Modern Cafes Rise as Traditional Teahouses Fade in Kurdish Public Life
Text for Youtube description: Once the beating heart of Kurdish public life, the teahouse was far more than a place to drink tea. It was a stage for politics, poetry, and everyday debate, where voices from all walks of life met across steaming glasses of black tea. Today, modern cafés are replacing these communal spaces with private tables and glowing screens. Through the stories of iconic teahouses in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, this report traces the rise and decline of a culture built on conversation and asks what Kurdistan loses when its public life is no longer steeped in tea.
Renwar Najm
Renwar Najm is an Iraqi Kurdish journalist with a career that began in the early 2010s at the esteemed Awene newspaper. He holds a master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Kent and Philipps University of Marburg.
