“The art of living in war-torn Tripoli”

“the Escalation of the conflict and exacerbating the humanitarian location around the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Then bet the businessman Mustafa Iskandar at an art gallery and cultural centre to revive the old-ravaged town.”

“the Old city in Tripoli was one of the best preserved in north Africa with, among other fine roman monuments. But during the war years have decay waxed.”

“Now put junk and garbage in the narrow streets and antique white buildings are in great need of renovation and repair.”

“Those who had the money has long since moved out of those neighborhoods to the more modern residential areas in Tripoli, which has about 2.5 million inhabitants.”

“Mustafa Iskandar is not one of them.”

“Against the grain he has bought a dilapidated house in the vicinity of the famous landmark, the Marcus Aurelius triumphal arch (the roman emperor in the year 161-180) and invested the equivalent of 6.8 million in renovations.”

“the Building has Mustafa Iskandar filled with art and old furniture that he over the years has bought up in Europe. Now his goal is to create a gathering place for artists.”

“His invitations to the embassies and the artists gave no larger dividend. No single diplomat came. They are not left in the city due to growing strife; the warlord Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive against the UN-backed government in Tripoli on 4 april.”

“But nothing seems to be able to mitigate the culture of the trader enthusiasm.”

“I want to give people a signal to come back to the old town where I grew up and still live,” says Mustafa Iskandar.”

“Under the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, deposed and killed during the uprising in 2011, renovated the authorities some old buildings in Tripoli and a greater restaurationsprojekt were at the time. But the rebellion or not to be the plan.”

“since Then, little has happened in the chaos which struck Libya. Now is hope that next year be able to reopen the national museum in the Red castle, a historic building from the ottoman era.”

“From the offensive starting on 4 april, close to 300 people have been killed and over 1,300 injured, according to the world health organization (WHO).”

“Tripoli hospital struggling against the recurring power outages and the lack of water and medicines and over 30 000 people have fled their homes, according to the International committee of the red cross (ICRC).”