Deq Tattooing - Yazidi Cultural Archive

Deq are traditional and unique tattoos sometimes practiced by Yazidi women. This film about Deq Tattooing is part of the Yazidi Cultural Archive project to support female Yazidi survivors of the 2014 ISIS occupation and genocide in Northern Iraq. Through participation in (i) artist-led workshops and (ii) digital archives of Yazidi cultural heritage at risk, participants researched and recorded their own cultural traditions and sites as an expression of their courage, agency and resilience in the face of unspeakable horror. This is their story.

The program was produced on the ground by local NGO, Yazda, and supported by the Iraq Cultural Health Fund, established by @CommunityJameel and @culturunners1326 as part of the ‘Healing Arts’ initiative under the auspices of the World Health Organization Arts & Health Program. The fund was designed as a rapid response to COVID-19 with a focus on mental health resilience and recovery in marginalized and at-risk communities in Iraq.

The Future is Unwritten (TFIU) is an initiative by @culturunners1326 to facilitate urgent cooperation between the international Arts and Culture sector and the United Nations in order to accelerate implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The Yazidi Cultural Archives project is also supported by Nobody's Listening and Arts + Health @ NYU.