“It is clear that the Museum has faced some major challenges in the past years,” says Mr. Motta. “I hope that Iraqis will soon be able to freely enjoy these incredible collections. The right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the National Museum is arguably the greatest cultural institution in the country.”
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights reiterates the importance of cultural participation, and cites conservation as a critical step to ensure the diffusion of culture in the community. Conservation is now the key activity to enable the Museum to reopen, and it is well and truly underway. In every gallery, there are conservation specialists working with tiny paintbrushes, or checking the optimal atmospheric conditions on specialized instruments that dot the walls.
Museum staff are immensely proud of what they are achieving. A special guided tour for the UN delegation was led by Museum Curator, Mr. Madhi, and Director of the Museum Education Department, Ms. Yass.
“We are working very hard to restore the galleries and reinstate the collections,” says Mr. Madhi. Standing in the centre of what will become the ‘Sumerian Room’ he points out the works still underway, and the precious objects that are being arranged in new showcases for the very first time.
“The Iraqi authorities have achieved a great deal in protecting our heritage, and to retrieve stolen and trafficked artefacts,” says Ms. Louise Haxthausen, Director of UNESCO Office for Iraq, following her first visit to the museum in her new role. “However there are still vast challenges ahead where the support of the UN and the international community at large will continue to be critical.”
International support has already made a positive impact, and continues to flow in from several countries, including the United States and Italy. The UN continues to be an important partner, with the UNESCO Office for Iraq working side by side with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Ministry of Culture, and the Kurdistan Regional Government to support good practices in museum management, conservation and restoration of antiquities and historical sites. UNESCO also works to strengthen Iraqi capacities to regain cultural properties, both ancient and modern, that have been illicitly exported from the country. In 2013, UNESCO will organize an international conference in Baghdad to discuss the way forward for the protection of Iraqi cultural heritage, ten years after the looting of the National Museum.
What will be left of this cradle of civilisations? It was 8000 years ago. Where are intellectuals, artists, thinkers, academics, social and human scientists, cultivated people of Iraq now? Everywhere in the world, but in Iraq...