At the invitation of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization took part in the First Regional Conference on Cultural Property Protection, held in Cairo, Egypt, on June 7-12, 2023.
The Organization contributed two papers : The first was presented by Dr. Mohammed Sanad Abu Darwish, Director of Science and Scientific Research, entitled “ALECSO’s efforts for science advancement and cultural property protection.” Dr. Abu Darwish highlighted the main projects and activities implemented by ALECSO in the fields of scientific research, use of modern scientific methods for cultural heritage protection, and ways to link modern applied research on heritage protection and sustainability with modern scientific methods, as well as to link humanities with natural and pure sciences.
The second paper was presented by Dr. Fathi Jarray, Heritage Expert at the Culture Department, entitled : “Cultural Property Protection in the Arab countries against illegal trafficking: the state of documentation and legislation.” Dr. Jarray presented the strategy of legal assistance for the recovery of illegally seized heritage property in the Arab countries. This strategy, previously prepared by the Organization, was presented on several occasions and circulated to Arab countries so that they can benefit from it in developing programs for the protection of cultural heritage and the recovery of looted property.
The Conference addressed the state of cultural property protection in the Arab countries, especially in countries experiencing political transformations. It was an opportunity to highlight the efforts of relevant stakeholders and to showcase a number of successful experiences in the documentation of cultural property and the recovery of artifacts that were seized under certain circumstances.
The Conference was attended by a large number of Arab researchers, experts and specialists in cultural heritage, as well as representatives from regional organizations and specialized research and scientific bodies.
In addition to scientific sessions and workshops, the Conference program featured field visits to the cities of Giza and Alexandria to see first-hand the situation of some cultural properties and the successful experiences for their protection.
ALECSO’s participation in this Conference received great interest from the organizers as well as from all participants, especially the proposals and ideas put forward on ways to leverage modern sciences and technologies for heritage protection. This participation also enabled the holding of some bilateral meetings that explored future cooperation programs in the Organization’s fields of action.
