From 14-20 April the Director-General visited Tlemcen, Algeria, to participate in the opening ceremony of the event, Tlemcen Capitale de la culture islamique. Distinguished guests of the event included:

• Mr Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria
• Mr Ahmed Ben Bella, former President of Algeria
• Mrs Khalida Toumi, Minister of Culture of Algeria
• Mr Abdelaziz Touidjri, Director-General of ISESCO
• Mr Sissa Bint Al sheikh Wald Beeda, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of Mauritania
• Mr Bensalem Himmich, Minister of Culture of Morocco
• Mr Ahmed Ben Helli, Deputy Secretary-General of the Arab League
• Mr Hamad bin Abdulaziz bin Ali al-Kuwari, Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Qatar
• Mr Mohamed-El Aziz Ben Achour, Director-General of ALECSO
• Mr Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran

While in Algeria, the Director-General participated in meetings with the Ministry of Culture for the MOSAIKON programme and for the preparation of a future mission to the archaeological site of Djémila, and with the Italian Embassy to discuss cultural cooperation between Italy and Algeria on the occasion of 150 years of Italian Unity.

Rome, Italy

On 13 April the Director-General, Mounir Bouchenaki and the President of the Associazione Civita, Mr Antonio Maccanico signed an agreement to collaborate in activities aimed at preserving cultural heritage, including the exchange of information and documentation and the organization of seminars, courses, meetings and other other activities.

The Associazione Civita is a non-profit organisation founded by a group of companies, universities and public research bodies. It is an important player in the national debate on cultural heritage in Italy, and aims to cultivate relationships and common goals between the culture sector and the business world.

see also

• Civita press release