Today I visited the historic citadel on an impressive tel in Erbil, purportedly the longest continuously inhabited urban place on earth. Many refugees escaping the horrors of the war came to Erbil and made their homes on the tel. It caused a great controversy when they were paid off to re-settle elsewhere. The story goes that one family was allowed to stay so the long history of habitation would remain unbroken. The treat for me atop the citadel was the Kurdish Textile Museum. Not the most welcoming entrance since you must be cleared by armed guards to enter the area–but once we got past that hurdle, it was definitely visitor-friendly. Inside was jam packed with rugs and garments bursting with colorful patterns–orange seemed a favorite local color. Scattered in various places in the museum Kurdish women were learning what for them has become a lost art. Iranian women were at looms teaching Kurdish women how to weave.
I also experienced first hand the frustration of intermittent electricity. As I prepared for my lectures I had to re-boot the computer over and over again. I think I have it down to a rhythm now. Electricity off, pinging noises, generators kick in, re-boot, shudder noise, electricity back on, see what you didn’t save fast enough.
Tomorrow I start teaching at the new conservation training institute. Really exited!
Terry Drayman-Weisser is a guest blogger here on Culture Comment, during her trip to Iraq. She is the director of conservation and technical research, at the Walters Art Museum, and travels to Iraq to assist with conservation efforts there.
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Gary Vikan, director of the Walters Art Museum since 1994, has been with the Baltimore institution for more than 20 years. A native of Minnesota, Gary received his B.A. from Carleton College in 1967 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1976 before working as Senior Associate for Byzantine Art Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.