Its Treasures Ruined by ISIS, Mosul Museum Hosts Modern Art

A 'Welcome to Mosul' sign on display at an exhibition in the Iraqi city on January 29, 2019 | AFP
A 'Welcome to Mosul' sign on display at an exhibition in the Iraqi city on January 29, 2019 | AFP
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Its Treasures Ruined by ISIS, Mosul Museum Hosts Modern Art

A 'Welcome to Mosul' sign on display at an exhibition in the Iraqi city on January 29, 2019 | AFP
A 'Welcome to Mosul' sign on display at an exhibition in the Iraqi city on January 29, 2019 | AFP

Mosul's celebrated museum has not recovered since ISIS group jihadists ravaged its ancient treasures several years ago, but part of the complex reopened Tuesday to showcase more contemporary art.

For the first time since ISIS overran the Iraqi city in 2014, visitors on Tuesday could wander the grandiose royal reception hall, which forms part of the museum.

The building is considered the oldest government complex in Mosul and was recently renovated to host the 29-artist exhibit, titled "Return to Mosul," a member of the organizing Al-Ghad Radio station told AFP.

The northern Iraqi city served as ISIS' brutal seat of power for three years, before Iraqi troops recaptured it in 2017.

Much of Mosul's east has made a modest recovery, but the west -- home to the Old City and the museum -- remains in ruins.

The exhibit was "proof that war didn't kill Mosul and that, on the contrary, it's living a full-on renaissance," said Huda Hani, a 25-year-old visitor on Tuesday.

Buttoned up in warm jackets, families walked through the hall to look at the paintings and sculptures, many of which feature themes of home, return, or conflict.

The rest of the museum, however, remains closed for security reasons, said its director Zeid Saadallah.

"You have to protect what is left," he told AFP.

During its bloody reign over Mosul, ISIS released a video of its militants attacking the museum with sledgehammers and pneumatic drills, destroying priceless pre-Islamic artifacts.

The damaged pieces including two imposing "lamassu" statues, Assyrian winged bulls with human faces.

ISIS also blew up the Assyrian city of Nimrud, the ancient city of Hatra, and the centuries-old desert city of Palmyra in neighboring Syria.

But in addition to destroying artifacts, the militant group trafficked valuable pieces to finance its activities.

In partnership with Google, 3-D printer BQ, and other organizations, Mosul's artists and technicians are looking to print three-dimensional versions of the smashed pieces.

And ALIPH, a heritage-focused project led by France the the UAE, has dedicated $480,000 to help in the first phase of the museum's reconstruction.



Japan Startup Hopeful Ahead of Second Moon Launch

Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)
Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)
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Japan Startup Hopeful Ahead of Second Moon Launch

Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)
Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)

Japanese startup ispace vowed its upcoming second unmanned Moon mission will be a success, saying Thursday that it learned from its failed attempt nearly two years ago.

In April 2023, the firm's first spacecraft made an unsalvageable "hard landing", dashing its ambitions to be the first private company to touch down on the Moon.

The Houston-based Intuitive Machines accomplished that feat last year with an uncrewed craft that landed at the wrong angle but was able to complete tests and send photos.

With another mission scheduled to launch next week, ispace wants to win its place in space history at a booming time for missions to the Moon from both governments and private companies.

"We at ispace were disappointed in the failure of Mission 1," ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada told reporters.

"But that's why we hope to send a message to people across Japan that it's important to challenge ourselves again, after enduring the failure and learning from it."

"We will make this Mission 2 a success," AFP quoted him as saying.

Its new lander, called Resilience, will blast off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15, along with another lunar lander built by US company Firefly Aerospace.

If Resilience lands successfully, it will deploy a micro rover and five other payloads from corporate partners.

These include an experiment by Takasago Thermal Engineering, which wants to split water into oxygen and hydrogen gas with a view to using hydrogen as satellite and spacecraft fuel.

- Rideshare -

Firefly's Blue Ghost lander will arrive at the Moon after travelling 45 days, followed by ispace's Resilience, which the Japanese company hopes will land on the Earth's satellite at the end of May, or in June.

For the program, officially named Hakuto-R Mission 2, ispace chose to cut down on costs by arranging the first private-sector rocket rideshare, Hakamada said.

Only five nations have soft-landed spacecraft on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and, most recently, Japan.

Many companies are vying to offer cheaper and more frequent space exploration opportunities than governments.

Space One, another Japanese startup, is trying to become Japan's first company to put a satellite into orbit -- with some difficulty so far.

Last month, Space One's solid-fuel Kairos rocket blasted off from a private launchpad in western Japan but was later seen spiraling downwards in the distance.

That was the second launch attempt by Space One after an initial try in March last year ended in a mid-air explosion.

Meanwhile Toyota, the world's top-selling carmaker, announced this week it would invest seven billion yen ($44 million) in Japanese rocket startup Interstellar Technologies.

"The global demand for small satellite launches has surged nearly 20-fold, from 141 launches in 2016 to 2,860 in 2023," driven by private space businesses, national security concerns and technological development, Interstellar said.