Sinjar Memory

The Sinjar Memory Museum is an architectural and cultural project that documents the tragedy of the 2014 Yazidi genocide while serving as a space for healing, dialogue, and the preservation of memory. Conceived not only as a building but as a spatial journey, it tells the story of a people who endured pain, held onto hope, and sought peace.

The project’s philosophy is built on three main axes:

Religion: representing the beginning, where the shrine stands as a silent witness to the tragedy, surrounded by Yazidi cultural and historical symbols.

Pain: representing separation from the self, with openings and voids appearing as scars that embody trauma and loss.

Hope: the final stage, leading to the Hall of Crafts and Memory. This space, shaped as an abstract cone open to the sky, symbolizes connection, renewal, and peace.

The museum blends symbolism with function. Its paths ascend gradually, reflecting the Yazidi journey from defeat to survival and toward peace. Inside, the narrative unfolds through dedicated halls: History and Culture, Nakba, Pain, Captivity, Diaspora, Loss, Resistance,  Crafts and Memory and finally Memorial Monument .

More than a local institution, the museum aspires to be a global platform amplifying Yazidi voices and documenting one of the most horrific genocides of modern times. It seeks to raise awareness of minority rights, safeguard cultural heritage, and affirm the power of architecture to embody local identity, .

This project an architectural and human message that seeks to correct the false image long associated with the Yazidis. For years, they were mistakenly perceived as a closed or rigid community, while in reality they are a peaceful people who love life, cherish nature, and uphold the values of coexistence.