The ‘Mosul Museum’ series, produced after Secunda visited Mosul in 2018, is a continuation of his decade-long project documenting the deliberate cultural destruction worldwide, and depict the devastation of the city’s Cultural Museum by ISIS during their occupation, which began in 2014.

Charcoal produced by the fires lit by ISIS was collected from the ruins by Secunda and soldiers from the Iraqi Army, and upon returning to his studio, was mixed with alcohol and gum Arabic to form the unique inks used in the ‘Mosul Museum’ drawings.

Atelier JI has had the honour of collaborating with Secunda to reproduce the drawings as photogravure etchings using the ink made from the collected Mosul Museum charcoal. Each print was individually hand-finished by Secunda at our studio and packaged alongside a vial of the same charcoal.