Iraqi Marshlands Then and Now: Photographs by Nik Wheeler March 6, 2009

Commonly known as "Marsh Arabs," the people of the Iraqi marsh region lived on man-made islands in remarkable buildings crafted from locally grown reeds, creating beautiful vernacular architecture captured in Nik Wheeler's photographs from the mid-1970s. In the aftermath of the first Gulf War, the marshes were nearly annihilated. This exhibit also includes recent photographs by Mudhafar Salim that show some of the early results of rehabilitation.