News

On 24 June, ICCROM brought together 14 representatives from 13 embassies of Latin American and Caribbean countries. The aim was to exchange opinions about the LATAM activities promoted and facilitated by ICCROM, and to foster dialogue and strengthen ties between the countries in the region prior ICCROM’s 29th General Assembly.

The ICCROM-ATHAR Regional Conservation Centre, in cooperation with the UNESCO Office in Cairo, held a course on Building National Capacities for Libyan Professionals in First Aid and Risk Preparedness for Cultural Heritage in Djerba, Tunisia from 12 to 15 June 2015.

The aim of the LATAM Newsletter is to give the opportunity to conservation professionals in Latin America and the Caribbean to share their research and professional experiences throughout the region using the LATAM network.

Beirut, Lebanon, 1-10 June 2015 In efforts to provide support to cultural heritage professionals in Syria, the ICCROM-ATHAR Regional Centre recently joined forces with UNESCO and the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage – Bahrain (ARC-WH) to hold a course in Beirut, Lebanon, on First Aid to Built Cultural Heritage for Syrian professionals.

On 12 June the Director-General signed a framework agreement with the Secretary General of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), Mr José Angelo Estrella Faria. The UNIDROIT is an independent intergovernmental organization (IGO) founded in 1926 as an auxiliary organ of the League of Nations and re-established in 1940 on the basis of multilateral agreement. It...

Following a 2011 resolution adopted by ICCROM Member States on the reorganization of museum storage, in 2013 ICCROM launched a large-scale call for partners to implement RE-ORG projects worldwide. More than 40 Member States showed interested in the initiative, including the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) in Brussels, Belgium. Now, in collaboration with the Flemish interface...

In an effort to turn the tragedy and loss of the 25 April earthquake into an opportunity to promote the resilience of cultural heritage, ICCROM is currently in Kathmandu carrying out intensive training in partnership with ICOMOS, the Smithsonian Institution and ICOM. This is being done at the request of the the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu and the Department of Archaeology of the Government of Nepal...

When news of the massive earthquake in Nepal broke out, ICCROM led an initiative to produce the Kathmandu Cultural Emergency Crowdmap, which received extensive on-the-ground reports about damaged heritage. As a result, an overview of the devastation was pulled together immediately and now an international team is in Kathmandu preparing the groundwork for a sustainable salvage operation.

Laura Sbordoni Mora, famed paintings and mural paintings conservator, has died in Rome. She was 92 years old. A frequent collaborator and permanent consultant of ICCROM, she was a chief restorer at the Italian Istituto Centrale del Restauro (ICR), active in restoration over a period of more than 50 years, and was also my mentor, colleague and friend.

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has condemned the airstrikes on the ancient city of Marib in Yemen and is calling on all parties involved in the conflict to refrain from targeting the country’s unique cultural heritage. UNESCO has received information on damage caused to the Great Dam of Marib by an airstrike during the night of 31 May