Exactly 10 years on from the US-led invasion of Iraq, the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad remains closed to the public, with over half of the estimated 16,000 objects looted from the museum still unaccounted for.
John Curtis, keeper of middle east collections at the British Museum, said that one issue was that there was very little progress with an audit of the museum's collection, so it was hard to know exactly what was still missing.
Lamia Al-Gailani, a research associate at University College London, and a former curator of the National Museum of Iraq, said: “My generation that moved to this museum - that generation has gone. Most of the staff have either died or gone abroad.
“[The staff now] don’t have a lot of experience of how to set up the museum. There is big pressure on the curator to open, but it is not ready to open.”
Refurbishments to the museum are still going on, she said. The Islamic Halls are “basically ready”, and the Syrian Halls are almost finished, but building work has only just begun on an annexe at the entrance.
Asked for a prognosis on heritage in Iraq, Curtis said: "It's very disappointing that there hasn't been more progress in the last 10 years.
"There have been some improvements since 2003, the looting is not as extensive as it was, but there are occasional outbursts.
"The museum in Mosul is closed, the museum in Baghdad is closed, and there is still a security situation in Baghdad."
There is also very little archaeology happening, he added, because of a lack of clarity in the Department of Antiquities.
The department's move from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities was "resisted in some quarters", and now "needs a clear mission statement".
But there is some good news in Basra: it is thought that the £5m conversion of one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces into a museum in Basra, will open next year.
Funded by the Basra Provincial Council and a number of foreign donors, the building now has water and electricity, and money has been allocated for the exhibition cases.
The British Museum will be providing staff in Basra with curatorial assistance, and it is envisaged that Curtis and other staff will go to Iraq prior to the museum's opening in mid 2014.
Update
19.03.2013, 15.40
This piece was updated to include comment from John Curtis, keeper of middle east collections at the British Museum.
We originally reported that exhibition cases for the Basra Museum are on order - this is incorrect, but money has been allocated for their purchase.
John Curtis, keeper of middle east collections at the British Museum, said that one issue was that there was very little progress with an audit of the museum's collection, so it was hard to know exactly what was still missing.
Lamia Al-Gailani, a research associate at University College London, and a former curator of the National Museum of Iraq, said: “My generation that moved to this museum - that generation has gone. Most of the staff have either died or gone abroad.
“[The staff now] don’t have a lot of experience of how to set up the museum. There is big pressure on the curator to open, but it is not ready to open.”
Refurbishments to the museum are still going on, she said. The Islamic Halls are “basically ready”, and the Syrian Halls are almost finished, but building work has only just begun on an annexe at the entrance.
Asked for a prognosis on heritage in Iraq, Curtis said: "It's very disappointing that there hasn't been more progress in the last 10 years.
"There have been some improvements since 2003, the looting is not as extensive as it was, but there are occasional outbursts.
"The museum in Mosul is closed, the museum in Baghdad is closed, and there is still a security situation in Baghdad."
There is also very little archaeology happening, he added, because of a lack of clarity in the Department of Antiquities.
The department's move from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities was "resisted in some quarters", and now "needs a clear mission statement".
But there is some good news in Basra: it is thought that the £5m conversion of one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces into a museum in Basra, will open next year.
Funded by the Basra Provincial Council and a number of foreign donors, the building now has water and electricity, and money has been allocated for the exhibition cases.
The British Museum will be providing staff in Basra with curatorial assistance, and it is envisaged that Curtis and other staff will go to Iraq prior to the museum's opening in mid 2014.
Update
19.03.2013, 15.40
This piece was updated to include comment from John Curtis, keeper of middle east collections at the British Museum.
We originally reported that exhibition cases for the Basra Museum are on order - this is incorrect, but money has been allocated for their purchase.
