27 April. Under the patronage of H.H. Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Sharjah, and in the framework the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2008 between the Emirate of Sharjah and ICCROM (the International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) to implement activities of ATHAR Programme (Conservation of Cultural Heritage in the Arab Region), a three-week Specialist Regional Course on the Conservation of Organic Materials in Heritage Sites and Collections began yesterday at the Islamic Museum, in the heritage area of Sharjah.

The course is organized by ICCROM through its recently-established Regional Centre in Sharjah, UAE, in partnership with the Government of Sharjah (Sharjah Museums Department, Department of Culture and Information, American University of Sharjah, and University of Sharjah), and ALECSO (the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation), with the support of the National Council for Tourism and Antiquities of the UAE.

Following a rigorous selection process, the 26 participants selected for the course include site managers, archaeologists, architects, engineers, museum specialists, and collections curators. Participants from the UAE come from various government institutions working in the field of cultural heritage in Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Dubai, Sharjah, as well as from the Federal Government.

This three-week regional ATHAR course is one of the several specialist courses held in the last couple of years following three previous foundation courses of the programme. It aims at building the capacity of conservation professionals in the Arab Region in the field of cultural heritage conservation and development with a specific focus on organic materials, including wood and timber constructions, paper, manuscripts and textiles, found in built heritage and museum collections.

The course will consist of interactive, participatory sessions, both theoretical and practical, and will include study visits and applied work at selected historic houses as well as laboratory sessions at the University of Sharjah and the American University of Sharjah.

By the end of the course participants will be able to understand:

• mechanical and chemical characteristics of organic materials and their deterioration processes;
• appropriate treatments of dampness and infestation and recognize priorities for appropriate conservation and treatment interventions.

In addition, the participants will explore preventive conservation methods by:

• understanding and evaluating the conditions within the different types of organic materials in historic buildings and museum collections;
• developing strategies for achieving appropriate conservation conditions; and
• exploring tools of risk assessment.

By the end of this three-week activity, participants will develop, with the assistance of the instructors, a project of practical work that they will pursue in their own countries during Phase 2 of the course.  The work project will aim for practical improvements in each participant’s working context and specific professional responsibilities.  The course will conclude with a Review Meeting planned next October.

Member States represented: Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Yemen.

updated on: 6 May, 2011