2009 - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

2008 - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

2007 - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

29 April

• News from ICOMOS International Secretariat: US/ICOMOS: Elections
  US/ICOMOS announces that at its annual meeting held in New Orleans on March 14, three new members were elected to the Board of Directors: Suzanne Deal Booth, director and founder of Friends of Heritage Preservation in Austin,Texas; Grover Mouton of the School of Architecture at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana; and Jeffrey Soule International Director of the American Planning Association in Washington, DC...

• Turkey: Allianoi LATEST NEWS from Europa Nostra
  Campaigners of the Allianoi Initiative have informed us that the Turkish State Council has annulled the decision made by the High Committee for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage (27 Nov.’06) that allowed the Directorate of State Hydraulic Works to submerge or move historic remains and thus would allowed Allianoi to be covered by silt and inundated. The Association of Archaeologists, The Foundation of Economical and Social History, the Turkish Union of Chambers of Engineers and Architects, Izmir Chamber of Tourist Guides, and the Association of Contemporary Lawyers had launched this court case in order to protect many important archaeological remains in Turkey ...

• World Bank Urban Development Unit: DIRECTIONS in Urban Development
  Infrastructure and Heritage Conservation: Opportunities for Urban Revitalization and Economic Development. The World Bank Urban Development Unite announces the latest issue of DIRECTIONS in Urban Development, titled "Infrastructure and Heritage Conservation: Opportunities for Urban Revitalization and Economic Development" authored by Katrinka Ebbe, a consultant working with our Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Thematic Group.

28 April

• Exhibition: The Arts and Crafts of Timor Leste (Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory of Australia) 16 - 17 May 2009
  Back from the Brink; Heritage, Culture and Art from Timor-Leste public seminar focuses on the care of cultural heritage collections and the preservation of heritage sites in Timor-Leste. This seminar complements the exhibition Husi Bei Ala Timor Sira Nia Liman – From the Hands of Our Ancestors which is jointly presented by the National Directorate of Culture, Timor-Leste and the Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory. The exhibition features works from the National Collection of Timor-Leste, MAGNT, the Australian Museum and private loans. Keynote speaker will be Mr Virgilio Simith, Secretary of State, Culture, Timor-Leste. Mr Simith will discuss developments for a proposed national museum of Timor-Leste.

• Interview to Barbro Fransson: Digitalizing Europe’s cultural heritage
  ENCATC in CONTACT is a space for members to present themselves and their institutions. In this issue we contacted Barbro Fransson, Managing Director of Power Lake AB, Stockholm. The EU-funded “Digital Extra” project is designed to contribute to the digitalization of the cultural heritage of Europe. It runs for a 2-year-period as part of the European Commission’s LEONARDO programme, until the end of 2010, and is being coordinated by the Jamtli Museum in Östersund, Sweden. We spoke to Barbro Fransson, work package leader for tests.

• Cluny2010 launching - Celebrations of the 1100th anniversary of the Foundation of the Abbey
  From May 5, 2009 a whole week will be devoted to the events around Cluny that will conclude the year of celebrations “Cluny 2010”. All the participants will mobilize for this opening: City of Cluny, Federation of the Cluny Sites, and also the National monument Center, Arts and Offices ParisTech de Cluny, as well as numerous participants with associative projects labelled “Cluny 2010”.

• MayDay! MayDay! MayDay! Campaign Australia
  During the month of May, Blue Shield Australia is encouraging archives, galleries, libraries, museums, cultural heritage sites and organisations across the country to participate in MayDay – a national campaign for the protection of cultural heritage from disaster. MayDay aims to raise awareness about disaster preparedness and to encourage people to perform at least one disaster-preparedness task in May each year. There are many types of emergencies that we can be better prepared for, from the potential impact of faulty electrical wiring in the building next door, to bushfires, cyclones or even internal or external floods. The MayDay concept originated with the Society of American Archivists (SAA) in 2006.

• News from the ICOMOS Documentation Centre
  1. Bibliographic Database of the Documentation
  • 1100 new records added in the last semester (Oct. 2008 – March 2009) Download the thematic bibliography: http://www.international.icomos.org/centre_documentation/last0309.pdf
  2. More documents, news, downloads, journals, publications, etc in the Blog: http://icomosdocumentationcentre.blogspot.com

   

• ENCATC working group „Interpretation and mediation applied to heritage sites“ ENCATC Meeting - 26-27 March 2009 - Paris, France
  The third working group meeting focused on the joint experience, and analysis, of innovative mediation methods used in museums. As part of the programme, participants visited the tactile gallery of the Louvre Museum. Furthermore, discussions as a follow-up to the previous two working group meetings were continued, focusing on commenting a bibliography on the subject matter, identifying expertise in different countries, and developing a working method. A useful information tool mentioned by one of the seminar participants, which could serve as an example, was the online network ConnectCP, a worldwide database with experts in cultural policies. The next meeting of the working group will be held in October in Barcelona.

27 April

• Call for contributions: Join us in building our history (ICCROM)
  ICCROM is celebrating its 50th anniversary by collecting information on its own history and on the development of conservation as a discipline. Please help us by sending any information, images, and/or anecdotes you may have that shed light on the history of ICCROM - not only on official matters but also behind the scenes. If your contacts with ICCROM have in any way changed your life, we want to know! Include your name, country, and a brief description of your link with ICCROM. Your contributions of 100 words or less will be gratefully appreciated and may be sent to: iccrom_history@iccrom.org

24 April

• E-codices - New update on the Virtual Manuscripts Library of Switzerland
  The purpose of “e-codices” is to provide access to the medieval codices in Switzerland by creating a virtual library. At the moment, the virtual library contains 380 manuscripts from 16 different libraries. The virtual library will be continuously updated and extended.

• Preventive attitude towards built heritage: The basis of Conservation - RLICC-KUL (Belgium)
  The importance of regular maintenance and preventive interventions on built heritage was stressed already in the Venice Charter (1964) and promoted worldwide by the World Heritage Convention (1972). According to these texts, preventive attitude implies adequate technical improvement, proper management and social involvement. Due to its fundamentally sustainable character it is becoming today a key-field in conservation.
  • Inauguration of UNESCO Chair in Preventive COnservation

   

• Prevention is better than cure
  The Charter of Venice (1964) emphasises that the significance of the Built Cultural Heritage can only be sustained if the physical assets are maintained appropriately and systematically. Regular maintenance is the optimum strategy for conservation of the BCH, causing the least possible damage to its cultural significance. Monument Watch prescribes such a preventive approach, offering a systematic inspection system focused on maintenance. The "umbrella" organisation was founded in the autumn of 1991, by the end of 1992 the 5 provincial organisations were in operational order. Monument Watch sets out from the idea that - within certain limits - most owners are rather willing to take care of their buildings. To them we offer our services as an independent advisory body. Monument Watch prescribes an integral approach, stimulating the conservation of the structural condition of the building as well as of the interior and the movable heritage.

21 April

• Industrial archeology - analytical Criteria in the understanding of a metallurgical and mining site
  Salvador Rovira - Prehistory and Archaeology Departament, Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain)
  The city of Capitelle du Broum, which dates back to the Copper age (3000 - 2400 B.C.), is the only metallurgical industrial establishment of western Europe of this time closely associated to copper mines and metallurgical activities. It is part of the mining site of Cabrières, one of the earliest French centers of copper production and a unique metallurgical complex in the western Mediterranean.

17 April

• UNESCO, Library of Congress and partners launch World Digital Library
  UNESCO and 32 partner institutions will launch the World Digital Library, a Web site that features unique cultural materials from libraries and archives from around the world, at UNESCO Headquarters on 21 April. The site will include manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, and prints and photographs. It will provide unrestricted public access, free of charge, to this material.

16 April

• LE:NOTRE Spring Workshop 2009

• Call for project proposal - AFRICA 2009
  African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) has opened the second round of call for proposals. The link for downloading announcement and application form is: http://www.africa2009.net/english/events/index.asp - Application to be sent exclusively to Jacob: listmanager@list.africa2009.net. Deadline: 30 July 2009.

• The Director-General signs an agreement with the national Institute of the audio-visual sector (INA)
  An agreement between UNESCO and the INA has been signed (France) at the headquarters of UNESCO on 9 April 2009 by the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, and the Chairperson of the INA, Emmanuel Hoog, in the presence of Catherine Colonna, Ambassador and permanent Delegate of France for UNESCO, Jean-Pierre Boyer, Secretary General of the French national Commission for UNESCO, and of member of the administration board of the INA.

• Métallurgie industrielle dans l'Europe occidentale à l'âge du cuivre
  • Temoignages
    • "Les exploitations minières métallurgiques dans le néolithique" (Français)
      Paul AMBERT - archéologue, CNRS-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France
    • "Entretien avec Laurence Bouquet" (Français)
      Laurence BOUQUET - archéologue, INRAP-Institut National de Recherches en Archéologie Préventive, France
    • "Criterios analíticos en la comprensión de un sitio metalúrgico y minero" (Español )
      Salvador Rovira - Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España
  • Reportages
  • "Fouilles archéologiques sur le site de la Capitelle du Broum" (Français et Deutsch)
  • "Aperçu du potentiel archéologique des Neuf Bouches" (Français et Español)
  • "La cave coopérative de Clermont-l'Hérault" (Français)

15 April

• [italiano] “100 anni di archeologia aerea in Italia”: mostra di fotografie aeree dal 16 al 26 aprile
  L’Aerofototeca Nazionale - Laboratorio per la fotointerpretazione e l’aerofotogrammetria è una struttura di raccolta e di studio del materiale aerofotografico relativo al territorio italiano che è andata acquisendo nel corso degli anni un patrimonio di oltre due milioni di immagini del territorio italiano, raccolto in collezioni e per buona parte catalogato o accessibile con particolari chiavi di ricerca.

• [italiano] Alla scoperta dei grandi giardini italiani in fiore a primavera. Fino a luglio
  Con la primavera, fioriscono gli eventi dei Grandi Giardini Italiani che, nel 2009, si sono arricchiti di altre sei importanti proprietà, tre in Lombardia, una in Umbria sul lago Trasimeno, una nel Lazio vicino a Viterbo e una in Sicilia. A questo proposito, per incentivare il turismo culturale, ed in particolare quello legato all’Horticultural Tourism, Grandi Giardini Italiani propone una rassegna di eventi che spaziano dalle dimore storiche, visite guidate, mostre e appuntamenti per dare risalto ai grandi spazi verdi che rappresentano i Grandi Giardini del nostro paese.

• [italiano] La “Carta del rischio” del patrimonio culturale (Italie)
  Sulla insensatezza di una tragedia che forse non si sarebbe manifestata con tanta veemenza e brutalità, se solo si fosse agito nel rispetto delle regole e del buon senso, si è scritto e detto molto, a partire dalla notte tra domenica 5 e lunedì 6 aprile. Il terremoto che ha colpito l’Abruzzo, ha reso visibile lo stato di precarietà del patrimonio edilizio, in generale, e di quello storico-artistico, in particolare. I tecnici del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, incrociando le aree dove è maggiore la possibilità che si verifichino eventi sismici con la densità culturale di un luogo, hanno stimato che circa 250mila edifici su un totale di mezzo milione si trovano in una zona a rischio sismico. Di questi solo alcuni possono vantare una scheda di valutazione di tale rischio, con la concreta probabilità che il termine per la conclusione della ricognizione del patrimonio culturale e del tipo di interventi da effettuare - previsto dalla Direttiva del Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri del 12 ottobre 2007, per la valutazione e riduzione del rischio sismico del patrimonio culturale -, fissato al 31 dicembre 2010 sarà ulteriormente prorogato...

• Management Planning - Getty Conservation Institute (GCI)
  This project seeks to analyze the GCI's experiences in conservation management planning, identify prevailing needs in the field of heritage management, and develop potential ways in which the GCI can address existing gaps in the field. The Getty Conservation Institute has been involved in conservation management planning for the last two decades, as evidenced by the Institute's involvement in a series of activities from early courses in Pathos and its Maya Initiative, to current projects in Tunisia and Iraq.

• Protection of Plain of Jars set in stone by Julie Van Den Bergh, Chief Technical (Lao PDR)
  Advisor and International Archaeologist Plain of Jars Project Deep in the heart of Lao PDR lies the Plain of Jars. High on the plateau of Xieng Khouang, clusters of solid ancient stone jars, which measure between one and three metres in height and diameter, have been placed in the landscape. Little is known about the people who constructed them. Local legend has it that in the sixth century, the Lao king Khun Jeuam had the jars carved and filled with rice wine after an important victory to celebrate the defeat of his enemy. Read more at UNESCO Bangkok Newsletter Nº 18 - page 16

• An on-line exploration of the Middle Ages for the youth and for instructors
  The Louvre and Hachette Jeunesse propose an on-line exploration of the Middle Ages for the young public and instructors at the website curiosphere.tv. This well-designed site provides access to a presentation of the Middle Ages in its historical, social, artistic and religious dimensions. Therefore, thanks to well written and concise texts, the curious visitor will easily learn how farmers lived at that time and facts about religion. On the other hand, an important part is devoted to art - Carolingian, Roman, Gothic. Five short videos provide a good introduction through images of outstanding historical landmarks. Interactive games, a quiz as well as a glossary complete this pedagogical site. The space for instructors allows to benefit from the tracks and pedagogical resources available. The iconographic qualities of the site will be appraised very especially, which takes advantage of the wealth of the Louvre collections.

1 April

• Heritage South Australia E-News March 2009 Issue 23
  The Heritage Branch of the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage is responsible for the development of strategies and polices relating to the Department's Heritage program. The Department aims to identify, protect, conserve and promote State Heritage Places and Maritime Heritage within the context of relevant legislation - the Heritage Places Act 1993, the State Historic Shipwrecks Act 1981 and the Australian Government Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976.

• ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration: Elections
  The ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration has recently held elections at its meeting in Florence on 8 March 2009. The new Bureau of the Committee is composed as follows:
  • President : Andrzej Tomaszewski
  • Vice-President: Wilfried Lipp
  • General Secretary: Boguslaw Szmygin
  • Bureau members: Ursula Schadler-Saub, Soheil Mehr Azar, Peter Burman

   

• International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS): Call for support from the City Archive in Cologne
  In the last few days the City Archive Cologne (Stadtarchiv Köln) and other related institutions received numerous offers for assistance. Therefore, the Cologne secretariat of culture (Kölnerkulturdezerant) had a task force meeting at the 8th of March 2009. At this meeting it was agreed on organising teams of professional volunteers in order to sort out following procedure for the remaining archive material. Furthermore, it was agreed on looking for temporary storage possibilities for the still existing material...

• Australian Council of National Trusts Media Release March 2009 – nominations open for Our heritage at risk 2009
  The chairman of the Australian Council of National Trusts, Dr Graeme L. Blackman, speaking on behalf of all 8 National Trust organisations and their 80,000 members, today invited nominations to its “Our Heritage at Risk” program. Dr Blackman warned Australians of the many risks their heritage is facing. “Throughout the country important heritage is in danger of being lost to future generations of Australians. This program, by working with other heritage, conservation and community groups aims to engage all Australians in seeking for solutions.”Dr Blackman advised that nominations will be accepted until World Heritage Day on April 18th. Nominations of heritage that can be shown to be at real risk should be submitted to State and Territory National Trusts. How to nominate may vary between states and this is explained on the Our Heritage at Risk website. State and Territory Our Heritage at Risk lists will be released in July, and the National. Top Ten Our Heritage at Risk list will be announced in November 2009.

Shaping the American Landscape - The Art and Architecture of Charles A Platt
New Profiles from the Pioneers of American Landscape Design Project
by Keith N. Morgan
ISBN: 0-87451-104-4
The public’s desire for greater understanding and interpretation of America’s landscape heritage has increased dramatically since our first Pioneers of American Landscape Design volume was published. In response to growing interest, and the surge in scholarship that has followed, a second volume, with over 150 new pioneer essays is now in production for a fall 2009 release date.