Production & Research

New World Summit — Rojava

2015-2018
Dêrik, Canton Cizîrê, Rojava



Project by:
The Democratic Self-Administration of Rojava and Studio Jonas Staal

Partners:
Movement for a Democratic Society (Tev-Dem), Democratic Union Party (PYD), Cultural Centre Dêrik (Tev-Çand), Union of Women (Kongreya Star), International Free Women Foundation (IFWF), Free Women Foundation of Rojava (Weqfa Jina Azad), Rojava Film Commune, Rohani TV, Kurdish Federation the Netherlands (FedKom), Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht

Project team:
Sheruan Hassan (PYD), Amina Osse (PYD), and Jonas Staal (concept); Younes Bouadi (producer); Renée In der Maur (programmer and international project coordinator); Zana Muhammad (local project coordinator); Paul Kuipers (architect); Remco van Bladel (graphic designer); Hussein Adam and Dejle Hamo (urban planners); Tamer Kandal, Newzad Mohammed, Ibrahim Sado, and Zozan Hassan (coordinators construction and development); Ruben Hamelink, Michiel Landeweerd, and Rojava Film Commune (film makers); Ernie Buts (photographer); Saeed Seevan (translator); Cihad Hammy (subtitler); Suzie Hermán (delegation host)

Supported by
Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam (NL), Center for Visual Art, Rotterdam (NL)





The New World Summit is an artistic and political organization that develops parliaments with and for stateless states, autonomist groups, and blacklisted political organizations. The New World Summit–Rojava consists of two parts: a commission by the autonomous government of Rojava (northern Syria) to design and construct a new public parliament and an international summit in the region.

In 2012, amidst the civil war in Syria, Kurdish revolutionaries, together with Assyrian, Arab, and other peoples of the region, declared the autonomy of Rojava. This resulted in the foundation of the Democratic Self-Administration of Rojava which practices a form of “stateless democracy” based on local self-governance, gender equality, and communal economy. The New World Summit–Rojava, locally referred to as the “People’s Parliament of Rojava,” takes its inspiration from this political model. Its circular form emphasizes a communal politics, the surrounding pillars mention key terms from the Social Contract and the rooftop consists of fragments of flags of local political and social organizations. As such, the parliament is both a spatial manifesto of the Rojava Revolution, as well as a concrete space where its ideals are practiced on a day to day basis.

The construction of the parliament began in 2015. The parliament was finalized in 2018. The summit took place on October 15-16, 2015, with the following representatives: Quim Arrufat (Popular Unity Candidacy, CUP), Janet Biehl (political writer), Sana Soleman Elmansouri (Amazigh World Congress), Akram Mahşoş (Legislative Council, Canton Cizîrê), Natalie McGarry (Scottish National Party, SNP), Katerin Mendez (Feminist Initiative!, FI), Amina Omar (Committee of Women's Affairs, Canton Cizîrê), Amina Osse (Committee of Foreign Affairs, Canton Cizîrê), Ziyad Rustum (Committee of Environmental Affairs and Archaeology, Canton Cizîrê), Ilena Saturay (National Democratic Movement of the Philippines), Hisên Çawîş (People’s Protection Units, YPG), Hadiya Yousef, (Movement for a Democratic Society, Tev-Dem)









© 2012, Bouadi Art Productions