ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – They come from all corners of Iraq - men and women, Arabs and Kurds, Muslims and Christians, Sunnis and Shiites -- a microcosm of the ethnic diversity that encapsulates the country. And though there is many a difference among them, they are united by their shared passion of preserving one of the world’s most ancient civilizations.
Since the first class in artifact conservation was held with eight students out of a small house in the Erbil district of Ainkawa in the fall of 2009, the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage (IICAH) has grown into an internationally renowned collaboration, with the mission of preserving Iraq’s rich cultural heritage.
Experts from around the world come to Erbil to train museum and heritage professionals from across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in the conservation and preservation techniques.
The earliest developments of human culture can be traced across the dry, arid lands of Iraq. But those same lands that gave rise to human civilization have repeatedly been subject to the destruction and pillaging of war.
The losses culminated with the April 2003 looting of the National Museum in Baghdad in the wake of the US-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein. The pillaging lasted less than 48 hours, but in that time an estimated 15,000 items were plundered. The museum, once unrivaled for its collection of precious Mesopotamian antiquities, suffered staggering losses and was left in an absolute shambles.
Out of this loss, and in acknowledgement that preserving its cultural heritage was a vital component of rebuilding Iraq, the idea to establish a long-term and sustainable in-country training facility was born.
“The initial goal of the institute was to increase the skills and capacity of professionals working in heritage conservation in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region,” says Brian Lione, executive director of the IICAH, who notes that Iraq is one generation behind when it comes to heritage conservation and preservation.
The students, who come from all 18 provinces of Iraq, are primarily employees from the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage and its equivalent in the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Lione notes that universities in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region only offer archaeology programs, which do not cover either conservation -- for moveable items such as artifacts and objects, or preservation -- for things like buildings and structures.
“This is where the IICAH comes in. We fill in the gaps lacking from other education programs in the country,” Lione says.
After the idea for the IICAHH was established, generous funding from the KRG allowed the former Erbil Central Library building to be turned into a state-of-the-art educational facility and hub for heritage conservation professionals.
“There is a wonderful synergy here in bringing these people together,” says Dr. Nancy Odegaard, conservator and head of the preservation program at Arizona University and the Arizona State Museum.
Since 2010, the University of Delaware has been the financial supporter for academic programs on a grant basis. It has also received funding from a number of different bodies, including the US Embassy in Baghdad, the Getty Foundation and private donations.
Odegaard says the institute is very well-known in the professional circle of heritage conservation, and that the well-run facility makes it easier for instructors to come in and teach courses on short order.
At present, the IICAH regularly offers long-term courses in Museums Collections Care and Conservation, Architectural Conservation and Archaeological Site Preservation.
A variety of short-term courses are also held, covering topics such as Disaster Planning, Collections Management and Archaeological Repositories Management, among others.
“The students are trained to international standards that they are then expected to adhere to,” Lione says. “They’re thirsty for this knowledge and are eager to apply the international standards they learn back home where they work.”
Jessie Johnson, academic director of the IICAH, notes that experts from Arizona were sought out for a short course held last week on Collections Management because of the landscape and climatic parallels the arid US state shares with Iraq.
“The environment and climate are similar – hot and dry, so there are shared legacies. People from Arizona can be of tremendous value with their directly transferable knowledge,” Johnson explains.
Arthur Vokes, archaeological repository curator and manager of Arizona University and the Arizona State Museum, was also brought in alongside Odegaard to assist teaching the Collections Management course.
“This is my first time here and it’s been fascinating. Seeing the students pick up on things has been fun,” Vokes says.
While looting, ongoing conflict, and security issues continue to pose challenges and threats to the conservation of heritage sites in the south of Iraq, in the Kurdistan Region the largest threat to cultural heritage today is development.
“With the expansion of the cities, road development, new sewage systems and all the other construction going on, archaeological sites that no one knows are there being destroyed,” Johnson explains.
To try to stem further destruction, Johnson says there are several different projects working to identify sites through the use of satellite imagery and surveys across the region.
“The documentation of the sites gives the KRG Directorate of Antiquities tools to either do rescue archaeology or negotiate to protect the sites. More, however, needs to be done to put into place procedures that require the companies that profit from development to pay for the archaeological work -- not the government agencies responsible for its protection,” Johnson says.
She adds that the number of foreign missions coming to do work in Iraq has increased significantly, which is helping change perceptions of a region that people previously did not know what to expect from.
“Northern Iraq, and not just the Kurdish region, hasn’t been looked at a lot, if at all. The focus was always concentrated on the south, on monumental sites,” Johnson notes.
As the field has broadened over the years, collection has become increasingly important and efforts have been directed towards filling in all the details of the environmental landscape.
“The more detail we have, the greater the chance of identifying the past,” Johnson says, “If you don’t get all the details the first time, you’ll never know what you had.”
