UNESCO Exhibit in Venice Focuses on Rebuilding Mosul Sites

VENICE, ITALY - The United Nations’ cultural agency has opened an exhibit detailing plans to restore multicultural landmarks in the Iraqi city of Mosul, underlining the role of architecture in helping heal wounds.

The exhibit, “Revive the Spirit of Mosul,” will be featured on the sidelines of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition, which opened Saturday after a one-year pandemic delay under the title: “How will we live together?” The Venice Biennale’s central question resonates in particular in Iraq, which is experiencing turbulent change, and the old city of Mosul, where 80% of the city’s monuments were destroyed by extremists during the city’s 36-month occupation by the Islamic State group. Iraq is one of three countries participating for the first time at the Biennale, with an exhibit by Rashad Salim titled “Ark Re-Imagined,” an artistic examination of the impact of the great flood in ancient Mesopotamia.