Faraz Saberi
Primary Department: Department of Anthropology
Began Graduate Studies:
Area(s) of Research:
Through collaboration with Kurdish communities in Bakûr (Eastern Türkiye) and Başûr (Northern Iraq), Faraz explores panethnic and tribal connections to both material culture production and the stewardship of cultural property with an emphasis on textile weaving. A core element of his research is focused on how tribal identities and indigeneity are negotiated amidst wider sociopolitical shifts towards detribalization and pan-Kurdishness, as well as how they then contextualize the relationship between material culture and ethnonationalism in this transnational context. A highlight of this work involves ethnographic approaches that explore intergenerational relationships with both tribal identity and traditional textiles in settings where materials are collected (e.g. in private and public museums or community collections). This research also emerges simultaneously at a time of booming cultural revitalization among Kurdish youth, both in the homeland and throughout the diaspora, and amidst a moment of increasing global recognition of the value of intergenerational community engagement with ethnological collections.
Key Terms:
Ethnonationalism; Kurd/Kurdish; Material Culture; Panethnicity; Detribalization; Indigeneity; Textiles; Museums; Collections; Stewardship & Custodianship; Ethnicity; Removal; Nomadism & Sedentarization; Cultural Revitalization; Youth & Elders