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 …

In July 2012 Kim Kelly from 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 probably Iraq’s first …

  Brutal persecution and killing of ‘Emo’ teenagers has put musicians and fans of heavy metal music under critical danger in Iraq. ‘Emos’ are fools and experts must finish them, said the conservative cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Iraq-based Al Sumaria News TV. “The ‘Emo phenomenon’ or devil worshiping is …

Produced in Iraq in 2011, the 15-minutes documentary ‘Sing your song’ details the obstacles and constraints a musician and his band face as a result of the actions of extremist Islamist groups and the unappreciative attitude of local officials. Majid is a young talented singer of Iraqi folk music. A …