Lynn Meskell & Benjamin Isakhan

A View from Mosul

Following the devastation of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul by the Islamic State, numerous international agencies have launched preservation programs to reconstruct monuments and sites within the city. In this short article we present some findings from the first survey of 1,600 residents of Mosul revealing local attitudes toward that reconstruction. Those results have implications for current and future projects in Iraq. Although Iraqi people support heritage initiatives, we demonstrate that their priorities are for broader rehabilitation efforts that foreground security, humanitarian aid, and peace building. Additionally, rather than archaeological sites and museums, they prefer that local religious sites be restored, because they hold everyday meanings and are used in the community. And while they acknowledge the contributions made by foreign agencies, the residents of Mosul seek greater agency in the future of their own heritage. Taken together, these findings lead us to reflect on the broader themes of repair and rehabilitation and the role material heritage might hopefully play in the aftermath of conflict and trauma.

Introduction

During the Second World War, teams of international experts,¹ famously exemplified by the Monuments Men, set the priorities for salvage during the conflict and for heritage reconstruction in its wake. Since then, we have become accustomed to foreign governments, multilateral agencies like UNESCO, foundations, and external experts prescribing lists and identifying value through the mapping of cultural resources on foreign soil. Iraq has been the subject of such extensive mapping and extrinsic decision making in the context of the Gulf War (1990–91), the Iraq War (2003–11), and now following the insurgency of the Islamic State (IS). While site listing and monitoring is now an accepted facet of military operations and (post)conflict rehabilitation, we outline here more equitable processes for heritage recognition and reconstruction. These involve garnering public opinion and community priorities, representing a cross-section of people, within an ethical framework. Results such as these might thus yield greater heritage potentials for healing and rehabilitation.

1. L. Allais, Designs of Destruction (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018).

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