Home UNESCO Lists Intangible Cultural Heritage Traditional Craft Skills and Arts of Al-Mudhif Building

Traditional Craft Skills and Arts of Al-Mudhif Building

Traditional Craft Skills and Arts of Al-Mudhif Building

Al-Mudhif is a reed and papyrus structure in southern Iraq's marshes. It serves as a communal hub for exchanges, storytelling, cultural activities, and social rituals like weddings and ceremonies.
Al-Mudhif is a venue for passing down traditional knowledge, skills, and customs to younger generations and hosting visitors. It is built and maintained by the community under tribal leadership, and its construction skills are shared through hands-on practice and cultural involvement.
Additionally, NGOs host workshops in Al-Mudhif to promote its cultural importance.
Traditional Craft Skills and Arts of Al-Mudhif Building was inscribed in 2023 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Iraq.
by Mohamad.bagher.nasery, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
by Hassan Al-Jarrah, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
by Hassan Janali, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Traditional Craft Skills and Arts of Al-Mudhif Building

Date of Inscription

2023