The directors of Iraq’s two main museums are hopeful that the day is in sight when their institutions will be open. The museums in Baghdad and Basra have been closed for more than two decades, depriving a generation of Iraqis of their heritage. Last month, during a visit to London, Amira Edan, the director of Iraq’s National Museum in Baghdad, told us that she hopes her institution will reopen to visitors next year. And Qahtan Al Abeed, the director of the Basra Museum, said that he expects his institution will open in the spring of 2015.

Read More: End of the Dark Age is in Sight

The Iraqi Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Liwa Sumaism, has said that his government plans to build a new museum in west Baghdad that will house objects currently in the collection of the Iraq National Museum. The Iraqi government has reportedly invited the Iraqi-born, British architect Zaha Hadid to submit designs for the project; a spokeswoman for Hadid says that she is “unable to confirm or comment” on the project.

Read More: Baghdad Beckons Zaha Hadid?