German curator and arts manager Hella Mewis was abducted by unidentified armed men outside her office in central Baghdad.

  Sing your song Documentary film about the obstacles and constraints the singer Majid and his band face as a result of the actions of extremist Islamist groups and the unappreciative attitude of local officials. They all consider art and singing a sin and forbidden.Directed by Omar Falah 15 minutes …

Film about exiled heavy metal band AcrassicaudaThe documentary film ‘Heavy Metal in Baghdad’ documents how Iraq’s only heavy metal band, Acrassicauda, had to escape the country and is now literally a band on the run The band Acrassicauda was formed in Baghdad in 2001. As the war in Baghdad worsened …

Karar Nushi, a young actor, model and student at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad was found dead on 3 July 2017 after having been declared missing.

According to ARA News, Islamic State militants publicly executed a 15-year-old boy in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on 16 February 2016 for listening to “Western music”. A spokesman for the Ninevah media centre told the news outlet that the boy, Ayham Hussein, was caught listening to pop music …

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova expresses alarm over reports of the massive destruction of books in the museums, libraries and universities of Mosul in Iraq. According to numerous media reports, thousands of books on philosophy, law, science and poetry have been deliberately burned over the past several weeks. If confirmed, this …

A senior UN official is calling for an immediate stop to what she termed an “emerging cultural cleansing.” Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), called for an immediate end to the attacks and for the protection of the diversity that has “forged the wealth …

Kurdish singer Helly Luv, 25, allegedly received death threats from ISIS Islamist militants since release of her first music video in February 2014. Helly Luv’s music video combines traditional Middle Eastern pop imagery with materials of the Kurdish nationalist and revolutionary movement. The music video was viewed over three million times …

The Iraqi writer Suhail Sami Nader arrived with his wife to Copenhagen, Denmark, on 23 October 2012 as the municipality’s first ‘safe haven’ author. The 65-year-old writer is persecuted in his home country because of his writing. In recent years Suhail Sami Nader has been living in Amman, the capital …

  In July 2012 Kim Kelly from the newspaper the Atlantic finally got in touch with somebody he had tried to reach for over a year: 28-year-old Anahita who is the voice behind the black metal solo project Janaza as well as its sister project Seeds of Iblis. Anahita is …