For many years, Iraq has been the scene of heart-rending destruction. As part of our mission to help war-torn communities conserve their treasured sites, World Monuments Fund has worked at Babylon since 2007, and included the al-Hadba’ Minaret, destroyed by ISIS in 2017, on our 2010 and 2018 World Monuments Watch. Now we have partnered with Google Arts & Culture to present Preserving Iraq’s Heritage, an online platform documenting iconic Iraqi sites. On the heels of an announcement by UNESCO and the United Arab Emirates to rebuild the Great Mosque of al-Nuri and al-Hadba’ Minaret, this panel brings us together to remember the devastation and consider what the future may hold for the cradle of civilization.

Hosted by Google Arts & Culture, the panel includes:

Helen Malko, Anthropological Archaeologist at Columbia University

Salam Al Kuntar, Assistant Professor at the Department of Classics of Rutgers University and a Consulting Scholar at the Penn Museum of the University of Pennsylvania

Chance Coughenour, Program Manager at Google Arts & Culture

The panel will be moderated by Arwa Damon, multiaward-winning Senior International Correspondent for CNN, with opening remarks by Laurent Gaveau, Head of Lab, Google Arts & Culture.