Sinjar Lives: Oral Histories from the IDP camps of Northern Iraq

This project will preserve endangered immaterial culture of one of the most disadvantaged groups in Iraq. It will provide an oral history archive of the Sinjari Yezidis (aka Yazidis/Ezidis), a minority religious group which does not marry out or accept converts, and which has been persecuted for centuries. In 2014, 300,000 Yezidis were evicted from their home on Mt Sinjar in Northern Iraq by genocidal attacks at the hands of so-called 'Islamic state' (Da'esh).

Thousands were massacred or enslaved; some 200,000 remain in IDP camps in the Kurdistan region, unable to return home until Sinjar (which lies on the border with Syria) is securitised. Many are still deeply traumatized and in Kurdistan's current economic situation, work is hard to find. In the difficult living space of the camps, Sinjari Yezidis have felt the disruption and loss of their cultural heritage deeply and, working through Kashkul (see below), have motivated this bid.

We will create an egalitarian oral history archive, planned, recorded and archived by Sinjari Yezidis themselves who will become researchers and curators of their own history, working on best practice with Iraqi and international partners - the University of Exeter, UK and the Kashkul arts and research institute of the American University of Iraq at Sulaimani (AUIS). Exeter's Centre for Kurdish Studies has a strong relationship with the Kurdistan Regional Government; the PI has not only worked in the IDP camps but has also coordinated a cultural heritage archive of another Iraqi/Iranian religious minority, the Sabian Mandaeans; Kashkul worked with the President of Iraq's office to spearhead Sulaimani's successful application to be a UNESCO City of Literature and also produced 'Mosul Lives,' the second largest oral history archive in the Middle East.

The Sinjari Yezidi oral historians will record using smartphones and small microphones (recent iphones have 4K definition) and will share findings and discussions with their community using the social media camp residents follow - YouTube, Facebook and Instagram - as they collect life histories and folklore, and with other local communities as they celebrate completion of the archive with a folklore festival. To develop this more widely, we will contact our excellent network of academic, government and NGO associates in Duhok and Sulaimani (e.g. The Kurdistan Heritage Centre; The University of Dohuk; the Governorate of Dohuk).

The archive will be stored locally, at AUIS and also in a database maintained by the Digital Humanities Lab at Exeter University, through a website available on open access from anywhere on the Internet. It will be a space of reflection for Sinjari Yezidis and a resource for future generations. It will also develop skills in recording, archiving and stewardship of cultural heritage.

The training materials generated for the project can be used by other communities or by educational institutions who may be inspired by the Sinjari Yezidis' example and look to them for guidance in undertaking their own projects. For the academic partners this will be a case study in egalitarian archiving, developing methodology and practice in crisis situations.

For local people, it will be a unique witness to Iraq's multicultural past, spoken in voices which are rarely heard.