UNESCO’s project to ‘Revive the Spirit of Mosul’: Iraqi and Syrian opinion on heritage reconstruction after the Islamic State

Isakhan, Benjamin; Meskell, Lynn

doi:10.1080/13527258.2019.1578988

Cited by 63 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…However, despite its importance for individual, group, community and national well-being, heritage is threatened globally by development and cultural intolerance [41] with the destruction of heritage increasingly used to disempower people. The destruction of cultural heritage sites, such as that systematically undertaken by Islamic State in Syria and Iraq is an extreme example, but it also raises questions about the sustainability of heritage sites and practices, as well as the motivations in terms of purposeful negative impact on individual and community well-being [42][43][44][45].…”

Section: Analysis Of Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New and Emerging Challenges to Heritage and Well-Being: A Critical Review

Taçon

Baker

2019

Heritage

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In the past decade, scholarship has documented the ways in which interacting with different forms of heritage impact individual and/or community well-being, as well as the harm to human well-being that occurs when heritage is damaged or destroyed. We bring the results of a review of this literature together, defining both heritage and well-being in relation to each other and exploring the relationship between heritage and well-being. New and emerging threats to heritage and, in turn, well-being are outlined, as well as new ways of preserving heritage for future generations. The future of heritage is discussed along with the importance of the concept of “living heritage”. We conclude that heritage is essential for contemporary and future well-being, and that if we do not better care for heritage then human health will be negatively impacted.

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Section: Analysis Of Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New and Emerging Challenges to Heritage and Well-Being: A Critical Review

Taçon

Baker

2019

Heritage

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“…Furthermore, the key international institutions in charge of safeguarding cultural heritage are international organisations, such as UNESCO, which tend to favour the interests of states above the human rights of individuals and sub-state collectives (Logan 2012b). Archaeologist Lynn Meskell has articulated the difficulties imposed by the nature of UNESCO as an intergovernmental organisation and the overt politicisation of the World Heritage Committee (Meskell 2013b;Meskell et al 2015;Isakhan and Meskell 2019).…”

Section: Linking the Cultural Heritage And Human Rights Discoursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The flagship project has commenced clearing explosive hazards from infrastructure and restoring heritage sites such as the al-Nuri Mosque and al-Hadba Minaret. While ambitious in its scale and aims, the Revive the Spirit of Mosul project will succeed only through genuine engagement and consultation with local stakeholder communities, above all the residents of the Old City themselves, who hitherto appear to have been given little opportunity to participate (Isakhan and Meskell 2019).…”

Section: Intentional Destruction Of Cultural Heritage: the Case Of Mosulmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heritage and cultural healing: Iraq in a post-Daesh era

Matthews

Rasheed²,

Fernández

et al. 2019

International Journal of Heritage Studies

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Against the backdrop of the destruction of Iraqi heritage over the past quarter of a century, this article critically reviews key aspects of the current state of Iraq's cultural heritage, including damage to heritage buildings caused by Daesh in Iraq's second largest city, Mosul. We bring together Iraqi and non-Iraqi expertise in heritage, archaeology, and human rights law to frame our approach, building on the movement to link cultural diversity, heritage, and cultural rights. We emphasise the need for planning to enhance protection of Iraq's heritage, in particular through the preparation of inventories, the provision of resources for heritage education in schools and the development of Iraq's museum sector. Iraq's presence on the UNESCO World Heritage Lists needs to be enhanced, and the issues of illicit site looting and traffic in looted antiquities must be addressed within international contexts. Iraq's future accession as State Party to the 1999 Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention is a priority in achieving these goals. The paper stresses the need for co-creation of heritage knowledge and a gender-sensitive human rights approach for the future of Iraq's globally significant cultural heritage.

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“…This is especially important for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, which have experienced heritage destruction due to armed conflicts since the last decades of the 20th century [18,20]. Studies have indicated various aspects of the post-conflict reconstruction of cultural heritage from approaches and methods for recording, inventory formation, and condition assessment of damaged structures and identifying priorities in their reconstruction [21], to the political underpinnings of reconstructions and the importance of the engagement of local communities in the reconstruction processes [22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heritage Reconstruction Planning, Sustainability Dimensions, and the Case of the Khaz’al Diwan in Kuwait

Sabri

Altan

AlGhareeb³

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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Although attempts for formulating sustainable approaches in heritage management have been ongoing since the 1980s, sustainability dimensions in the context of ‘reconstruction’ have remained an unexplored research area. By investigating the case of the ruined Khaz’al Diwan in Kuwait, an architectural heritage site in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage (WH) Tentative List, we explore and compare the roles of the ‘cultural continuity’ and ‘environmental protection’ pillars of sustainability in reconstruction planning. By employing rapid ethnographic surveying and case study methods, we first investigate the approach to ‘cultural continuity’ from the State’s stance and through local community perceptions. Albeit with nuances, the surveying revealed a preference for historicist reconstruction. However, the Khaz’al Diwan, like most of the heritage structures in the Gulf region, was originally constructed with coral stone, which is now protected under environmental laws. How feasible is the use of replacement materials in terms of sustainability perspectives that is also acceptable from heritage perspectives? Considering the high cooling loads required in this climatic region, we prioritized the energy performance of the construction materials of the external walls and the roof. Computer simulations based on scenarios testing same-type and replacement construction materials revealed how the latter could be considered as an alternative in a historicist reconstruction. The discussion revolves around the environmental and cultural parameters that are instrumental in reconstruction planning. This ultimately highlights how reconstruction policies must be shaped to redefine the role and scope of material authenticity to accommodate the local environmental and cultural realities in the wider Gulf region and Middle Eastern context.

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UNESCO’s project to ‘Revive the Spirit of Mosul’: Iraqi and Syrian opinion on heritage reconstruction after the Islamic State

Cited by 63 publications

References 34 publications

New and Emerging Challenges to Heritage and Well-Being: A Critical Review

New and Emerging Challenges to Heritage and Well-Being: A Critical Review

Heritage and cultural healing: Iraq in a post-Daesh era

Heritage Reconstruction Planning, Sustainability Dimensions, and the Case of the Khaz’al Diwan in Kuwait

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