A museum struggling to help Iraqis connect with 5,000 years of art | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

A museum struggling to help Iraqis connect with 5,000 years of art | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

By New York Times |Baghdad |Updated: June 10, 2019 2:45:28 pm

A museum struggling to help Iraqis connect with 5,000 years of art

The museum has a majestic, world-class collection of ancient art dating back 5,000 years, but it struggles to connect with an audience of younger Iraqis.

Statues dating from 2800-2600 B.C. at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad on Monday, April 8, 2019. (Photo: Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times)

If people remember anything about the Iraq Museum, it is most likely the televised images of it being looted in 2003 as U.S. troops watched from their tanks. Statues too heavy to move were knocked from their pedestals, their 3,000- and 4,000-year-old shoulders bashed to powder. Some lost their eyes or one side of their face. Glass cases were shattered, their contents gone or thrown on the floor.