Qamishlo to host first Yazidi Community Archive Exhibition

The exhibition is part of the "Yazidi Community Archive" project, implemented by HÁWAR.help e.V. with support from the German Federal Foreign Office. The initiative focuses on collecting personal narratives, testimonies and community materials from Yazidis, with particular emphasis on the experiences of women and families who have endured violence, displacement and social hardship.

The project seeks to establish a digital archive preserving the collective memory of the Yazidi community in Syria and Rojava while strengthening its cultural identity and passing it on to future generations. It does so by collecting stories, photographs and documents, digitizing them, and making them available through an online platform that provides secure and organized access to the material.

The exhibition features photographs documenting the daily lives of Yazidis, their social and religious traditions, and shared memories, alongside images of families who survived massacres. It aims to highlight the richness of Yazidi culture and the community's resilience in overcoming the challenges it has faced in recent years.

The project also involves young Yazidi men and women through specialized workshops in photography and photo editing, enabling them to document their own community and contribute to preserving its cultural and human heritage.

The exhibition is scheduled to open in Qamishlo on Aug. 12, following a similar exhibition organized by the organization in the Kurdistan Region last year.

HÁWAR.help e.V. is a human rights organization established after the genocide against the Yazidis in Sinjar. For years, it has worked to document crimes of genocide committed against the Yazidi community while implementing programs that support survivors and promote protection and community empowerment.

The exhibition comes just days after the 12th anniversary of the Shengal genocide, commemorated on Aug. 3, as part of efforts to keep the memory alive, document the history and suffering of the Yazidi community, and raise awareness of the importance of safeguarding its cultural and human heritage.

a.k

ANHA