International Heritage News
01
Launch of the Utamaduni Heritage Centre in Egypt
On November 28 and 29, 2023, ICCROM, together with Senghor University and more than 10 experts from various organizations and backgrounds, gathered to witness the launch of Egypt's first heritage centre, the Utamaduni Heritage Centre. "Utamaduni" means heritage in Swahili, while "Tamaduni" translates to civilization in Arabic.
Source: www.iccrom.org
02
ICCROM-FAR to Launch Comprehensive Tool on Heritage Climate Risk Management Next Year
Over the past two and a half years, ICCROM's flagship programme "First Aid and Resilience to Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis" (FAR) has been working to understand the impact of climate change on cultural heritage and the role cultural heritage can play in responding to the climate crisis, through knowledge-building and capacity development initiatives such as "Climate, Culture, Peace and Net Zero: Heritage for Climate Action."
ICCROM's FAR programme aims to meet the need to assess climate risks to different types of heritage and understand their potential consequences by developing a comprehensive tool for heritage climate risk management.
To engage in knowledge-sharing discussions and jointly protect cultural heritage in the face of the global climate crisis, ICCROM welcomes registration for the upcoming international conference "Net Zero: Heritage for Climate Action," to be held from February 19 to 23, 2024.
Source: www.iccrom.org
03
Southeast Asian Biosphere Reserve Network Promotes Community Engagement for Sustainability
From November 13 to 15, 2023, the Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Biosphere Reserve Network (SeaBRnet) was held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, bringing together 100 participants from across Southeast Asia to exchange insights on sustainable practices and local community empowerment, and to envision a future where people live in harmony with nature. Representatives from biosphere reserve (BR) networks in other sub-regions of Asia-Pacific participated in the discussions, sharing specific community engagement initiatives and collaborating to find innovative solutions to environmental and cultural challenges.
Source: www.unesco.org
04
UNESCO Intercultural Conference Debates Sustainability of Natural and Cultural Heritage in the Caribbean
Heritage managers from the Caribbean and Europe discussed sustainable development strategies in an online event to identify culture-based development opportunities.
To discuss and promote sustainability strategies for this heritage, the EU-funded UNESCO project "Intercultural: Bringing Cuba, the Caribbean, and the European Union Together through Culture and Creativity" held an online debate on "Unlocking Ecological Benefits."
During the event, experts from the Caribbean and Europe discussed how to link natural resources and heritage, cultural landscapes, and archaeological sites with cultural and economic value, and shared resilience strategies and income-generating initiatives based on the sustainable use of these resources.
Source: www.unesco.org
05
UNESCO Training on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage in Tobago Launched
This course helps ensure that a new generation of underwater archaeologists and cultural heritage managers will be available for decades to come.
The UNESCO Foundation Training on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage in the Caribbean is being held from November 20 to December 8, 2023, in Rocky Bay, Tobago.
Source: www.unesco.org
Domestic Heritage News
01
School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Holds Symposium Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Passing of Professor YU Weichao
On the morning of December 5, 2023, the "Symposium Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Passing of Professor YU Weichao" was held at the School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University. Nearly fifty people attended, including Professor YU's classmates, friends, students, colleagues, and academic peers. The symposium was chaired by SHEN Ruiwen, Dean of the School of Archaeology and Museology. Professor YU was a brilliant archaeologist, an idealist, a romantic, and a thinker in archaeology who made far-reaching contributions to the development of Chinese archaeology and cultural heritage conservation.
Mr. XU Guangyi recalled the last ten years of working alongside Professor YU on the cultural heritage protection of the Three Gorges region, from 1992 until Professor YU's passing. At a time when the construction of the Three Gorges Reservoir was imminent and heritage protection faced enormous challenges, the "Three Gorges Project Reservoir Area Cultural Relics Protection Planning Group" was established with Professor YU Weichao as its head. Under the pressure of a massive workload, time constraints, and limited funding, they began with surveys and research, identifying 1,282 sites across two provinces and twenty-two counties and districts. They assessed the value of these sites by category, developed protection plans, and ultimately produced a protection plan of two million characters. Under Professor YU's leadership and with the efforts of many, by 2008, the heritage protection work of the Three Gorges was essentially completed. In 2010, the archaeological protection plan was officially published. To date, over 80 related archaeological reports have been published, with all reports expected to be completed by 2025.
Professor YU Weichao was the founder of Chinese underwater archaeology. Mr. ZHANG Wei noted that during the difficult period of the 1990s when underwater archaeology was not widely recognized, Professor YU withstood pressure to pioneer the field, and with great foresight, built underwater archaeology as a discipline.
Mr. SONG Jianzhong also mentioned that the best commemoration of Professor YU is the continuation and development of his ideas and pioneering work. Over the past 36 years, China's underwater archaeology has flourished, achieving remarkable successes that Professor YU could hardly have anticipated, continuing his disciplinary vision and creating an even brighter future for Chinese underwater archaeology.
Source: School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University
02
2023 Maritime Silk Road Conservation and Joint World Heritage Nomination Cities Alliance Joint Conference Successfully Held
On November 30, the "2023 Maritime Silk Road Conservation and Joint World Heritage Nomination Cities Alliance Joint Conference," guided by the National Cultural Heritage Administration, was successfully held in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province.
GUAN Qiang, Deputy Director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, attended and addressed the conference. GUAN Qiang pointed out that the transnational joint World Heritage nomination of the Maritime Silk Road is a flagship project of "Belt and Road" international cooperation in the field of cultural heritage.
The conference was hosted by the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, the Huizhou Municipal People's Government, and the Maritime Silk Road Conservation and Joint Nomination Alliance Office, and organized by the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics, and the Huizhou Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics. More than 150 representatives attended, including cultural heritage departments from 12 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government along the Maritime Silk Road, as well as Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, and 34 alliance cities.
Source: National Cultural Heritage Administration, Tencent News
03
UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management Quanzhou Office Inaugurated
On November 27, 2023, the UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management Quanzhou Office was officially inaugurated at No. 7-1 Taikui Lane, Quanzhou Ancient City.
Guests at the inauguration ceremony included Shahbaz Khan, Director of the UNESCO Multi-Sectoral Regional Office for East Asia (Representative to China); DONG Wei, Professor at Southeast University and Secretary-General of the UNESCO Asian Academy for Heritage Management; ZHU Qiping, Commander of the Quanzhou Ancient City Protection and Development Headquarters; and relevant leaders from Quanzhou municipal departments, Quanzhou Ancient City Development Co., Ltd., and Licheng District Government.
Source: Asian Academy for Heritage Management
04
2023 Online Communication Capacity Building Workshop for World Heritage Site Sustainable Livelihoods Project Leaders
To further strengthen the communication capacity of World Heritage site sustainable livelihoods project leaders and intangible cultural heritage inheritors, and to enhance the role of youth in heritage protection and sustainable development, under the UNESCO-China Youth Development Foundation Mercedes-Benz Star Fund "China World Heritage Site Protection and Management" project, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Communication Research Center of Communication University of China organized two sessions of the "2023 Online Communication Capacity Building Workshop for World Heritage Site Sustainable Livelihoods Project Leaders" on October 28 and November 12, 2023, as part of the "Youth Heritage Talk" framework. Forty-three (27 female) project leaders, inheritors, and artisans from five World Heritage site sustainable livelihoods pilot projects—Shilin (Yunnan), Songtao (Guizhou), Chishui (Guizhou), Wolong (Sichuan), and Quanzhou (Fujian)—participated in the workshop. This marks the third consecutive year that online communication capacity building activities have been conducted for pilot heritage sites under the project, benefiting 131 project leaders to date.
Source: UNESCO
05
Greater Bay Area Underwater Archaeology International Cooperation Centre Inaugurated
On December 1, the Greater Bay Area Underwater Archaeology International Cooperation Centre was officially inaugurated at the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey Nansha Research Base. Under the guidance of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the centre will strengthen collaboration with the National Centre for Archaeology, and coordinate with various research institutions, universities, and cultural heritage institutions in the Greater Bay Area to innovatively advance underwater archaeological excavation and the development of key archaeological science technologies. In the near future, the centre will conduct underwater archaeological surveys across the province in coordination with the Fourth National Census of Cultural Relics, establish a geographic information management system for underwater archaeological cultural heritage in the Greater Bay Area, collaborate with the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey and other departments to explore deep-sea archaeology, and expand international cooperation in underwater archaeology in Southeast Asia. On the same day, the Guangdong Provincial Marine Cultural Heritage Science and Technology Alliance was formally established.
Source: National Cultural Heritage Administration
06
"Under One Roof: The Origins and Art of Lingnan Traditional Architecture" Exhibition Opens in Hong Kong
On December 12, the exhibition "Under One Roof: The Origins and Art of Lingnan Traditional Architecture," co-organized by the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the Development Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the Social and Cultural Affairs Department of the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, officially opened at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre.
This exhibition is a cultural heritage collaboration under the framework of the "Framework Agreement on Deepening Exchange and Cooperation in the Field of Cultural Heritage" signed between the National Cultural Heritage Administration and the Development Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in November 2022. The exhibition brings together 170 cultural relic exhibits from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, showcasing Lingnan traditional architectural art, craftsmanship, and folk customs. The vast majority of exhibits from Guangdong and Macao are being shown in Hong Kong for the first time. The exhibition will continue at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre until June 2024, accompanied by public lectures, workshops, and other educational activities, as well as academic seminars involving experts and scholars from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, to enhance public understanding of Lingnan architecture and promote the exchange of experience in the conservation, restoration, and utilization of Lingnan architecture among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao.
Source: National Cultural Heritage Administration, Sohu News
Compiled by: LYU Jiaxin
Editors: LYU Jiaxin, PIAO Lina
Reviewers: LI Guanghan, WANG Siyu
Final Reviewers: SHEN Ruiwen, ZHANG Jianwei
