On 25 and 26 April 2025, the Nahrein Network organised a farewell conference, after eight years of working in Iraq. The conference, organised in Baghdad, saw over 120 participants attend, most of whom were active members of the network. Those include visiting scholars, grant recipients and also beneficiaries of the network’s numerous research and capacity-building programmes. 

Professor Eleanor Robson, director of the Nahrein Network, stated that Iraq has witnessed progressive transformation since the start of the programme in 2017 and that all involved should be proud of their achievements and contributions to Iraq’s higher education, research capacity and cultural heritage development. 

The two-day conference programme saw participation from over thirty research institutions and universities in Iraq, including from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and from neighbouring countries. Themes included those pertaining to post-conflict recovery, living traditions, threatened heritage, building professional and knowledge networks, higher education capacity building and the impact of visiting scholarships to the UK. The conference consisted of panel discussion and presentations, which showcased Iraq’s rich and diverse cultural heritage and the nature of programmes and activities supported over the past few years. 

Some of the projects discussed included those concerning Iraq’s water-based cultural heritage, research concerning museums, cultural minorities and the impact and legacies of conflict on Iraq’s cultural property and tangible heritage and the impact of investment on the country’s archaeological sites. 

At the end of the conference on 26 April, participants were invited to a meal of masgouf fish, at the Abu Nuwas based Al Baghdadi restaurant. 

The conference ended with a call to continue the work started by the Nahrein Network and to strengthen project-based and institutional relationships and collaborations. The Nahrein Network formally comes to a close at the end of August 2025. 

On February 10, 2025, the Iraqi Embassy in London hosted a scientific symposium focused on strengthening academic collaboration between Iraqi and British universities. The event brought together embassy officials, the Iraqi Cultural Attaché, and esteemed professors from various British universities to explore opportunities for excellence in higher education.

The symposium featured insightful discussions led by Nahrein Network – BISI Visiting Scholar, Professor Ahmed A. Al-Imarah and his Research Supervisor, Professor Nigel Fancourt from the University of Oxford. Their joint lecture highlighted key topics such as common challenges in higher education, opportunities for development, and essential elements for successful university partnerships.

A major outcome of the event was the proposal of four priority areas for collaboration:

• Enhancing academic culture
• Hosting academic visitors
• Inviting postgraduate students
• Sharing unique research data

The discussions emphasized that careful planning is crucial to ensuring these collaborations benefit both parties. Moreover, the success of partnerships should be measured by tangible outcomes, rather than simply signing agreements. While challenges exist, they can be overcome through strategic cooperation and shared commitment.

This symposium aligns with recent government initiatives to strengthen partnerships between Iraqi and British universities, following the Iraqi Prime Minister’s visit to the UK. The recommendations from the event will be submitted to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, contributing to long-term academic and research collaboration.

On 16 January 2025, the Nahrein Network and the Ministry of Higher Education, in the presence of the Prime Minister of Iraq, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The event was held in London, which coincided with an Iraqi government delegation visit to the United Kingdom. The MoU covers the organisation of research grants, scholarships and support to Iraqi universities in the fields that the Nahrein Network focuses on. 

In addition to the Nahrein Network, the Ministry of Higher Education signed 12 MoUs with universities in the United Kingdom, some of which were for specific research programmes. The majority of those agreements were however for paving the way for the Iraqi Government’s initiative to fund 5,000 masters and PhD scholarships, many of which will be at universities in the United Kingdom. 

After the ceremony was completed, a workshop was organized by the British Council, which is spearheading the ‘Academic Bridge Programme’, an initiative to strengthen research and knowledge exchange between UK and Iraqi universities. The Academic Bridge Programme is about upgrading Iraq’s intellectual and technical capacities across all sectors and fields and is designed with a view to harnessing higher education opportunities and to support upskilling Iraq’s universities to better address the country’s challenges. 

In this blog, Dr. Rozhen Mohammed-Amin, Co-Director of the Nahrein Network, discusses the Cultural Heritage Organisation’s (CHO) new initiative: the Digital Heritage Internship Program (DHIP).

Follow CHO on X: @Cho_Kurdish

In 2016, my post-PhD academic plans hit the walls of a (largely) disconnected higher education system in Iraq and its Kurdistan Region. Bringing students from different disciplines and departments to think together and deliver interdisciplinary digital heritage projects proved much more difficult than I had anticipated and prepared for. The stubborn silo and teaching-intense higher education system also brought teaching overload for students and faculty members’ competition for those teaching hours. Add to these a debilitating economic crisis in the Kurdistan Region that resulted in an up to 75% reduction in the salaries and (therefore) reduced working hours of public servants, including academics in public universities. These and other factors left the departments with no time, space, and (for most) motivation to explore new teaching and learning approaches for their students. Outside of curriculums, the local higher education landscape, environment, and culture were/are not very receptive to new non-traditional approaches either. After all, in practice, interdisciplinary research papers involving academics from different disciplines are not approved for academic promotion purposes. So, justifying interdisciplinary projects for undergraduate credits in different departments within such a silo system was/is a very difficult task.

My Nahrein Network Co-Investigator fund empowered me and my team to try transformative teaching and interdisciplinary learning approaches through our new Digital Heritage Internship Program (DHIP). The program brings together and trains local youth (mainly graduates) from different disciplines to conceptualize, design, develop, promote, and fundraise for innovative digital heritage projects. They do so using state-of-the-art technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). DHIP aims to connect heritage protection and promotion with local and global needs and challenges for the sustainable development of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq’s heritage. The program also equips local youth with 21st-century digital knowledge, skills, and networks for expanding the creative industry in the Kurdistan Region and the rest of Iraq for making cultural, social, environmental, or economic impacts. Through this program, we strive to practically embody “think globally, act locally” in our digital heritage Research and Developments.

In its first pilot year (2023-2024), we brought together and trained 15 graduates (10 women and 5 men) in Sulaimani city from a total of 12 disciplines within Engineering, Design, Social Science, Arts, and Humanities, and IT. Having more women in the program was one of our objectives for addressing the vast digital literacy gap between men and women in Iraq[1]. In the first six months of the program, we delivered a total of 120 hours of structured training sessions (in-person or online), accompanied by work sessions as well as in-person and remote consultations in team or individually. We also integrated peer learning in some parts of the program. The gained knowledge and skills were applied in the team capstone projects, assigned by our team from the Cultural Heritage Organization (CHO) and the Kurdistan Institution for Strategic Studies and Scientific Research (KISSR).

[1] https://iraqtech.io/digital-illiteracy-isolating-iraqi-women-from-the-outside-world/

Our CHO-KISSR team and international and local collaborators provided extensive in-person and online training in DHIP. Learning from esteemed and supportive international and non-Kurdish speaking trainers like Mary Matheson (Arizona State University), Dr. Akrivi Katifori (Athena Research Center), and David V. Madrid (Historic Environment Scotland) was truly rewarding for our interns and for building their confidence at an international level. To encourage role modeling, we targeted more women trainers. The interns received theoretical and hands-on training in a wide range of topics they take to imagine and develop for the interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional world of AR and VR-based heritage experiences. The training ranged from independent learning to AR and VR experience assessment and everything in between, Design thinking, AR and VR experience design for heritage, historical research methods, immersive storytelling, story writing, storyboard development, team building and working, photography, photogrammetry, drone use,  360 tours, UX/UI design, crowdsourcing in heritage, participatory design, design for participation, AR and VR  development in Unity Game Engine, communication, community engagement, marketing, proposal writing, and fundraising.

Capstone Projects

By design, DHIP training and learning is project-based. Such training is intended to not only enhance and consolidate the program’s learning outcomes but also to build the interns’ portfolio in the utilization of promising AR and VR technologies in the field of heritage and beyond. Our CHO-KISSR team has foreseen the local need for investing in AR and VR knowledge and skills even before the recent labor market survey, led by KRG’s Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research and its partner universities, IREX, and the US Embassy/Baghdad. We identified the main themes of the assigned capstone projects based on a local need or requests of local stakeholders, who were excited or inspired by our past Talk to Sarai[1], Virtual Sarai, and Feel Like Me digital heritage projects. We also connected the project themes to global and local challenges and needs such as climate change and women empowerment.

In a span of 10 months and with the four-team capstones, the interns managed to greatly impress those who supervised, heard about, or experienced their projects! The depth and breadth of their activated imagination in the digital heritage field, creative thinking, and synthesizing have shocked our team, collaborators, and even international trainers like Mary Matheson.

[1] https://www.ucl.ac.uk/nahrein/news/2021/nov/talk-sarai-telling-stories-digitally

The Historical Empathy

Learning from Our Past Thinker VR Project guides users through the life, stories, memories, writings, and wisdom of Piramerd, a celebrated local poet, writer, and founder of the influential Zheen printing house and newspaper. Through a blend of visual and aural immersion, the VR experience aims to evoke empathy in users by allowing them to connect with the poet’s lived experiences and legacies, focusing on his dedication to education, ethical journalism, cultural advocacy, and public service.The project fosters an appreciation for heritage and historical understanding that can bridge the knowledge and emotional gap between past and present generations.

The Climate Heritage

Bridging Art, Culture, and Heritage for Protecting Environment VR Project combines the power of heritage, technology, and storytelling to immerse users in the sights and stories of the escalating pollution and environmental crisis of the Tanjaro River, near Sulaimani City in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. By immersing users in the perspectives of a local fisherman, an eagle, and a fish, the experience shows and tells about the massive pollution occurring in Tanjaro. The project aims to raise users’ awareness about the largely overlooked but fatal environmental crisis around them and to inspire sustainable actions.

The Historical Evolution of Cities

How Industrial Change is Changing our Life AR Project showcases the economic, social, and cultural influences of Sulaimani City’s first factory, the former Cigarette Factory (renamed as the Culture Factory). By integrating location-based storytelling with witness testimonies, the interactive tour engages users with the factory’s transformative impact on the city and its people. It also unveils unheard-of or little-heard stories and encourages reflections on how industrial rise and fall can create and transform a vibrant economic and social centre into an abandoned ghost complex, and how such neglected spaces can be repurposed into a creative hub.

The Narrative Spaces

When Storytelling Meets Design, the AR Project enriches the physical spaces of Hotel Farah (renamed to Kurd’s Heritage Museum), the oldest hotel in Sulaimani City and a current museum, by adding narrations through a statue and displayed collections. Through a mix of captivating stories from historical figures and fictional characters, the mobile AR tour unfolds the stories and significance of the building, related people, and its current collections. This interactive journey through time and space heightens users’ engagement with the museum space, drawing their attention to its diverse components, contents, and stories. The project aims to enrich visitors’ experiences with and perceptions of heritage places.

In designing and developing each of these capstone projects, the interns worked closely with diverse experts and local stakeholders. This close engagement and co-creation exposed the interns to real-world challenges and problem-solving related to (among others) finding scarce archival resources, handling diverse (and sometimes competing) interests and requests, and balancing ambitions with resource and technical capabilities. The project-based nature of DHIP proved to be the “glue” for holding the interns together and to the programme as they were navigating the many challenges of the underdeveloped infrastructure of AR and VR developments in the Kurdistan Region and the rest of Iraq. Our planned post-DHIP promotion of the projects through the local stakeholders and interns themselves promises to further deepen the interns’ interest, and sense of ownership for the promotion and expansion of the projects, and local heritage.

Beyond Expectations

As we embark on the formal and in-depth evaluation of our pilot internship, some interactions and outputs are worth celebrating. First, the high retention and attendance rate of the interns in the program came as a surprise, even to our best-case scenario and most positive team member! Warned by the experience of other training and internship programs and refusing to adopt the penalty measures some of these programs had to take to protect against high dropouts (even in the case of paid internships), we expected to retain only one team of four in our non-paid internship by the end of the originally estimated four months of our program’s life span. Yet, even after extending the structured training for another two months and the whole program for a total of 10 months for completing and testing the scaled-up capstones, we retained all the interns. Only two interns were absent slightly below our high threshold of 90% of attendance. Some of the interns had zero or close to zero absences.

Beyond numbers, the scaling up of the capstone projects by the interns and the enthusiasm the four teams showed for their projects speak volumes about the overall high engagement of the interns with the program and increased interest in digital heritage. This happened despite the fact that the majority of them had not heard about AR or VR before the internship and only a few of them initially showed interest in heritage.

The co-creation nature of our interns’ digital heritage projects proved (at least from our perspective) highly effective for engaging these young interns with heritage promotion and protection and raising their heritage awareness to a degree that even we, the organizers, did not imagine when we planned the program. The content and stories they found and the connections and reflections they made were truly impressive and inspiring. It is also fair to say that the interns helped to achieve one of the main overarching goals of DHIP, establishing a digital heritage network. Although we have yet to publicize the projects in a closing ceremony, we have been approached by excited local community members and media to try and feature our interns’ projects.

A Demanding Ride

Running the program was anything but smooth. Disruptive thinking and working is never easy anywhere, let alone in Iraq. We experienced and had to solve/balance many logistical and technical challenges. One of the challenges has been the scattered state of local heritage collections, resources, and even knowledge. Balancing the needs and competing interests of stakeholders was another challenge. As it turned out, flying a permitted drone (needed by one of the groups for 360 tours) in a post-conflict country like Iraq is far more complicated and team and paperwork-consuming than what we had prepared for.

Managing our interns’ growing expectations was another key challenge to solve. As an ambitious educator and an immensely curious scholar in digital heritage, I was finding it really hard to limit the interns’ growing ambitions in the face of time, resource, and expertise limitations. Then there were challenges related to team dynamics and equitable contribution among the interns.

Also, from the early stage of applying, we experienced an imbalance in recruiting interns based on the four targeted main disciplines and subdisciplines. We could not find or attract any intern with basic skills in the technical development of AR and VR. Although our interns’ feedback and incoming requests point to our limited promotion of DHIP and passive recruitment strategy, limited local skills in computer programming, software development, and/or Game Engine use are reported/observed by many others. In fact, our own team’s software developer had to self-taught himself about AR and VR development due to a lack of such training in and outside his university program. Add to these, the very limited infrastructure and external local expertise in the technically demanding and fast-growing world of AR and VR developments. As a result, the recruitment imbalance extended to the teamwork and the workload of our CHO-KISSR developer. Although the technical development (understandably) was not picked up by almost all of these non-technical interns, the program created a good pathway for increasing the motivation of our existing interns and others. We managed to increase local appreciation and understanding of what it takes to (for example) open a virtual book from the right (not left) side and why local culture, language, and perspective matter in creating or blending virtual and physical worlds.

Internally, our CHO-KISSR team also experienced an imbalance when two key team members started their postgraduate studies in the early months of the internship. So, other team members periodically stepped in to cover for them to ensure the quality and depth of DHIP. Periodic covering for each other and work catch-up is a supportive team culture that we are proud of because it has been making our largely women team accommodating and accessible to mothers, students, and others with proven long-term commitment and dedication but periodically require flexibility.

I should also mention that since the start of the first lecture of the program and referrals, we have been receiving calls, emails, messages, and even visits from local students and graduates inquiring about the start date of a new round of DHIP and expressing interesting in registering in our program.

The “Shoulders of the Giants”

The planning and implementation of DHIP stood on the shoulders and insights of several giants that I would like to acknowledge. The root of DHIP and its inspirations dates back to my life-changing postgraduate studies at the University of Calgary in Canada and my transformative experience as an intern at the Human Interface Technology Lab of New Zealand or HITLabNZ (based at the University of Canterbury). At the University of Calgary, Prof. Richard Levy, Prof. Tang Lee, Dr. Jeffrey Boyd (my supervisors), Prof. Branko Kolarevic, and Prof. Sebastian von Mammen have inspired and guided me in connecting heritage with digital technology. These have been two areas of my intellectual curiosity and activating imagination since my childhood, and all the way to my postgraduate education and ongoing scholarly pursuits. My postgraduate exposure and interest was further consolidated by my experience at HITLabNZ. The inspiring nature, culture, and environment of this leading AR and VR research lab profoundly increased my appreciation for positive and supportive research and education environments and networks. HITLabNZ and its then-director Prof. Mark Billinghurst have deeply embodied the lab’s people-centered approach to finding technology-based solutions and inventions. The very idea and conception of DHIP was inspired by the “Virtual Intern Program” from Mark’s current Empathic Computing Laboratory (based at the University of South Australia) and informed by local and international consultations and need assessment. My transformative postdoctoral experience, funded by the Nahrein Network and BISI and supervised by Prof. Maria Economou at the University of Glasgow, was pivotal in shaping our interns’ emotionally engaging and empathy-driven storytelling approach for designing and evaluating their AR and VR projects. Beyond contributing knowledge and methodological guidance, Maria played a crucial role in connecting me with the highly inspiring and insightful EMOTIVE project and team members such as Dr. Akrivi Katifori (Athena Research Center), who delivered training to our interns. Another significant outcome of my visiting scholarship was meeting Dr. Lyn Wilson and establishing connections with Historic Environment Scotland (HES), whose direct support was instrumental to DHIP’s success. The consultation of Gabo Arora from Johns Hopkins University and his colleagues from LightShed (Barry Pousman and David Samuels) helped with setting up the pillars of the program. The critical insights of Prof. Eleanor Robson (Nahrein Network’s director) and the support and informed feedback of Abdullah Bashir (a Senior Business Advisor and a former member of 51 Labs) and some of his colleagues provided timely guidance for minimizing the program’s blind spots. In the logistical planning of the program, we also received feedback and support from Mustafa K. Ali and Ravin Rizgar (from Suli Innovation House), and Dr. Khabat Marouf and Dr. Vian M. Faraj (from Culture Factory). During the implementation, the program also received generous support from Dr.  Lyn Wilson and her colleagues at the Historic Environment Scotland and many supportive local collaborators from organizations such as Zheen Center, Waterkeepers Iraq, KISSR, Kurd’s Heritage Museum (Hotel Farah), Culture Factory, Slemani Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage, Jamal Nabaz Museum, Anwar Sheikha Medical City, and beyond.

The Unknown Soldiers

I cannot write about DHIP without expressing my deep appreciation and gratitude for the dedicated CHO-KISSR team members who worked on running the program, with Khelan S. Rashid and Khazan F. Salih at the forefront, followed by Karo K. Rasool, Tabin L. Raouf, Khanda S. Majeed, Alan K. Sharif, Shajwan H. Abdalla, Davin D. Ahmed, and Bestun O. Amin. In addition to the giants, the demanding implementation of this program would not have been possible without the extra mile and immense care of these unknown soldiers. I would also like to thank the other CHO-KISSR team members (Roza A. Radha and Gulala A. Aziz) and our volunteer (Niyan H. Ibrahim) who indirectly and through their work for the CHO-KISSR team contributed to the program.

On our first port of call in Iraq was Kirkuk, where the Nahrein Network’s Professor Eleanor Robson and Dr Mehiyar Kathem had the opportunity to visit its provincial capital. The Nahrein Network met with Dr Mustafa Muhsin (Kirkuk University) and Dr Khalil al Jabouri (Tikrit University) to discuss their project on cultural heritage and minorities in the province. Dr Mustafa Muhsin and Dr Dlshad Oumar (also a historian at the University of Kirkuk and a previous Nahrein Network – British Institute for the Study of Iraq Visiting Scholar) arranged a superb seminar on the work of the Nahrein Network.  

We were warmly welcomed by the Dean of the College of Arts, Dr Omar al Deen, who also participated in the workshop at the university.  

A scientific event and symposium held by the Dept of History @UOKIRKUKHISTOR1 at the College of Arts,Univer of Kirkuk,in which the Director @Eleanor_Robson of @NahreinNetwork participated and was attended by the Deputy @Mehiyar and the staff as well as students of college ⤵️⤵️ pic.twitter.com/IMYK4Kvww9

— Dr mustafa mehsen (@DrMustafa112016) February 12, 2024

The team also had the pleasure of meeting the president of the University of Kirkuk, Dr Omran Hussein, where Professor Eleanor Robson spoke about the rich history of Kirkuk and its significance to Iraq.  

In addition, the team led by Dr Mustafa Muhsin organised a meeting with Dr. Yousif Thomas Mirkis, Archbishop of the Chaldean Archeparchy of Kirkuk and Sulimaniyah, who welcomed the Nahrein Network supported project on Kirkuk’s minorities and proposed to host several of its workshops and other activities.  

A visit to Kirkuk citadel and the Shrine of Prophet Daniel was also a highlight of the trip to Kirkuk.  

Another major highlight of our trip, this time in Baghdad, was a joint workshop organised with five teams who are working on different cultural heritage related projects in Iraq. Discussions ensued, good lessons were exchanged and the project teams were able to network with each other. 

On this trip to Baghdad, Professor Eleanor Robson and Dr Mehiyar Kathem had the pleasure of meeting Dr Naeem Abed Yasir, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. The Nahrein Network’s current activities and plans for future collaboration were discussed as well as how to strengthen UK – Iraq higher education knowledge-based partnerships and exchange. 

The Nahrein Network team also met with Dr Bahaa Ansaf, President of the University of Baghdad, where ideas for research collaborations were discussed, including initiatives led by the university for the rehabilitation of their natural history museum as well as strengthening museum skills development.  

The team then visited the archaeological site of Babylon, accompanied by Ammar al Taee (archaeologist at the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage) and Dr Haider al Mamori (archaeologist and academic at the University of Babylon). Dr Ali Naji from the University of Kufa also accompanied the Nahrein Network team on a tour of the ancient city.  

UNESCO listed World Heritage Site of Babylon

From Babil, the Nahrein Network team then visited historic Kufa, in the province of Najaf, where Dr Ali Naji is implementing a project exploring the historic buildings of the city.

After Najaf, the Nahrein Network visited the marshes in al Chibayish, in the province of DhiQar, accompanied by our colleague Dr Hamid Samir (Head of Architecture at the University of Basrah).  

The Nahrein Network also had the pleasure of meeting with the President of the University of Basrah where Dr Hamid Samir’s project on climate change and its impact on heritage buildings in Basrah (in collaboration with Loughborough University in the United Kingdom) was discussed. Later, in the presence of Dr Hamid Samir,  a discussion took place with his undergraduate students at the university. 

This trip ended with a visit to Al Ashar canal and its rich cultural heritage, an area that was recently worked on for rehabilitation by UNECO and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.

Mustafa al Hussainy, Head of Basrah’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage also accompanied the Nahrein Network team on a short walk to visit some of the 11 heritage buildings that had recently been worked on for rehabilitation.  

 

Not all atrocities are remembered equally. Some are forgotten, or deliberately erased from public memory, buried like the victims. Sites of memory, including monuments, art and other public depictions and displays, can help society remember and negotiate traumatic pasts.  

On 13th June 2023, the provincial government of Wasit in Iraq unveiled a memorial to the events that unfolded in and around Tikrit’s Camp Speicher in 2014. The military site was renamed by the US Occupation after Michael Scott Speicher, a US pilot shot down by the Iraqi Army in the 1991 Gulf War. Camp Speicher was used from 2003 up to the withdraw of the US Army from the country in 2011 where it was then renamed the Tikrit Air Force Academy. In the Iraqi public sphere, the name Speicher however has lingered and become indelibly associated with the military camp and the unfolding atrocities.  

In June 2014, DAESH rounded up some 2000 student air cadets who had tried to escape the disorder and collapse in Iraq’s security command chain. After Mosul fell to DAESH, Tikrit and its environs, including Camp Speicher became under the control of local tribes who proclaimed allegiance to the armed group. Student air cadets, most of whom were between the ages of 18 and 24 years fled hurriedly on foot in civilian clothes. They were told by local tribes that they would be offered a route to safety. Sunni air cadet trainees were freed and the Shia among them were quickly rounded up by Tikrit’s tribes and marched to trucks that would then take them to Saddam Hussein’s former palace compound, overlooking the Tigris river.  

They were divided into groups and distributed between Tikrit’s main tribes, with each participating tribe now free to enact the most grotesque forms of torture on those in their possession. After those ordeals, some of which lasted for two or three days, most were shot and then dumped in shallow trenches in and around the palace compound. On another key location, prisoners were executed at the edges of the river Tigris in the palace compound. The presidential compound was effectively transformed into a factory of torture and death.  

Former Presidential Palace Compound. At the one of the sites of the massacres. 2023.  

       

The Speicher Memorial in Kut, the provincial capital, is one of Iraq’s first attempts to remember those atrocities in the form of a physical, public-oriented structure. The new memorial in Kut is inspired by Freedom Monument – an iconic emblem in central Baghdad’s Tahrir Square. Designed by renowned artist Jawad Salim, Freedom Monument represents notions of justice and dignity through a collective storytelling of Iraq’s modern and ancient history. Whereas Freedom Monument represents Iraq’s self-determination, calling to the stories of its peoples and rich histories for inspiration, this new memorial depicts the suffering of victims of the Camp Speicher massacres.  

Wasit, Kut. 2023.  

The memorial weaves this event’s traumatic memories, derived from those graphic images captured in videos and photographs posted on social media by DAESH. The spiralling cone structure, not unlike that of Samarra’s famous minerat, is dotted with artistic pieces made of brass depicting scenes of the ordeals endured by the victims. The memorial depicts handcuffed and blindfolded prisoners, some kneeling on a staircase adjacent to a palace building where their bodies would then be dumped into the river.  

A site of execution, at the former Presidential Palace Compound. 2023. 

Painting by Iraqi Artist Ammar Al-Rassam of the former presidential palace adjacent to the Tigris river, Tikrit.  

This is the not the first attempt to memorialise the Speicher massacres. Since 2014, families from different parts of Iraq would visit on every 12 June the former presidential palace compound. A monument that had been erected at the palace complex displays three mothers, one standing defiant and two wailing over a mass grave containing replicas of human skulls and bones strewn on the ground. In addition to recognition and remembrance, those now annual visitations serve group mourning. In the absence of any form Iraqi or foreign psychosocial support – particularly for victim’s children, wives and mothers– the gatherings have assumed a site for catharsis, even in a situation of an absence of justice for victims and where over 700 air cadet students are still missing.  

 A ‘Speicher Camp’ memorial at the former Tikrit Presidential Compound. Tikrit, Iraq.  

Other than families’ own ad hoc efforts to print and display photos of their children, up to the present moment, this was the only memorial to the camp Speicher atrocities in the country. Printing and raising a photo of their missing or deceased loved ones has been a common way families have sought recognition for those atrocities. Significantly, and as simple as this act is, it is perhaps one of the few ways those mostly impoverished and marginalised families can ask for a semblance of justice expressed through society-oriented remembering.  

Former Presidential Palace Compound, Tikrit. June 12th 2023. 

A woman whose son was killed by Daesh collapses at the Speicher Memorial site in Kut, Wasit. June 2023. 

On a recent visit to the former presidential palace, Victims of Camp Speicher, a registered Iraqi non-governmental organisation made up of family members whose sons were killed, discovered an unidentified human skull lying in a heap of earth next to a staircase. Human remains continue to pop out of the ground on the site as a result of rain and wind. The Victims of Camp Speicher Organisation is Iraq’s only non-governmental organisation working to document what happened. It is made up of members of families of those killed by DAESH. Abu Ahmed, the director of the Baghdad office, retrieved his son’s body from one of the mass graves in the Tikrit Presidential compound.  

Photo from Sadiq Mahdi at the former presidential palace, Tikrit. 2023.  

Many identified mass graves have not been excavated and those that have been opened lie without any labelling or proper, professional or even basic demarcation, a sign of the dysfunctional nature of the management of this case. Indeed, anyone visiting the site could easily be walking over a mass grave without knowing it. The presence of unidentified human remains and absence of informational panels or professional management of mass graves is symptomatic of the wider neglect victims and their families continue to endure.  

A mass grave at the former Presidential Palace Compound. Tikrit, Iraq. 2023.  Photo: Sadiq Mahdi. 

 

The absence of professional and organised documentation is indicative of forgetting of the ‘Camp Speicher’ atrocities. Similarly, US-European governments and their funding agencies and organisations in Iraq have up to recently shown little interest in the case. Their interest has focused instead on one section of Iraqi society, namely the plight of Iraq’s Yezidis. US-European funding has imposed and reinforced on Iraq a ‘hierarchy of suffering’ where some groups or sections of Iraqi society are seemingly more worthy of support than others. 

Through a UN Security Council resolution in 2017, the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) was established. A year later, a director  was installed. UNITAD’s mandate is seemingly meant to serve the people of Iraq, namely through ‘collecting, preserving and storing evidence’ on the crimes of DAESH. In a recent discussion at the UN, the Iraqi Government has underlined its unwillingness to extend UNITAD’s mandate, with a closure date of September 2024.

A central reason cited by Iraq’s representative at the United Nations for this decision has been that UNITAD has shared information and data with European governments but not with the Government of Iraq, instigating questions about violations of Iraq’s sovereignty, ethics pertaining to how victim-related and also Government-obtained information is used and who it is shared with and more broadly issues of accountability.  

The year 2024 will mark ten years since those atrocities were enacted on the people of Iraq. It will be a time of reflection and hopefully an opportunity to better explore how memorialisation can assist its people in recovering or at least coming to terms with a traumatic recent past.

Between 12 and 18 February 2023, the Nahrein Network organised a set of events and activities for a delegation representing the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities. The delegation was led by Dr Ahmed Fakak al Badrani, a historian of Iraq’s modern politics, who assumed the position of Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities and Dr Laith Majeed Hussein, Deputy Minister and Director of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), Iraq’s national heritage institution.

First on the list of cultural and educational meetings was Newcastle University. The delegation was warmly received by the university’s management, including its president and vice-chancellor Professor Chris Day.

The hospitality and welcome from @kmerrin and colleagues was unparalleled. A meeting with Professor Chris Day – President of @UniofNewcastle with our guests from #Iraq Minister Of Culture, Director of State Board of Anquities & Chancellor of @UniversityofMos – onwards & upwards! https://t.co/k7mOlLusE1 pic.twitter.com/s27vtIXIEI

— The Nahrein Network (@NahreinNetwork) February 14, 2023

Dr Fakak al Badrani and Dr Laith Hussein spoke about their work and challenges in Iraq and opportunities for collaboration. Dr Qusay al Ahmedy, chancellor of the University of Mosul and Dr Rawa Qasha, director of scholarships and external relations at the university were also in attendance. On behalf of the University of Mosul, Dr Rawa Qasha (a PhD graduate of Newcastle University) gave a superb presentation on the progress being made at the University of Mosul, where she also spoke about opportunities for building research partnerships.

The group visited the Great North Museum: Hancock and its temporary exhibition on Gertrude Bell, curated by Dr Mark Jackson. Soon after, the delegation visited and spoke to the researchers and archivists who completed the digitisation of her collections.

Such an honour to co-host Dr Ahmed, Dr Laith and Dr Kossay as we explored the Challenging Legacies exhibition at @GNM_Hancock @ArchaeologyNCL https://t.co/1rsyWLP474

— Mark Jackson (@mpcjackson) February 16, 2023

The delegation got the opportunity to see some of Gertrude Bell’s belongings, such as her diaries, photographs and translations of Arabic text.

Dr Laith and Dr Ahmed looking at the @GertrudeBellArc website and a photo of #mosul taken by her in 1919. Some of her other items including her notes and letters were on display #Iraq pic.twitter.com/1UADroM3iB

— The Nahrein Network (@NahreinNetwork) February 14, 2023

Later that day, Dr Laith Hussein delivered a lecture at the Hershel Building at Newcastle University titled ‘State Board of Antiquities and Heritage Iraq: achievements and challenges’, where he spoke about current work being implemented to rehabilitate cultural sites and Iraq’s cultural emergencies and challenges in safeguarding its rich body of cultural heritage.

Dr Laith Hussein, Director of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage – Iraq's national heritage institution – spoke recently at @UniofNewcastle on work at SBAH and main challenges facing #iraq cultural heritage. pic.twitter.com/XPOUezhS0h

— The Nahrein Network (@NahreinNetwork) March 29, 2023

The next day, after our morning train ride to London we visited the Iraqi Embassy in London and met with Ambassador to the United Kingdom His Excellency Dr Mohammed al Sadr. Along with the delegation, Professor Eleanor Robson, Director of the Nahrein Network and Head of the Department of History at University College London, discussed ways of strengthening cultural and educational partnerships.

It was a great pleasure to host Dr Ahmed Fakak, Iraq’s Minister of Culture and Dr. Laith M. Hussein, Head of State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH). This past week included productive meetings and visits to many educational and cultural institutions. https://t.co/CgMbQ0K6gb

— The Nahrein Network (@NahreinNetwork) February 20, 2023

Next on our itinerary was a visit to the University of Oxford, where we visited three cultural institutions, the Ashmolean Museum, the School of Archaeology and the Pitt Rivers Museum. Hosted by Dr Bill Finlayson, director of EAMENA and the School of Archaeology, we discussed ways of strengthening institutional relationships with the SBAH. The delegation also visited several of the specialised labs at the university.

A short walk away, we visited the Pitt Rivers Museum, one of the world’s most distinguished anthropology-oriented museums. Dr Bill Finlayson kindly facilitated access to one of their Iraq collections, the archive of British explorer and writer, Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger. As a historian of modern Iraq, and formerly at the University of Mosul, Dr Ahmed Fakak al Badrani was particularly fond of the photographs of the country that captured a specific period and way of life in Iraq.

Dr Ahmed Fakak, Iraq’s Minister of Culture and Dr. Laith M. Hussein, Head of SBAH and @NahreinNetwork came to visit @EAMENA123 and @school_of_arch. They visited @Pitt_Rivers Wilfred Thesiger’s #photography archive of the #Iraq Marshes and Marsh Arabs. pic.twitter.com/YGPYKoRmIE

— EAMENA (@EAMENA123) February 16, 2023

We then set off to meet with Professor Paul Collins, former curator at the Ashmolean Museum. Professor Collins had spearheaded the revitalisation of one of the galleries at the museum that concern Ancient Iraq, introducing new visual technologies and visitor-friendly interaction. The collections including from Sumer, Assyria and Babylon were on display, including one of an Assyrian relief where its original colours were displayed through the use of a projector.

We concluded our @UniofOxford tour visiting the incredible Dia al-Azzawi exhibition @AshmoleanMuseum
Big thanks to @Bill_Finlayson and @P_T_Collins for taking the time to give us such a great tour today! pic.twitter.com/rgut9n5mWR

— The Nahrein Network (@NahreinNetwork) February 15, 2023

We also had opportunity to visit renowned Iraqi artist Diaa Al Azzawi’s temporary exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, featuring work looking in part at the destruction of Mosul. That exhibition instigated an interest from Dr Ahmed Fakak al Badrani to visit the artist. The next day, a meeting with Diaa Al Azzawi was arranged in London, where discussions ensued about life in Iraq, a conversation that reflected the hardships, trauma and troubles Iraqis and Iraqi artists have experienced over the past twenty years.

Yesterday we had the immense opportunity to visit Dia Azzawi in his studio in London with Dr Ahmed Fakak, Iraq’s Minister of Culture and Dr. Laith Hussein, Head of SBAH.
Shout out to @mysakh for making this happen!#DiaalAzzawi @Eleanor_Robson @Mehiyar pic.twitter.com/m1FhGoc95g

— The Nahrein Network (@NahreinNetwork) February 17, 2023

The next day, Professor Eleanor Robson, Dr Ahmed Fakak al Badrani and Dr Laith Hussein participated at a roundtable meeting to discuss the current state of cultural heritage in Iraq, and several rounds of questions were taken from participants.

Yesterday the #IraqInitiative & @NahreinNetwork welcomed Dr Ahmed Fakak al Badrani, Iraq's Minister for Culture, to @ChathamHouse.
The Minister discussed the new government's reform strategy and his ministry's efforts to protect and preserve the Iraq's cultural heritage. pic.twitter.com/oa72dvtMbI

— Chatham House MENA (@CH_MENAP) February 17, 2023

Lastly, the delegation visited the Iraqi Embassy where a British Museum media-oriented event was organised with Dr Timothy Potts, Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum and British Museum director Dr Hartwig Fischer. The event revolved around the British Museum’s current archaeological excavations at the Sumerian city of Tello/Girsu. 

 

 

 

 

 

On our trip to Iraq last month, we had noticed that most of the passengers arriving at Baghdad International Airport were pilgrims intending to visit the shrine of Sufi founder Abdul Qadir al-Gailani. Knowing that the next few days would be made up of formal meetings, we decided to take the opportunity to visit on that evening the shrine in central Baghdad.

Pilgrims from Iraq, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, UK and South Africa and other countries had come to worship and contribute to the spirit of a shared and global Sufi community. As a central meeting point for Sufi Muslims, the Shrine of Abdul Qadir al-Gailani fused devotion and religious practice – commonly with poetry, song and chanting – with a fervour of celebration and on the main courtyard, one could experience the uniqueness of that cultural and social mergence.

Professor Eleanor and I also met with the new Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, Dr Ahmed Fakak al-Badrani. Dr al-Badrani had previously been a lecturer at the University of Mosul, specialised in the political history of Iraq. The meeting was attended by Dr Laith Hussein, Deputy Minister and Director of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) and Dr Saad Iskander, an advisor at the Ministry. We discussed the Nahrein Network’s plans in the country and ways to support one of its key institutions, namely SBAH.

A meeting was also organised with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, led by Director General of Scholarships Dr Hazeem Taher and his colleagues. We spoke about the Nahrein Network’s current activities and efforts to support Iraqi universities and academics and ways to strengthen our work together. We also had the opportunity to meet with Dr Fatimah who is leading the ministry’s language centre and who would later be participating in the Nahrein Network’s AcademIQ workshops in Baghdad, which are part of our work to support Iraqi capacity for improved research in the country.

As part of this trip to Baghdad, I went on to meet with Deputy Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, Dr Naufel Abu Ragheef, where we discussed the work of the Nahrein Network. I also took the opportunity to visit some departments within the Ministry’s building, focusing on its modern art collections.

A day later, I also met with the current and future director of Diyala’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, Mr Ahmed Abduljabbar and Dr Ali Tameemi. Both had been recipients of a previous Nahrein Network grant to document and safeguard Diyala’s rich cultural heritage.

On a return visit to SBAH, I bumped into the Director of Al-Anbar SBAH’s provincial office, Mr Ammar. We spoke about his plans for revitalising the cultural heritage of Iraq’s largest province. Mr Ammar, whose office is based in Ramadi in Al-Anbar, spoke about the need to strengthen the capacity of their cadre to conserve and protect the province’s heritage, which has long been neglected.

Professor Eleanor Robson’s trip to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) was equally successful. It was organised by Dr Rozhen Kamal Mohammed-Amin, a Co-Director of the Nahrein Network working in Sulaimani and who is now affiliated with the Kurdistan Institution for Strategic Studies and Scientific Research (KISSR).

Eleanor, Rozhen and members of her team were welcomed by the provincial governor of Sulaimani, Dr Haval Abubaker, who stated his support for initiatives in the field of cultural heritage and the uses of new technologies.

In Erbil, an agreement between the Nahrein Network and Kak Kaify Mustafa Ali, director of the KRI’s General Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage was signed, paving the way for increased partnership.

A visit to Erbil Citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was also organised. Eleanor, Rozhen, and her deputy Tabin met with Lanah Haddad, Regional Director for the American NGO, the Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TARII). She introduced them to Salar Al-Agha, manager of the citadel’s interpretation centre, and spoke about creative ways to build visitor-learning at the site. The next day they were also introduced to Dr Georges Mouammar, the new director of the Institute Francaise du Proche-Orient (IFPO) in Erbil.

In Erbil, Eleanor and Rozhen also met with Dr Yasmin Abdulkareem Mohammed Ali, Dean of the College of Archaeology at the University of Mosul to discuss shared interests in digital cultural heritage.

In May 2022, the Nahrein Network organised a one-day event titled Cultural Heritage: Projects and Partnerships in Iraq. The event was held at the Baghdadi Cultural Centre, in al Mutanabi Street, central Baghdad. The Baghdadi Cultural Centre overlooks the River Tigris and is located in a historic site built during the Ottoman Empire and which was previously an Abbasid-era building. It lies directly opposite al Qushla, the famous Ottoman barracks and administrative building.

The event was attended by Professor Eleanor Robson and Dr Mehiyar Kathem. It was chaired by Dr Ali Naji Attiyah, of Kufa University. Presentations from ten different funded projects in the country covered several of Iraq’s provinces. The public event focused on work supported by the Nahrein Network’s funded activities in the country, including on such things as post conflict digital documentation, intangible cultural heritage, Christian heritage, cultural groups and Babylon.

Speakers, representatives and attendees hailed from Iraq’s universities, media, the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), the Iraq Museum, as well as members of the public.

 

Ali Naji Attiyah’s brillant chairing of the event made it a huge success. Eleanor Robson spoke about the Nahrein Network’s past work and its future plans in the country.

Since the recent rehabilitation of al Mutanabi street the area has become a major cultural and tourist hub in Baghdad, attracting thousands of people to its cafes, bookshops and cultural sites.

The Baghdadi Cultural Centre is one of Iraq’s most active institutions, working to promote Iraq’s diverse and pluralistic cultures. It houses private museums and libraries, including important collections of books, and offers its space for free to the public and cultural organisers– particularly on busy Fridays, a weekend day in Iraq, to promote handicrafts, theatre and more generally cultural activities.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1528231752233365506

The Baghdad Cultural Centre houses a growing number of private libraries, donated to it for safekeeping and management. Its director, Mr Talib al Issa, manages the building and organises its weekly events. The private libraries belong to some of Iraq’s intellectuals, including Jews, Kurds, Christians, Assyrians and Arabs, constituting a diverse and visual record of Iraq’s history, all made available for the public to visit.

Not only are private collections donated, but also the personal possessions and such things as furniture, are often transferred to the Baghdadi Cultural Centre, a tradition found across Iraq that preserves a living memory of Iraq’s intellectuals and their lives.

Eleanor Robson and Mehiyar Kathem also visited the heritage museum collections located on site, an initiative of Mr Sabah al Saady, a well known advocate for safeguarding the country’s cultural heritage. Through his personal efforts, Mr Sabah al Asady established the Land of Rafidain (or two rivers) Museum, which displays historical artefacts and heritage pieces that celebrate Iraq’s history.

On site was also Saad Al Adhami, an Assyriology-loving potter, who makes some of these beautiful bowls and other cultural objects.

Saad Al Adhami and Eleanor Robson spoke about Cuneiform writing, and its beauty.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1527639657906847745

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 16 May, the Nahrein Network, represented by Dr Mehiyar Kathem, met with Iraq’s Minister of Culture, Dr Hassan Nadhem. The Nahrein Network’s activities in Iraq were presented and its 10-year plan, available on the Nahrein Network website, was discussed.

Dr Kathem spoke about the need for greater co-ordination and strengthening Iraq’s heritage education and intellectual infrastructure.

Funded activities supported by the Nahrein Network were discussed, including plans for future collaboration. Other key points of discussion included the need for improving the role of UK and Iraqi universities in the field of archaeology and heritage.

Dr Nadhem welcomed the Nahrein Network’s work to date, which formally commenced in 2017 and requested support for strengthening the capacity of Iraqi archaeologists in the protection, promotion and celebration of Iraq’s rich cultural heritage.

For regular updates on the Nahrein Network, see @nahreinnetwork on twitter and facebook