Mardutha:
An electronic media platform launched by the General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, to be its portal through which it looks out upon the vast world, and its gateway, always open to containing, highlighting and disseminating the products and creativity of intellectuals, authors, writers, artists, journalists, academics, and all creators in Syriac cultural, heritage and artistic affairs, from among our people and others, those who are interested in confirming the importance, effectiveness, and magnitude of the Syriac cultural presence and the abundance of its precious legacy. “Electronic Mardutha” continues the journey of the “Mardutha newspaper,” in informing everyone, without exception, about our culture, our civilisation, and our heritage, as well as the current and future news of the General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts’ events and activities.
The Institution:
The Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts was established in 2007, within the structure of the Culture and Youth Ministry, and the former Erbil Directorate of Syriac/Assyrian Culture and Arts was attached to it. Its headquarters were opened in Ankawa, and it began its work in February 2008. It has several sub-directorates: the Syriac Culture and Arts Directorate in Duhok and the Syriac Heritage and Museum Directorate in Ankawa.
The Directorate has been organising a series of annual cultural events: Syriac Cultural Week, as well as seminars on the role of Syriacs in Iraqi culture and the Syriac language, the Syriac Heritage Festival, and a series of art exhibitions and cultural lectures by groups of prominent academics and intellectuals. The Directorate also continued to print its distinguished publications under the title “Syriac Culture Series,” in addition to issuing “Banipal” magazine, which had been suspended since 2010 and which has now been reissued, in addition to “Mardutha” newspaper, which has also been suspended.