Archaeology & Culture Preservation Institute

The Catholic University in Erbil-CUE, in partnership with the Yazda Organization, The University of Liverpool Department of Archaeology, Pazmany Peter University Institute of Archeology, University of Pardubice Faculty of Restoration, the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee, and the GEMA Art Group A.S., seeks to establish an institute for Archaeology and Culture Preservation in the Nineveh Plain and Sinjar as a way of preserving the culture, heritage and identity of the endogenous peoples of Iraq.

Moreover, it will help returning minorities by contributing to a sustainable basis for economic development, job creation, inclusion in donor support for Iraq’s cultural heritage, providing skills to members from relevant communities so they can contribute as stakeholders in the future management of their cultural heritage and thus also strengthening community cohesion, inter-community understanding and of national pride.

A key need in middle Eastern heritage management is to create adequate enablers of interpretation and presentation that draw on rich local traditions as well as on contemporary academic research. Our objective is to generate a change in the inclusivity and effectiveness of multi-vocal interpretation of the damaged sites and threatened intangible heritage during a period of resettlement and restoration.

As stated in The World Heritage List: Filling the Gaps- an Action Plan for the Future (ICOMOS 2004:25), Middle Eastern sites are under-represented on the World Heritage List prompting the conclusion that “special priority should therefore be given to capacity building” (p41). The proposed Institute of Archaeology & Culture Preservation in Northern Iraq can contribute significantly to such capacity building.