Venice Biennial 2017 exhibition opened in Venice on Wednesday with the participation of 51 countries and 100 artists from all over the world. Iraqi Minister of Antiquities and Tourism, Farid Rwandzi said that, the Iraqi section in the exhibition will be officially open on Thursday, adding that, it combines between modern art and antiquities and 40 pieces representing the different phases of the Iraqi civilization will be displayed. This is the first participation for Iraqi antiquities since 1988, as Iraq started to participate in international exhibitions in 1937 but then stopped, and there hope for future participation in Italy, Holland and other countries.

Venice Biennial is an Italian arts institution based in Venice, Italy and it was built in 1895. It supports contemporary arts, and holds festivals for them such as, painting, craving, designing, music and dancing and each country has its own building. The halls in these buildings are always dedicated to one artist with a collection of his works.

Parliament Member of Kurdistan region, Sarod Selim said that, targeting the Assyrian monuments in the Malathaya region of Duhok governorate for the second time is a clear evidence of the government failing in protecting these monuments and preserving the historical heritage, demanding a series effort from the authority to prevent any future vandalism.

He said that is not the first request in this matter, as he sent a memo with suggestions in 2016 to the Ministers’ Council and Interior and Tourism Ministries in Duhok to build a security facility, form mobile patrols to prevent any encroachment on any site, use media and electronic mechanism to protect monuments, and prepare a list of precautionary measures to prevent any lengthening, but it wasn’t taken under consideration.

He demanded the concerned ministry and Duhok governorate to repair the damages through specialized committees and preparing the site in a civilized way especially when the governorate always worked within the UNESCO organization terms, and achieved great accomplishment by putting Erbil Castle in the International Heritage list.