Al-Rashid Theatre, the “den” of Iraqi culture, is threatened with demolition

In a shocking decision for the Iraqi artistic community, the Ministry of Housing demanded the removal of the “Al-Rasheed Theater”, in central Baghdad, under the pretext of its construction “without obtaining” approvals.

According to a document of the Iraqi Ministry of Housing, Al-Ain News obtained a copy of it, that “the land on which the theater is located belongs to the Ministry of Construction and Housing, and that the Cinema and Theater Department of the Ministry of Culture built the theater without obtaining fundamentalist approvals.”

Al-Rasheed Theater resumed its activities on the 17th of last December, after a closure of more than 18 years, as the Ministry of Culture, with its own efforts, restored the theater.

Al-Rasheed Theater was inaugurated with a concert by the Oud Band, by musician Mustafa Zayer, in the presence of a large crowd of Baghdadi families. The ceremony was held with the support of the United Nations. Al-Rasheed theater was vandalized and robbed after the fall of the previous regime in 2003.

For its part, the Iraqi Artists Syndicate demanded the transfer of the Rasheed Theater’s dependency and make it available to the Cinema and Theater Department, expressing its astonishment at the Ministry of Housing placing its hand on the theater building.

The syndicate said in a statement that Al-Ain News obtained a copy of it, that “at a time when we, as Iraqi artists and intellectuals, and with us the Arab brothers, were glad for the return of life to Al-Rasheed Theater, whose stage witnessed the most important Iraqi, Arab and international theatrical performances and festivals, and while we were waiting for the completion of new artistic edifices as cities. Culture and the Opera House, we were surprised by the decision of the Ministry of Housing to lay its hands on this great Iraqi cultural edifice.”

She added that she “understands the overlap in the work between the ministries of the Iraqi state, regardless of the validity of the legal procedures carried out by the Ministry of Housing, and we hope that all governmental and political agencies at the highest levels will intervene immediately to resolve the file of Al-Rasheed Theater in a manner that guarantees its current situation, and by transferring its ownership from the Ministry of Housing.” To the Ministry of Culture, and that the Cinema and Theater Department remain the authority responsible for the management and activities of the theater, which will witness during the current year activities at a high international level befitting the high status of Iraqi culture.

Al-Rasheed Theater is considered the most important and largest theater in Baghdad. It was opened in 1981 with a design from a French and a Swiss company. The Swiss company was responsible for the construction, and the French for the devices and equipment. The building includes large halls for costumes, accessories and clothing for actors, and equipment for theatrical tricks, which include more than Two hundred visual and sound effects.

The theater building consists of 9 floors and a showroom that can accommodate about 600 people. The theater, which is located on the Karkh side of Baghdad, was destroyed during the military operations carried out by US forces in 2003 during the occupation of Baghdad.

The Department of Cinema and Theater of the Ministry of Culture did not take the initiative to rebuild it, even while the ministry organized the events of Baghdad, the capital of Arab culture in 2013, for which millions of dollars were spent, and suspicions of corruption were raised in the Iraqi media.

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