The architecture of Iraq is seen in the sprawling metropolis of Baghdad, where the construction is mostly new, with some islands of exquisite old buildings and compounds, and elsewhere in thousands of ancient and modern sites across Iraq.

Unlike many Arab countries, Iraq embraces and celebrates the achievements of its past in pre-Islamic times. What is now Iraq was once the Cradle of Civilization in ancient Mesopotamia and the culture of Sumer, where writing and the wheel were invented. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Islamic Abbasid Caliphs presided over what was then one of the world's richest civilizations.

Cinema of Iraq

The cinema of Iraq went through a downturn under Saddam Hussein's regime. The development of film and film-going in Iraq reflects the drastic historical shifts that Iraq has experienced in the 20th century. The current war in Iraq has been an influence on many films being produced.

Iraqi literature

Iraqi literature is, and has been, deeply marked by Iraq's political history.In the late 1970s, a period of economic upturn, prominent writers in Iraq were provided with an apartment and car by Saddam Hussein's government, and were guaranteed at least one publication per year. In exchange, literature was expected to express and galvanise support for the ruling Ba'ath Party.

The Iran–Iraq War (1980-1988) fuelled a demand for patriotic literature, but also pushed a number of writers into opting for exile. According to Najem Wali, during this period, "even those who chose to quit writing saw themselves forced to write something that did not rile the dictator, because even silence was considered a crime."
From the late 1980s onwards, Iraqi exile literature developed with writers whose "rejection of dominant ideology and resistance to the wars in Iraq compelled them to formulate a 'brutally raw realism' characterized by a shocking sense of modernity".

Late 20th century Iraqi literature has been marked by writers such as Saadi Youssef, Fadhil Al-Azzawi, Mushin Al-Ramli, Salah Al-Hamdani, and Sherko Fatah.

Music of Iraq

The music of Iraq or Iraqi Music, (Arabic,موسيقى عراقية, also known as the Music of Mesopotamia) encompasses the music of a number of ethnic groups and musical genres. Ethnically, it includes Arabic music, Assyrian music, Turcoman, Armenian, Roma and Kurdish music among others. Apart from the traditional music of these peoples, Iraqi music includes contemporary music styles such as Pop Music, Rock Music, Soul Music, and Urban Music.

Iraq is recognized mainly for three instruments named Oud, Santur and Joza. The most renowned Oudists are Ahmed Mukhtar, Naseer Shamma, Rahim Alhaj, Sahar Taha and the ethnic Assyrian Munir Bashir.

Modern culture

Cultural heritage

Iraq is a country of a wide and varied heritage, home to Muslims, Christians, Jews, Chaldeans, Assyrians and "Marsh Nomads", amongst countless others. As such many have contributed to the wide spectrum of Iraqi Culture.

Traditional music consists of instruments such as ouds, flutes, violins, drums, and tambourines. Now however, there are many young artists generating pop, rap, and wider types of musical genres. Kulthum and Fairouz are two woman singers renowned for their voices and especially loved in Iraq.

Tea houses are scattered over Iraq, and in the afternoon it is a habit for shopkeepers to retreat into the back with a close friends to sip tea over gossip, an Iraqi "siesta".

Rites of passage in Arab Iraq are mainly centered on children being schooled enough to correctly read the Quran, quite the challenging task. The Quran is perhaps one of the hardest texts to read, both because of depth of meaning and due to the difficult range of sounds Arabic demands from the human vocal cords. The child with least pronunciation errors is called the "hafiz" or "memorizer". There is usually a large celebration in the child's honor.

Cultural institutions

Some important cultural institutions in the capital include the Iraqi National Orchestra – rehearsals and performances were briefly interrupted during the Occupation of Iraq but have since returned to normal, the National Theatre of Iraq – The theatre was looted during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, but efforts are underway to restore the theatre.

The live theatre scene received a boost during the 1990s when UN sanctions limited the import of foreign films. As many as 30 movie theatres were reported to have been converted to live stages, producing a wide range of comedies and dramatic productions.