Damage to Syria’s heritage – 12 July 2016

The Association for the Protection of Syrian Archaeology have released a photo and some information regarding a looted mosaic in Idlib. See the photos and the details here.

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The DGAM have released a new book: Syrian Archaeological Heritage … 5 years of crisis 2011-2015 available as a pdf. Read more here.

The NGO Medmak have released a book (in Arabic) by the Syrian Archaeologist Studies Centre documenting damage and encroachment to Syria’s heritage 2011-2015, details here.

On June 16th DGAM reports that their efforts at 3D documentation of Palmyra with ICONEM are proceeding. Read more here. They are also working to document Masyaf, here.

On 27 June – 1 July 2016, 15 DGAM employees attended training in Beirut for emergency recording and archiving of cultural heritage in high risk zones, which was held jointly by ICOMOS, CyArk and the UNESCO “Emergency Safeguarding to the Syrian Cultural Heritage program”, detailed here.

Syria’s Tourism Minister highlights the potential for Syria top soon welcome international tourists, and his hopes to attract international investment.

“He said he hoped to soon welcome tourists from Russia, China, Iran, South Africa, among other countries.
“We have already met with these countries’ ambassadors who were enthusiastic about the business proposals we made,” Yazedji said.
“We offered several investment-attractive projects for Russian companies, primarily concerning traditional places of pilgrimage in Syria with Damascus to serve as a starting point from where pilgrims will move on to Jerusalem, Amman and other places.”

Read more in News.com.au here

Over the past two months, more than 200 university students in the Faculty of Antiquities and Museums made portrayals documenting historical sites in Palmyra city before and after the terrorist organizations’ attacks. These portrayals are shown in an exhibition held by the Faculty of Architecture, the Higher Institute of Regional Planning, the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums and Engineers Union.

Read more here.

The German upper house of parliament today (8 July) passed a law aimed at tackling illegal trafficking in looted antiquities and protecting German national heritage, introducing what dealers call the most stringent import and export restrictions on cultural objects in the world. Read more here.

According to The Art Newspaper, “Under the Cultural Property Protection Law, any cultural goods above a certain value and age —which vary according to the type of object —can only be exported with permission from authorities in the 16 German states. Any archaeological items offered for sale need to be accompanied by an export licence from the country of origin, though collectors secured a last-minute exemption from this rule for coins. The law also eases the repatriation of looted articles to the country of origin”.
More details regarding what the bill will mean in practice are available here.

Draft guidelines drawn up for the ‘Cottbus Document’ – principles around safeguarding cultural heritage after armed conflict. Read more here.

The Tahdir (Arabic for ‘Prepare’) programme is a training to help prepare more Syrians to become active participants in rebuilding a common life after the conflict comes to an end. Tahdir is open for professional Syrians interested in taking active part in key areas for a peaceful, democratic and inclusive country.
The Tahdir training is offered through a web platform in three fields relevant to the reconstruction of Syria.
1. Local Administration,
2. Law and Security Sector Reform,
3. Urban Planning for Sustainable Development.
In addition, three compulsory common courses are taught to participants in the three programs:
· Citizenship
· Democratic decision-making processes
· On-line English language training
The Tahdir programme is run by the Arab Reform Initiative and the Olof Palme International Center with the collaboration of Ila Souria. Tahdir is supported by the European Union and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
A Diploma is delivered by the two partner institutions with the support of the European Union and the Swedish international Development Cooperation Agency, Sida.
The first round of the Tahdir programme was launched in April 2016 and is ongoing.
The call for second round was launched on 25 May 2016 and the deadline is extended until 10 July 2016. The second round planned to start 3 October 2016 until April 2017 until April 2017, on a part-time basis and is designed to reach out to participants inside Syria or elsewhere. The round will be administered through a web-based e-learning platform with close coaching by program staff throughout the course of the program.
Applicants need to be equipped with a computer and internet access.
Women are specifically encouraged to apply to this programme.
You can contact them:
Marianne Boqvist, Email : Tahdir-m.boqvist@arab-reform.net
Diana Mansour, Email: Tahdirprog@arab-reform.net
Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Tahdir4Syria

On UNESCO and the ICC are exploring ‘ways to deepen cooperation on the protection of cultural heritage and the fight against impunity of war crimes.” See the full story here.

French petition to call for follow up actions from the UNESCO meeting to support the Syrian DGAM.

See the petition here.

Leiden University has created a new MOOC – Heritage Under Threat. Go to their website for details.

Fascinating results from ASOR/Terrawatchers crowdsourcing of site damage in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. Read more here.

(You may need a free log in to read it).

“In 2014, the University of Pennsylvania Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science launched a project to study “conflict culture”—the heritage of communities attacked during periods of war or violence. Now joined by researchers from around the world, the Conflict Culture Research Network supports rigorous, interdisciplinary research that examines how conflict impacts the culture of communities experiencing violence.”

See the newly-launched website here.

A new UNESCO-UNITAR summary report demonstrates how satellite imagery analysis is an increasingly important tool for assessing potential damage to cultural heritage sites. Read more here.

UNESCO and UNOSAT have signed an agreement to enable greater collaboration to better protect cultural and natural heritage sites. Details here.

The World Heritage Committee has discussed Syria’s World Heritage sites, including Palmyra.

Speaking on a panel at the summit, Culture and Tourism Minister Nabi Avcı outlined Turkey’s efforts against artifact smuggling from Syria. “The work of our security forces with the coordination of the Culture Ministry is promising to prevent the illegal transfer of cultural artifacts, Daily Sabah concluded.
Read more here.

On June 16th the DG of UNESCO addressed the Europe Lecture and discussed heritage protection. Read more here.

• Important article about the boycott on Syrian and Academics in the Huffington Post. Well worth reading.
• Al-Monitor reports on the Antiquities Coalition digital map showing the destruction of cultural heritage in the Middle East here.
• Insightful analysis on Hyperallergic of what the protection of endangered animals can offer to the protection of endangered antiquities.
• News report on the work of the Pergamon Museum to help integrate Syria refugees in Berlin, and to share Germany’s Syrian collections with them.
• News story highlighting the importance of heritage to refugee children, in Newsdeeply
• Looted Art & Antiquities in the Middle East: panel discussion hosted by Herrick’s Art Law Group and the Art Newspaper. Watch the panel discussion here.
• Syria. The urgency of thinking the reconstruction – a French article in the journal The City, here.
• More on the concerns of rebuilding at Palmyra, by Gulf News here.
• Looting, destruction of ancient sites is part of Daesh’s ongoing campaign to culturally cleanse the Middle East. Read more by Assyrian International News Agency here.
• ScienceMag’s Letters to the editor features heritage destruction and what we should be doing about it.
• Al-Jazeera features the work of The Day After – Heritage Protect Initiative here.
• Vice News writes here about the new Daesh video and the destruction of Palmyra’s mummies, as does Almasdar News.
• Before and after pictures show damage to Aleppo here.