Kurdistan's Archive Enters Digital Future at HITEX 2026

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - A new interactive archiving system unveiled at HITEX 2026 in Erbil is offering visitors a different way to explore Kurdish culture, history, art and literature, using only hand gestures rather than a keyboard or computer.

The technology was presented by the Kurdistan Center for Arts and Culture during the seventh Hawler International Technology Exhibition, where Kurdistan24 correspondent Shaima Bayiz spoke with a center official about the project.

The official said the center has spent nearly two years developing what it describes as Kurdistan's most advanced archive.

Around 4,000 items related specifically to Kurdish culture, art, history and literature have already been collected within the archive.

Part of that wider project is the gesture-controlled system displayed at HITEX.

"It can be operated by hand, meaning you do not need a keyboard, a laptop, or anything else," the official told Kurdistan24. "You can work with it entirely through hand gestures and movements."

The aim, he said, is to present Kurdish historical and cultural material in a new way and make archived content easier and more engaging for people to explore.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also visited the center's exhibition space during his tour of HITEX and personally tested the system.

According to the center official, the Prime Minister responded positively to the technology.

"His Excellency liked it very much," he said. "His Excellency personally tried the system."

He added that the technology makes navigating the archive easier and more enjoyable and described it as something new in the field of archiving.

The version displayed at HITEX was installed specifically as a demonstration of how the archive can be accessed through hand movements.

However, the center said the broader archive is not limited to the exhibition.

"We have an advanced system that is available to all readers and visitors," the official said, explaining that the HITEX installation was designed to demonstrate the gesture-based interface.

The project adds a cultural dimension to an exhibition largely focused on emerging technologies.

HITEX 2026 opened Tuesday at the Erbil International Fairground in Sami Abdulrahman Park and runs through Oct. 9.

More than 150 technology companies and startups from Iraq and abroad are participating, with organizers expecting over 50,000 visitors.

Artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity, fintech, telecommunications and other emerging technologies are among the main sectors represented.

The exhibition also includes humanoid robots, specialized drones and a program of panels, workshops and discussions on digital transformation and technological development.

Within that wider setting, the Kurdistan Center for Arts and Culture is using technology for a different purpose: preserving and presenting cultural memory.

Rather than focusing on industrial or commercial applications, the archive uses digital tools to give visitors a more direct way to engage with materials documenting Kurdish history and cultural production.

For the center, the technology is intended not simply to digitize archival material, but to change how people interact with it.

By allowing visitors to navigate the archive through gestures, the system seeks to make historical and cultural collections more accessible to both local audiences and visitors from abroad.