Visit to British Library by Dr. Barham Saleh, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq

The Deputy Prime Minister to Iraq, Dr. Barham Saleh visited the British Library as part of his visit to London on Thursday 30th April 2009.  He was greeted at the British Library by British Library Chief Executive Dame Lynne Brindley and Neil MacGregor, Director, British Museum.

After a brief tour of the main public areas of the library, the Deputy Prime Minister was presented with the first tranche of digital records from the British Library’s historic India Office collections by British Library Chief Executive, Dame Lynne Brindley. These were identified in close consultation with the Director of the Iraq National Library and Archives. The Library has committed itself to providing further records over the next year, totalling over 50,000 records. The digitised documents go back over 250 years and underline the long history of close links between the two countries.

During his visit, the Deputy Prime Minister expressed a particular interest in the ongoing work the British Library and British Museum is doing to further develop cultural links as part of the UK/Iraqi bilateral relationship.

British Museum Director, Neil MacGregor, introduced the Deputy Prime Minister to the various projects that the British Museum is doing to preserve and repair the cultural heritage in Iraq.  The museum is embarking on the Ashurbanipal Library Project project to make high quality digital images of 30,000 cuneiform tablets. Additionally work continues on archaeological projects in Southern Iraq and the ongoing programme of training for early and mid-career professionals from institutions such as Mosul Museum and Al-Qadissya University.

Tags: Archaeological Projects, Barham Saleh, Bilateral Relationship, british library, British Museum, Career Professionals, Cultural Heritage, Cuneiform Tablets, Deputy Prime Minister, digital images, Director Neil, India Office Collections, Library Project, Lynne Brindley, Mid Career, Mosul, Museum Director, Neil Macgregor, Prime Minister Of Iraq, Southern Iraq

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