Picking up the Pieces Confronting Heritage Trauma in the Post-Conflict national museums of Syria and Iraq

This thesis follows the trajectories of two museums, the National Museum of Damascus and the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, across the past two decades, to investigate the extent to which notions of nation, national heritage and the public good have come to be evaluated before, during and after conflict. Charged with pride and burdened with pain, the material heritage of this region in many ways stood at the centre of the conflicts of the past twenty years, and would come to define the future of the nations of Syria and Iraq. Tracing the histories of the two national museums, from closure to reopening, through the vantage point of the antiquities in their collections, this thesis strives to illustrate how Syrian and Iraqi heritage has been appropriated and narrated in strategic and contested ways by a diverse network of invested actors, both locally and globally. Drawing on exhibitions and press material surrounding pivotal events in these museums’ biographies, this thesis argues that in...Show moreThis thesis follows the trajectories of two museums, the National Museum of Damascus and the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, across the past two decades, to investigate the extent to which notions of nation, national heritage and the public good have come to be evaluated before, during and after conflict. Charged with pride and burdened with pain, the material heritage of this region in many ways stood at the centre of the conflicts of the past twenty years, and would come to define the future of the nations of Syria and Iraq. Tracing the histories of the two national museums, from closure to reopening, through the vantage point of the antiquities in their collections, this thesis strives to illustrate how Syrian and Iraqi heritage has been appropriated and narrated in strategic and contested ways by a diverse network of invested actors, both locally and globally. Drawing on exhibitions and press material surrounding pivotal events in these museums’ biographies, this thesis argues that in suppressing the legacy of pain and trauma with which their patrimonies are inscribed, local and international culture professionals impeded post-conflict healing and inadvertently acted against the interest of the public good. Reconstructing the museum and its destroyed collections could serve to incite national introspection and to reconnect the peoples of Syria and Iraq with the heritage from which they have for so long been alienated, but if recent years’ heritage trauma remains unaddressed in the post-conflict museum, genuine healing may never be attained. In order to lay the groundwork for reconciliation, and to pave the way for the transformation of conflict, this thesis proposes agonistic dialogue as the means through which museum professionals and museum publics may collectively come to terms with the healing and hurting sides of their national heritage.Show less

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Picking up the Pieces Confronting Heritage Trauma in the Post-Conflict national museums of Syria and Iraq