Wilson Briefs | April 2016

From the demolition of Iraqi archeological sites during the recent Iraq War, to the bulldozing of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban in March 2001, to the recent destruction of some ancient Syrian artifacts and the looting of others by the Islamic State (ISIS), crimes against cultural heritage in armed conflicts pose a major challenge to the humanities in the 21st century. Cultural heritage has become a target in the Middle East because it represents a people’s history, memory, and culture, all of which are subject to erasure. As Michel Foucault remarked in a 1975 interview on film and popular memory:

Preserving Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflicts

by Yue ZhangThe ongoing armed conflicts in the Middle East have caused severe damage to the region’s cultural heritage. Despite the challenges, great joint efforts have been made between local heritage professionals and the international heritage community. Such efforts demonstrate creative approaches to preserving cultural heritage in conflict zones, and illuminate the future of more efficient international cooperation.

SUMMARY

Open ruins of ancient city Ebla, Syria

 

WILSON BRIEFS

2

Since memory is actually a very important factor in struggle, … if one controls people’s memory, one controls their dynamism. And one also controls their experience, their knowledge of previous struggles.

1

 Safeguarding an afflicted population’s cultural heritage, by contrast, not only respects human dignity by protecting their collective memory and way of life, but also lays a foundation for a return to normalcy following a disaster.

International Institutions and Local Professionals

In response to crimes against cultural heritage, local heritage professionals and the international heritage community have raised a great joint effort. Participants include archaeologists, museum professionals, historic preservationists, historians, librarians, archivists, and experts at major international cultural organizations concerned with heritage preservation, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), and the International Council of Museums (ICOM).The Safeguarding the Heritage of Syria Initiative Project, known as SHOSI, is one of the major humanitarian interventions. Created in spring 2013, SHOSI is a consortium of the Penn Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Pennsylvania Museum; the Office of the Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution; the Geospatial Technologies Project at the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the United States Institute of Peace; and the Day After Association (a Syrian nongovernmental organization). In summer 2014, as ISIS advanced into Iraq, SHOSI expanded its efforts to support Iraqi heritage professionals, and renamed itself the Safeguarding the Heritage of Syria and Iraq Project. In late June 2014, SHOSI conducted a three-day course on emergency care for Syrian museum collections in Gaziantep, Turkey. Approximately 20 heritage professionals, primarily from the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, attended. The workshop taught participants how to protect portable objects during emergencies and provided basic supplies for packing and securing museum collections that could be put to immediate use. More important, it created a dialogue among local heritage professionals about emergency needs and responses. Following ISIS attacks in Iraq and the occupation of Mosul in summer 2014, SHOSI brought a similar emergency heritage protection workshop and a short course to an audience of Iraqi heritage professionals in Erbil, Iraq. Training programs or e-training courses for affected regions’ heritage professionals also have been offred by UNESCO, ICOMOS, and ICCROM. Emergency training has

1 Michel Foucault, “Film and Popular Memory: An Interview with Michel Foucault,”

Radical Philosophy 

 11, no. 11 (1975), 28.

 

WILSON BRIEFS

3

attracted participants from Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey. The courses broadly cover ways to combat illicit trafficking, provide emergency stabilization for built heritage, protect moveable heritage, and record intangible heritage. In addition to training, SHOSI is engaging emergency preservation projects for at-risk cultural heritage. One such timely measure successfully protected the building and mosaic collection of the Ma’arra Museum, located south of Aleppo, from the Assad regime’s June 2015 air force attack.

Dangers and Other Obstacles

Many challenges hinder the preservation of cultural heritage in a conflict zone. First and foremost, the conflict itself endangers heritage professionals in the region who might otherwise act. The personal safety of those undertaking emergency preservation efforts remains a paramount concern. Second, the international heritage community is constrained not only by the difficulty of travelling to these areas but also by the legal environment in which they must act. In Syria, for example, the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions against activities that involve the Syrian financial system. For the United States, additionally, sanctions extend to collaboration with the Syrian government and its instrumentalities, one of which is Syria’s Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM). American heritage professionals, therefore, are legally forbidden from working directly with the Syrian DGAM. Brian Daniels, director of research and programs at the Penn Museum, divulged in a conversation that all local partners of SHOSI have to be vetted by the U.S. Department of State for participation in the Assad regime’s unlawful activities or linkage to a terrorist or extremist group. SHOSI’s financial transactions have been subject to monitoring by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Although such scrutiny may be necessary, the multiple layers of bureaucratic oversight may impair timely reaction to a crisis.

Reinforced and stabilized mosaics at the Ma’arra Museum, December 2014. Photograph source anonymous for protection.Ma’arra Museum curatorial staff preparing the mosaics for sandbagging, December 2014. Photograph source and staff members anonymous for protection.