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Ark Re-imagined is an art-led project that has activated a revival of Iraq’s maritime cultural heritage. Since 2015, expeditionary artist and researcher Rashad Salim has worked with communities in central, southern and western Iraq to protect, document and revive their endangered craft heritage. Through engaging communities in sharing the history and skills of Iraq’s boatbuilding traditions of ancient origin, the project aims to regenerate local economies and create sustainable livelihoods. The work addresses the need for healing and regeneration, through positive experiences of personal agency and the unification of communities, in an environment where the trauma of decades of conflict and ecological damage has led to a health emergency. In connecting the origins of culture with contemporary civilization, the project champions humanity’s capacity to overcome cri