Interactive · long-read
Iraq's Cultural Diplomacy
UNESCO, the UAE, the EU, France, Italy. The coalition that came together around Mosul.
UNESCO, the UAE, the EU, France, Italy. The coalition that came together around Mosul.
The recovery of Mosul did not happen in isolation. It is one of the largest acts of post-conflict cultural diplomacy of the twenty-first century. This story map traces the coalition — its partners, its mechanisms, and the choices that turned destruction into shared work.
What's inside
6 chapters · scroll through, or open the interactive at the top.
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01
UNESCO · Revive the Spirit of Mosul
The framework programme launched in 2018.
3 min -
02
The United Arab Emirates
The lead donor for the Al-Nuri minaret.
2 min -
03
The European Union & member states
France, Italy, Germany — funding the churches and the museum.
3 min -
04
The Government of Iraq
The State Board of Antiquities and the Mosul municipality.
2 min -
05
Universities & researchers
University of Mosul, Oxford, Yale, the Smithsonian.
2 min -
06
Civil society & the diaspora
Mosul Eye, Mosul Heritage, the returning diaspora.
2 min
A note from the historian
Why we built this
Coalitions are easier to build around destruction than around recovery. Mosul has been the rare case where the second held. This map is the record of how — and why.
— Omar Mohammed · Mosul Eye