse; am I acting like the same politicians I criticise for speaking about minimum wage and income tax over lobster dinners?

A 4:00 am insomnious start, and a 7:00 am flight later, I was quite blown away by the luscious skies of Enfidha.  I think about beauty all the time - objective beauty is a concept I attribute to divinity, and the divine majesty of the heavens makes me tremble. The wonderful blue skies patched with cool cotton clouds took me by surprise, as my experience of the Middle East has generally been scenic in a very different way. Much of the 0^th day was admittedly spent in a somnolent trance, but upon returning from my slumber, we had our first real opportunity to interact with the 45 (out of about 100) participants who had already arrived.

Dinner talk excited me. I was inspired. I have had many Arabesque political discussions over Moroccan tea and sheesha before (thankfully not mine), and one thing they are not, is inspiring. I was already humbled by the participant list which I had scanned beforehand, marking Oxbridge graduates, PhD candidates, CEOs and entrepreneurs –

If you are wondering what on earth I was doing in this company, join the club!

- but the discussions we were having were not arrogant ‘learn from the West and adopt our model’ discussions, nor were they ‘revolution has failed….revolution is the key’ discussions. They were very much discussions about the fabric of society, and where we have stopped questioning the systems and structures that govern our society. Discussions on educational reform, social equality, welfare, political engagement, activism, all seemed to point towards one direction; values. Our society was built on heart, and now the heart of society needs to be placed back in the system. One moment that almost led to me jumping off the table in excitement was when one lovely lady posed the question ‘who decided that elections are the best way to pick a leader in the first place?’

   

                                                       Crazy leftist revolutionist innit!

My recent interest in all issues of the world has led to a few stellar moments where I can genuinely say ‘Bloody hell, that opened my mind’. Day 0 provided me with quite a few of those.

The 1^th day of the conference is the still-not-started-but-semi-official-introduction day. A day trip to Tunis brought us to the British Council office, where we chose out of 4 focus groups to attend. Women’s role in Leadership seemed very tempting for me (and I hear it was quite the extravaganza), but I attended the ‘Youth Reflections’ workshop. A large number of speakers meant that we heard everything from a 19 year old prodigy seeking to revolutionise the education system, to twenty-something journalists, social entrepreneurs and youth activists trying to use their ‘new found freedom’ to contribute to society. 

The conference has not yet started, but perceptions seem to be that government bodies are too slow, not representative, and unreactive to the needs of the people. Albeit being tremendously interesting, the selection in the room made a very conscious decision to stay away from political parties and governments, and this was slightly alarming coming from a country fresh off ‘revolution’. I do hope the official start of conference will lead to a representative group who might present the ‘other side’ of the discourse as well, whatever that may look like.

A lovely lunch at Dar Zarrouk was very much overshadowed by the spectatular sea-side view seeping in through the large glass windows. We were then taken on a mini tour through the Roman Baths, Carthaginian ruins, and a lovely mosque facing a lovely cathedral, both names which elude me now. Hearing stories of the old mythology brought me memories of studying Hannibal in school. I also saw much of what seemed like Greek architecture, and undoubtedly, my lamentable awareness of history and geography did beg me to comment to myself,  'Dang, Billy Bob, I sure as hell din’t know Carth-auge was in Too-nisia.'

The return to Hammamet was met with the unclear-whether-it-is-formal-or-not official welcome dinner of the Conference, leading to a room full of suits, dresses, jeans and some t-shirts. A lovely dinner, followed by nice conversation once more lead to the optimistic conclusion about the thinkers of tomorrow. I have been frustrated by a lack of innovation in political and economic theory, and practical social structures, but it does feel like there are people out there passionate about the same things, and many of them are doing something about it, unlike myself.

The night ended with a live musical performance, starting with Arabic pop music, shifting to a much more cultural performance, and ending with a highly upbeat, highly Sufi extravaganza with drums, guitars, and crazy stringed-wooden-mallet type things that simulate the noise of falling rain. It was very reminiscent of my visit to Cyprus, visiting a Sufi master, and being quite taken aback by the intense back and forth swaying of everyone in the mosque, in a trance like spiritual state. The only difference between this and Cyprus, was that this had us at a formal gathering where top representatives in suits were sitting awkwardly on their tables, wondering whether to sway towards repetitive chants or not.

Somewhat inspired, certainly had some great discussion, opened up my thinking; not bad for the prelude to the Hammamet 2013 Conference. I feel infinitesimally blessed. Bring it on!