Event date: August 29, 2017 at 6:00 pm – Venue: Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat

With the support of Canadian Organizations and especially the Aga Khan Foundation Canada, this reception is aimed at welcoming our international guests and participants to Ottawa. As well as, to raise awareness about the need of heritage documentation for preparedness in areas of conflict.

The event will be hosted at the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, which was established by His Highness the Aga Khan, 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). A secular facility, the Delegation serves a representational role for the Imamat and its institutions, offering a Centre for building relationships, enabling quiet diplomacy, disseminating knowledge and information, while reflecting the wide-ranging humanistic and humanitarian agenda of the AKDN.

Agenda

Time Activity
6:00pm – 6:30 pm Participants arrived and are welcomed by AKFC staff and CIPA organizers
6:30pm – 6:40pm Welcome words by Dr. Mahmoud EBOO, Resident Representative of His Highness the Aga Khan and the AKDN Canada
6:40pm – 6:50pm Welcome words by H.E. Claudio Taffuri, Italian Ambassador
6:50pm – 7:20pm Lecture: Knowledge sharing, dissemination and production of up-to-date documentation methods in areas of crisis by Zaki Aslan, the regional representative of ICCROM for the Arab States and founding director of the Sharjah-based ICCROM-ATHAR Regional Conservation Centre, UAE
7:20pm to 7:50pm Panel discussion about heritage documentation in times of conflict (Mario Santana, moderator)

  • Dr Bijan Rouhani is Director of AMAL in Heritage at Global Heritage Fund(GHF) and Vice President of the International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness of ICOMOS (ICOMOS-ICORP)
  • David Myers is a Senior Project Specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute, where he manages the GCI’s Recording and Documentation Unit
  • Dr. Nichole Sheldrick, Eamena Project, University of Oxford
  • Azadeh Vafadari (Durham University, UK)
7:50pm to 8:30pm Participants exchange

Speaker

Zaki Aslan is the regional representative of ICCROM for the Arab States and founding director of the Sharjah-based ICCROM-ATHAR Regional Conservation Centre, UAE. He is conservation architect, who since 2003, has been Manager of ICCROM’s ATHAR Programme (Conservation of Cultural Heritage in the Arab Region), Rome, Italy. Aslan provided technical advice to the ICCROM’s Member States on issues related to: heritage conservation, management and national planning/ policies; World Heritage procedures; implementation of field projects; and, education, public outreach, capacity building, and curricula development. With more than 20 years of experience in the fields of Cultural Heritage Conservation and Planning (B.Sc. in Architecture, 1988), Aslan holds a Ph.D. in Heritage Conservation and Management from the University College London (UCL), U.K., and an MSc degree in Conservation of the Built Environment from the University of Montreal in Canada (1991). He previously worked as consultant to UNESCO, EU, and ICCROM on projects in the fields of heritage conservation and management in the Arab countries (2000-2002), He worked as project manager in the mid-nineties, when he was engaged in the US-funded Cultural Resource Management Program in Jordan (CRM), and worked on the “Documentation and Conservation of Stone Monuments” in the World Heritage Site of Petra (after studying at the Bavarian State Conservation Office in Germany in 1994). He is co-author of a UNESCO-ICCROM teacher’s guide entitled “Introducing Young People to Heritage Site Management and Protection”, and editor of ICCROM-ATHAR publications series. Aslan is also honorary senior lecturer at University College London, and served as adjunct professor at the American University of Sharjah in the fields of Heritage Conservation, and Islamic Art and Architecture. He is member of the editorial board of the “Journal of Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites”, U.K., and Vice President of the ICOMOS United Arab Emirates (UAE) National Committee.

Knowledge sharing, dissemination and production of up-to-date documentation methods in areas of crisis

Abstract: Man-made and natural disasters affecting cultural heritage today require a set of documentation skills that have increasingly been promoted by professional organisations world-wide. It is crucial to explore possibilities and constraints in conflict or disaster-prone areas with available knowledge and technology for purposes relevant to rapid assessment during disasters or conflicts, and preventive actions relevant to completing missing inventories.  In addition, damage assessment after periods of destruction can inform plans and future conservation work with readily available techniques and technological advancements in this field. Nevertheless, knowledge sharing and knowledge production in this area is very scarce, rendering it difficult to manage cultural heritage effectively. This situation could result in disassociation of objects or in inadequate documentation of historic neighborhoods. In order to address these challenges facing our cultural heritage today, reflection as to how we should unite for the protection of human heritage becomes of utmost importance through established networks and building the capacity of people and professionals who’s role it is to help safeguard cultural heritage on the ground. This is at the heart of ICCROM-ATHAR’s strategic directions and actions implemented and planned for the benefit of its Arab member states. This cannot be achieved without adequate coordination and coordination amongst specialized institutions and agencies working in the areas of training or higher education world-wide.

Panel

Dr Bijan Rouhani is Director of AMAL in Heritage at Global Heritage Fund(GHF) and Training Manager in Endangered Archaeology (EAMENA) at the School of Archaeology of the University of Oxford. He is also Vice President of the International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness of ICOMOS (ICOMOS-ICORP). Bijan is also Vice-chair of ICOMOS Working Group for Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in Syria and Iraq, and has been involved in designing and implementing various training, monitoring and capacity building activities for the protection of built heritage in the Middle East. He is ICOMOS’ representative on the board of International Committee of Blue Shield Board..He received his PhD in 2010 in Conservation of Architectural Heritage from La Sapienza, the University of Rome, Italy. His research was on International Principles for the Protection of Cultural Heritage during Armed Conflict. His research and professional interests include the management and conservation of built heritage; assessing and recording risk and damage from natural and human-induced disasters and armed conflict to archaeological sites and monuments in the Middle East and North Africa and developing risk preparedness and management plans and methodologies for endangered cultural heritage sites; post-war and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction of cultural heritage; and new technologies, including mobile applications, for data recording and emergency management for archaeological sites.

David Myers is a Senior Project Specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute, where he manages the GCI’s Recording and Documentation Unit. He is a member of the GCI’s Arches project team and has worked on the implementation of Arches with the City of Los Angeles, HistoricPlacesLA, as well as implementation of the Middle Eastern Geodatabase for Antiquities (MEGA) – Jordan.

Dr Nichole Sheldrick is an archaeologist and Research Associate with the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) Project at the University of Oxford.  She completed her DPhil in Archaeology at Oxford in 2016, which focused on rural architecture and settlement in Tripolitania (northwestern Libya and southern Tunisia) during the Roman and Late Antique periods. Her current research interests include the archaeology of Roman North Africa, especially in rural contexts, archaeological survey and remote sensing techniques and methodologies, and the identification and documentation of damage and threats to heritage sites in North Africa, particularly in Libya and Tunisia. She is an active field archaeologist, currently involved with projects working in Tunisia and Morocco, and before coming to Oxford spent several years working in commercial archaeology in Ontario, Canada.

Azadeh Vafadari is a heritage conservation and management specialist and researcher. Her main research focus is on methods of assessment and monitoring of cultural heritage resources, and prioritization of responses especially in post-disaster and post-conflict contexts. She is currently working on the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project to develop and implement methods for on the ground damage and risk assessment for their database. She is also currently a PhD candidate at Durham University, Institute of Archaeology and a member of ICOMOS.

Resident Representative of AKDN

Dr. Mahmoud EBOO Resident Representative of His Highness the Aga Khan and the AKDN Canada. Born in Kenya and educated at Harrow School in England, he obtained a B.Sc.in Materials Technology in 1975 and subsequently a PhD. in Laser Engineering in 1979 from Imperial College of Science & Technology, London University. In 1983 he moved to the USA where he co-founded Quantum Laser, an FAA certified company specializing in the manufacture, repair and refurbishment of gas turbine airfoils for the aviation and power generation industries. He sold the company to Honeywell in 2001. He was appointed as His Highness the Aga Khan’s and the AKDN’s Resident Representative to Canada in September 2014 following the signing of a Protocol of Understanding between the Ismaili Imamat and the Government of Canada in February 2014. He also serves as the Chairman of the Ismaili Leaders’ International Forum (LIF), an appointment made by His Highness the Aga Khan. He has been a member of the institutional leadership of the Ismaili Muslim community in the USA and Internationally for the past 30 years. He presently lives in Ottawa, Canada with his wife Karima, a Physical Therapist, with whom they have two daughters.

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