About Us

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.

Our affiliated institutions:

Syriac Cultural Library:

The Syriac Cultural Library is one of the most important specialised libraries in the Kurdistan Region, and an important and unique resource in Iraq and the Middle East for scholars and researchers in Syriac culture. It has developed over the years and been supplemented with more references and original books, as well as periodicals and rare sources, through purchase either from various book fairs inside or outside Iraq. Moreover, what is not possible to obtain is copied and bound to be accessible to researchers and readers, and its shelves now include more than 5,000 titles specialising in our people’s culture.

Syriac Heritage Museum:

The Syriac Heritage Museum enjoys unique importance and particularity, as it is the first and only one, in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, that specialises in conserving, preserving and displaying everything related to our people’s cultural, artistic and popular heritage, both tangible and intangible, with what it contains of popular costumes and heritage collectibles in addition to pictures and profiles on the lives of the most prominent pioneers of our people’s national and cultural renaissance, kept in the Cultural Hall. In addition, its location overlooks the ancient Qasra Mound in Ankawa, as well as the town’s oldest church, “Mar Gewargis.”

A Word from the General Director:

Today, as we stand on the threshold of a new era in the journey of the General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts, we all hope that it will be full of work and activities at all levels. We bear in mind our plans for the year 2022 to be distinguished and full of achievements, and to be followed by other more distinguished and accomplished years, thanks to the cooperation and support of our Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people, and the encouragement and support of our Ministry, the Culture and Youth Ministry, which has been and continues to be supportive of us despite the circumstances of the financial crisis and its consequences.

As a cultural institution, we stand at the same distance from everyone, and our doors are open to everyone – intellectuals, writers, poets and artists – calling for the turning of a new page, beyond the mistakes and missteps of the past. The Directorate’s new approach is openness to the different other and acceptance of diversity, which we consider a precious treasure that enriches our culture and multiplies its productivity. Our activity will not be limited to just conventional achievements, but we support all content creators, young people in particular, and we place at the first level of our priorities the encouragement of the new generation to take an interest in our people’s culture, civilisation and heritage, so that it looks to the future without forgetting the depth of its roots in the Land of the Two Rivers.

 

Kaldo Ramzi Oghanna
Director General of Syriac Culture and Arts