Abandoned tobacco factory to turn into an arts center in Iraq

Sulayminyah has, since its founding 200 years ago, been dedicated to the arts and now the Kurdistan Regional Government has dedicated six million dollars to create a cultural arts centre in the city.

For 13 years, a tobacco factory in Sulayminyah, Iraq, lay abandoned.

There was talk of re-opening it. Then talk of demolishing it.

But now, there are plans to transform the 26-hectare compound into a place where people can enjoy the arts.

Al Jazeera’s Natasha Ghoneim reports from Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq.

By Natasha Ghoneim