Preserving the Disappearing Cultural Heritage of Post-War Mosul, Iraq: Valuing Diversity in the Urban Recovery of Mosul’s Old Districts

In the aftermath of severe destruction of Mosul’s heritage assets and the displacement of its communities, Mosul’s long-lived heritage of arts, folklore, crafts and festivals is quickly disappearing. This project seeks to implement a strategic approach to revive local traditions and reactivate the cultural heritage of the Old City through memorialisation, preservation and dissemination of shared heritage as a catalyst for sustainable socio-economic mobilisation of the heritage economy. It aims to research, record and analyse the memories of heritage practices, festivities and crafts that used to define the pre-conflict society of Mosul. Through community engagement and co-creation workshops with displaced communities, the research team is looking to digitally record and archive oral narratives and memories of local residents and craftsmen, trace spatial networks of historic festivities, crafts and places of production to generate an interactive, digital and tangible record of the city’s traditions, and build capacity amongst young generations and unemployed women in the Old City. 

Research Team: Professor Mohamed Abdelmonem, Nottingham Trent University; Professor Robin Coningham, Durham University; Dr Gehan Selim, University of Leeds; Dr Mufeed Dhanoon, Mosul University, Iraq; Dr Fawziya Al Maliky, State Board of Antiquities and Heritage in Iraq; Dr Sabeeh Farhan, Wasit, Iraq