Age-Old Cities: A Virtual Journey from Palmyra to Mosul

Institut du Monde Arabe – the Insititute of the Arab World – in Paris, France, is holding an exhibition of Age-Old Cities: A Virtual Journey from Palmyra to Mosul from 10 October 2018 to 10 February 2019.

In collaboration with UNESCO, Iconem, and Ubisoft, the exhibition combines giant screen projections virtual reality, archival documents, images, and video testimonials from the local population. It focuses on the Arab cities of Mosul in Iraq, Aleppo and Palmyra in Syria, and Leptis Magna in Libya.

The aim of the exhibition is to immerse the public in ‘the splendours of these major centres of world heritage’ and to raise awareness in preserving and protecting their riches.

Mosul, in Iraq, is the site of the ancient city of Ninevah with its Neo-Assyrian vestiges and the Great Mosque of Al-Nuri with its leaning minaret. Aleppo, in Syria, has the Muslim empires of the Umayyads to the Ottomans. Palmyra, in Syria, is known as the Pearl of the Desert with its Greco-Roman sites. Leptis Magna, in Libya, was founded by the Phoenicians as was known as the African Rome.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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