Crossing Musem : the construction of the Sulaimany Modern Art Museum

Version française - English version
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photo : Olivier Touron	Where ? Sulaimany is in the heart of the Middle East. It is in the North-West of Iraq, in Kurdistan. Close to Iran, the town is 355km from Baghdad. Sulaimany was founded in 1784 by the decision of the Emir Ibrahim Pasha Badan to transfer the capital of his emirate, Qala Chwalan, to a new site 30km away in a valley surrounded by mountains. This new town called Sulaimany was the capital of the emirate of Baban until 1851. Since the beginning of the 19th century, Sulaimany has become the intellectual, cultural and scientific centre of Kurdistan. Many of the writers, poets and artists who have played a role in Kurdish cultural, social and national life originated from this town, which was also an important centre for the preservation and development of the Kurdish language. According to a census carried out in 1987, the population of the town was 364 096, whilst the region administered by Sulaimany was home to 951 723 people (Sulaimany, Chwarta, Penjwin, Rania, Qaladze, Dokan and Halabja). It was at this time that the region, already affected by the Iran-Iraq war, fell victim to the Anfal, a truly genocidal attack launched by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds: towns and villages were destroyed, bombarded with chemical weapons, and people were deported, imprisoned, executed, or simply disappeared.
In 1991, the government of the Kurdish region of Iraq was set up in Sulaimany. It was the first democratically and freely elected government in Iraq. It was confronted with the huge task of rebuilding the region's economic, social and education structures. Despite all the difficulties, artistic life and education have developed, and this renewal has brought with it a desire for venues adapted to these activities, places that match the aspirations of the people to form part of the modern world and develop real exchanges with other cultures. From within the regional community and from Kurds of the Diaspora, a project was initiated to build a museum of modern art in Sulaimany. Museums are sadly lacking in this part of the world: there are no permanent venues for exhibiting contemporary art within a radius of 350 km (even Baghdad, though it may put on large exhibitions, has no permanent site for contemporary art) The history and location of this town make it a favourable and highly symbolic place to create a Modern Art Museum.		photo : Olivier Touron
	. Whith ?
A Kurdish-European project management team : At the end of 2002, the cultural associations La Pluie d'oiseaux (The showering of Birds), (Roubaix, France), Art in Common (London), Kaosmos (Liège, Belgium) the architects Studio Caro (Utrecht, Netherlands) the artists Hushyar Rasheed (Amsterdam), Rebwar Saeed (London), OlivierTouron and Edith Henry (Lille) decide to come together to carry forward the project to set up the Sulaimany Modern Art Museum (design, partnerships, discussions on the content and management of the museum) in conjunction with the architects and artists of Sulaimany, the Kurdistan Artists' Union (Sulaimany), the University of Sulaimany's Fine Arts and Journalism departments.
	. Political will
le Conseil municial de Sulaimany lors de l'attribution d'un terrain pour le Mussée (photo : Olivier Touron)

Our approaches to the authorities in Sulaimany have led to the attribution of building land (January 2003), and more recently to the confirmation of political support in the building of this museum.Nos démarches auprès des autorités de Sulaimany ont débouché en janvier 2003 sur l'attribution d'un terrain pour le musée situé sur une place centrale de la ville, à côté du parc Azady (Liberté).	Construction land for the museum ....	Located on one of the town's central squares, next to Azady (Freedom) park, the land consists of a surface area of 2 641 m2, with roads on all four sides.
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The Sulaimany Modern Art Museum :		Crossing Museum
Designing an architectural project Kurdish architects from Sulaimany and from the Diaspora have been working for several months on the design of this new modern art museum. They feelstrongly that the construction should be a modern design of high architectural quality so as to reflect both the specificities of Sulaimany's civilization and the requirements of a 21st century modern art museum. By agreement of all the parties involved in the setting up of this project, the emphasis should be on creating a place of exchange, where creative eyes can meet. This building should not serve only as an exhibition centre for works of art. It will also be a centre for the exchange of artistic ideasand hopes between Kurdish artists and foreign artists. The building will contain a gallery for exhibiting works of foreign artists donated to the museum (the "Showering of Birds" Donation). There will also be a space for temporary exhibitions. The building will also contain a room for seminars, conferences and slide shows. A room for art workshops A café, with a convivial atmosphere in keeping with the aspirations of the building A library
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