Society
Iraqi Street, Society
HISTORY IN SONG: Visiting the largest private archive of Kurdish music
By Salam Hanadani in Hawraman, Iraqi Kurdistan // The moment the door opens, sound pours out. Melodies drift, notes are carried from a distant era, and shelves are crowded with cassette tapes and aging recorders, a vast musical memory that preserves decades of Kurdish artistic heritage. At the centre of this musical world is Ibrahim…
Iraqi Street, Society
TROUBLED WATERS: Al Faw’s fishing industry, caught between borders and war
By Saad Nadhim in Basra // Before dawn breaks over Iraq’s southern coastline, fisherman Ahmed al-Janoubi is already preparing for another journey into the Gulf. At 53, the father of five has spent most of his life at sea, in a profession his family has undertaken for generations. But these days, every fishing trip carries…
Iraqi Street, Society, Stories
INSIDE BZEIBIZ CAMP: When ‘temporary displacement’ lasts 12 years
By Ahmed Kawkab in Anbar // On the edge of Anbar province in central Iraq, the Bzeibiz camp for displaced people looks like many similar camps set up in Iraq when the extremist group known as the Islamic State, or IS, was fighting government forces. That is, there are rows of faded tents, dusty paths…
Iraqi Street, Society
CULINARY CONTRADICTIONS: Syrian food is prospering in Iraq —but the Syrians making it are not
By Draf Alla in Erbil // At night in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, the streets are filled with the smell of grilled food and the buzz of lively conversation around café tables. Syrian restaurants have become a constant in this scene. Restaurant names from Syria, like Damascene Paradise, are…
