Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm participates in organizing a seminar on art and war

Iraqi Embassy participated in a Seminar on “protection of artworks in conflicts” jointly organized by the embassies of Iraq and Spain in cooperation with the National Museum of Sweden on 6/9/2022.

The speakers Susanna Pettersson, Director General of the National Museum of Sweden, Dr. Fakhir Mohammed Hassan, Director General of Art in the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, representatives of Louvre Museum and UNESCO as well as professors from Universities of Madrid and Barcelona highlighted the role of the museum in crisis and the protection of artworks in wars.

Chargé d’Affairs, Mr. Pewan Zawitai, stated in his keynotes that the seminar serves as an opportunity to exchange views and experiences as well as to highlight the damage occurred to the cultural heritage due to wars, stressing the importance of preventive measures and cooperation in protecting and preserving the cultural heritage.

Dr. Fakhir Mohammed Hassan focused in his contribution on the rich cultural heritage of Iraq, the contributions of the Mesopotamian civilizations to the world in the fields of writing, agriculture, astronomy and shed light on the damage occurred to the Iraqi antiquities as result of looting and smuggling during the 2003 war, and also during ISIS terrorist control over some Iraqi archaeological sites in 2014. He stressed the need for international support to repatriate Iraqi antiquities and renovate archaeological sites that were damaged.