The Kurdish Digital Archive
The Kurdish Digital Archive is part of the DAME (Digital Archive of the Middle East) project, hosted at the University of Exeter.
Its aim is not only to digitize and make accessible key Kurdish materials from the University’s own archival collections, but also to collaborate with other Kurdish archives and institutions in fostering joint research, the sharing of archival resources and the preservation and dissemination of Kurdish cultural heritage.
Collaboration with Kurdish archives
The University of Exeter, building on its Omar Sheikhmous Archive and newly initiated DAME project, is excited to be working closely with leading Kurdish archival repositories, the Kurdish Heritage Institute (کەلەپووری کورد ئەنستیتیوتی) and the Zheen Centre for Documentation and Research (بنکەی ژین) with whom a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 7 July 2021.
Digitisation Plans
Building digital research collections is a growing priority for institutions and universities. Digital collections are of particular significance to emerging fields such as Kurdish Studies with difficulties of access to primary source materials. Dr Farangis Ghaderi, principal investigator of the Kurdish digital archive, said: ‘The study of materials held at the Zheen and the KHI will bring to light many yet unknown facets of Kurdish history, politics, and culture and will recognise Kurdish knowledge production. Most importantly it is an archive of representation of Kurds by Kurds and digitisation ensures its preservation and dissemination.’
Chris Kutschera
The University of Exeter has also acquired the photographic archive of ‘Chris Kutschera’, the joint pseudonym used by photographer Edith Maubec and her writer husband Paul, which includes thousands of images taken in the Kurdish regions of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey between 1970 and the early 2000s. These include intimate photographs of individuals such as Jalal Talabani, various members of the Barzani family, Sami Abdul Raman, Franso Harîrî, Adnan Mufti and poet Hajar Sharafkandi, as well as scenes from Kurdish villages, camps and cultural life, images of political meetings and delegations, and so on. In addition to this, the University has taken over the management of the Kurdistan Photo Library, a continually expanding digital photographic archive established by Edith Maubec and dedicated to Kurdistan and the Kurdish people.
Omar Sheikhmous
Work has begun on digitising parts of the archive of Omar Sheikhmous (1942-), the Kurdish academic and political activist who was one of the co-founders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). This is a large archive of some 10,000 documents that include personal papers, historical and political writings, correspondence with Jalal Talabani and other key figures in Kurdish politics, press cuttings, rare documents relating to the foundation and activities of organisations such as the PUK, KDP, KDPI, Kurdish National Congress, and the Iraqi Communist Party, students’ organisations and exile associations, as well as pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals and other primary source materials.
