Inside The Middle East

Episode 44

HOSTED BY HALA GORANI FROM BAHRAIN

IRAQI CULTURAL WARRIOR

Cultural life in Iraq is reeling after years of attacks linked to the violence that has gripped the country since the U.S. invasion in 2003. But against all odds, an institution that collects books and documents is rising from the ashes - largely due to the efforts of one man. Saad Eskander is the head of Iraq's National Library and Archives. Along with some four hundred other workers, Eskander risks his life to help preserve important fragments of Iraq's past. The library is situated in one of the most dangerous areas in Baghdad, near Haifa street. Eskander says the library is more than just a building - it's a battlefield where the prize is Iraq's very soul. As Hala Gorani reports from Baghdad, in a place that so often lacks hope, Eskander's library seems like a small beacon of light.

IRAQ - LONELY END

As war rages on the streets of Baghdad, tucked away at the House of Mercy Retirement Home are Iraqis who are largely forgotten. In a society where families typically take care of the elderly and keep them at home - they are sad exceptions. Their eyes have witnessed the tumultuous history of Iraq over the last seven decades. Hala Gorani talks to the residents of the retirement home, hearing their stories of past events, as well as their take on Iraq's current struggle.

IRAQ ART MEMORIAL

London's Institute of Contemporary Arts has invited 26 artists around the world to help create a memorial to the Iraqi War. The work addresses the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the country's slide into civil war, the deaths of soldiers and civilians, and the conflict's relation to global jihadism and the War on Terror. The intention is not to find a definitive memorial to a war - a difficult task at any time, and especially in the context of an ongoing conflict. As Phil Black reports from London, the exhibition explores different perspectives on what can or should be memorialized.