مُتْحَفٌ لِلْأَشْيَاءِ الْقَدِيمَةِ

عَلِي رِضَا عَلِي مِنَ النَّاصِرِيَّةِ فِي الْعِرَاقِ، وَاسْمُهُ عِنْدَ النَّاسِ «أَبُو بَرَكَات». جَمَعَ أَبُو بَرَكَات أَشْيَاءَ قَدِيمَةً عِشْرِينَ سَنَةً تَقْرِيبًا. وَالْيَوْمَ عِنْدَهُ مُتْحَفٌ مَجَّانِيٌّ قُرْبَ كُورْنِيشِ النَّاصِرِيَّةِ. بَحَثَ عَنِ الْأَشْيَاءِ فِي أَسْوَاقِ النَّاصِرِيَّةِ. ثُمَّ سَافَرَ إِلَى بَغْدَادَ وَالْبَصْرَةِ لِيَشْتَرِيَ أَشْيَاءَ أُخْرَى. فِي الْمُتْحَفِ أَشْيَاءُ مِنْ بُيُوتِ الْعِرَاقِ الْقَدِيمَةِ. فِيهِ مِكْوَاةٌ تَعْمَلُ بِالْفَحْمِ، وَمُسَجِّلٌ مِنْ سَنَةِ ١٩٧٥. وَفِيهِ أَجْهِزَةُ رَادْيُو، وَأَجْهِزَةُ تِلْفَازٍ قَدِيمَةٌ، وَفَوَانِيسُ. وَفِيهِ صُحُونٌ مِنَ النُّحَاسِ وَالْفِضَّةِ. الشَّبَابُ لَا يَعْرِفُونَ هَذِهِ الْأَشْيَاءَ. فَهُمْ يَسْأَلُونَ أَبَا بَرَكَات: مَا هَذَا؟ وَكَيْفَ كَانُوا يَسْتَعْمِلُونَهُ؟ وَهُوَ يَشْرَحُ لَهُمْ. حَيْدَر شَابٌّ يَزُورُ الْمُتْحَفَ كَثِيرًا. وَهُوَ لَا يَعْرِفُ كَيْفَ كَانُوا يَسْتَعْمِلُونَ أَشْيَاءَ كَثِيرَةً فِيهِ. رَعْد سَالِم أَكْبَرُ سِنًّا، وَكَانَتْ هَذِهِ الْأَشْيَاءُ فِي حَيَاتِهِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ. يَقُولُ: فِي الْمُتْحَفِ رَائِحَةُ الْمَاضِي. وَيَقُولُ رَاجِي سُلْطَان: هَذِهِ الْأَشْيَاءُ لَيْسَتْ جَدِيدَةً. وَبَعْضُهَا يُذَكِّرُهُ بِأَيَّامٍ قَبْلَ ثَلَاثِينَ أَوْ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً.

Ali Ridha Ali is from Nasiriyah in Iraq, and people call him “Abu Barakat”. Abu Barakat collected old things for about twenty years. And today he has a free museum near Nasiriyah’s corniche. He looked for the things in the markets of Nasiriyah. Then he travelled to Baghdad and Basra to buy other things. In the museum there are things from Iraq’s old homes. It has an iron that works with charcoal, and a recorder from 1975. And it has radios, old televisions and lanterns. And it has copper and silver plates. Young people do not know these things. So they ask Abu Barakat: what is this? And how did people use it? And he explains to them. Haider is a young man who visits the museum often. And he does not know how people used many of the things in it. Raad Salem is older, and these things were part of his everyday life. He says: the museum smells of the past. And Raji Sultan says: these things are not new. And some of them remind him of days thirty or forty years ago.