During this financial reporting period, Liwan for Culture and Development completed a major project to support Iraq’s House of Manuscripts, housing 47,000 manuscripts representing different periods of the country’s history. The project included several components, including procurement of professional shelving units to house these manuscripts. The manuscripts, some dating from the Abbasid period, were previously in unsuitable lockers, which were not designed for this unique and precious written heritage. The shelving units ordered were delivered to the Iraq Museum and contained over 1000 boxes. They were assembled on site by a team of experts who equipped three rooms. The rooms were also rehabilitated in terms of fire-safety and decor. Liwan for Culture and Development also purchased a significant amount of conservation materials and equipment for the House of Manuscripts’ Conservation Department. This was procured from multiple countries, including Japan and the United Kingdom. Other large purchases included professional dehumidifiers and anti-dust equipment for the manuscript’s storage rooms at the Iraq Museum. Our organisation also provided specialised conservation training, delivered by an Italy-based expert who visited Baghdad to deliver bespoke training on preventive conservation and the use of specialised equipment purchased for this project. In addition to the above, Liwan also produced several studies and assessments regarding manuscripts and written heritage in Baghdad. This project was financially supported by the Swiss based organisation ALIPH and by the French National Library (Bibliotheque nationale de France). During this financial reporting period, Liwan for Culture and Development also started several activities to rehabilitate Khan Marjan in historic, central Baghdad, a 14th century caravanserai (or inn). Components of the project during this period included emergency support to stop water-flooding at the site, which is suffering from water ingress and a high-water table. The organisation also worked to remove rubbish and rubble which had been dumped at the site. Professional documentation was also completed, the first of its type regarding the site. A study and assessment of the damage and the conditions of Khan Marjan was also initiated, with a view to its eventual conservation. This project was financially supported by the Swiss based organisation ALIPH.

Stakeholders include the general public in and around Khan Marjan, one of the project’s Liwan is currently working to rehabilitate. Liwan conducted studies and liaison efforts to speak with local communities, including traders and ordinary persons who visit the area surrounding Khan Marjan. This is important to better understand adaptive reuse of the site, once it is conserved, and also to understand people’s perspectives about the conservation of the site. Other stakeholders include archaeologists and architects, and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, which is custodian of the site that Liwan has been in regular communication with for the purposes of safeguarding and conservation. In terms of the House of Manuscripts project, stakeholders include researchers who use manuscripts for better understanding the written past and Iraq’s heritage. Also beneficiaries include the people of Iraq whose manuscripts are better protected now because of a better equipped House of Manuscripts’ Department of Conservation, the delivery of training for the purpose of protection and safeguarding, and also because of better protection that would result from new shelving units.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration