Cultural Heritage Partnership in Libya: Prospects in a Time of Conflict and Pandemic (Introduction to the “Protecting Libyan Cultural Heritage” Session)

Will Raynolds (ASOR)

PAPER PRESENTATION

ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives has been active in Libya since 2017, partnering with the Libyan Department of Antiquities, the Historic Cities Authority, the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, and the Ghadames Manuscripts Association to document and preserve heritage sites as well as engage Libyan volunteers to protect cultural heritage around the country. With the support of the Libya External Office, the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and the Whiting Foundation, ASOR has been able to launch a series of projects in Libya intended to enlarge conservation practice and foster a broad, ongoing conversation about cultural protection through our nation-wide network of partner institutions.

Despite ongoing challenges associated with conflict and the fallout of the global pandemic, these projects have managed to adapt to evolving circumstances and remain active. This speaks to the ingenuity and dedication of Libyan stakeholders around the country as well as the deep connection that many Libyans already have for these resources. This paper will discuss progress to date and reflect on ways in which this momentum can be sustained during this turbulent period.

Museums in a Suitcase: Recent Successes and Future Prospects

Intisar Elarebi (Libyan Department of Antiquities)

PAPER PRESENTATION

At a time when museums around Libya remain closed to the public, the Museum in a Suitcase project has enabled ongoing outreach activities for children and students of diverse ages around the country, enlisting them in efforts to protect cultural heritage sites. This paper will focus on outcomes from different types of suitcases, including those focused on both tangible and intangible heritage, as well as those targeting individuals with special needs. Reflecting on the key elements necessary for the successful deployment of these suitcases, this work charts a course for expanding the network of these suitcases and the scope of material with which they engage.

Encouraging Volunteer Participation in Cultural Heritage Protection

Talal Bariun (ASOR)

PAPER PRESENTATION

Over the past several years, ASOR has worked closely with the Libyan Department of Antiquities and the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides of Libya to host a series of “”Pop-Up”” activities at sites around the country including Sabratha, Ghadames, Benghazi and Cyrene. These have been opportunities to directly engage volunteers in critical site cleaning and stabilization activities at a time when the national and local governments do not have operating budgets to support this work.

This culture of volunteerism is not new in Libya. In fact, the Libyan Scouting movement is now nearly 70 years old. Yet this kind of collaboration working to protect cultural heritage sites represents a new direction, harnessing considerable energy from Libyan volunteers of all ages.

Looting of Libyan Antiquities During and After Armed Conflict (Since 2011)

Khaled al Haddar (University of Benghazi)

PAPER PRESENTATION

Since the revolution of 2011, the pressure on Libyan cultural heritage has been uncommonly strong, and the Libyan Department of Antiquities has documented a number of instances in which museums, storerooms, and sites have suffered from looting.

This paper will summarize more than thirty years of efforts to document, track and recover archaeological objects which have been illicitly removed from sites around the country, recommending mechanisms by which organizations like ASOR can support these efforts.

The Role of Departments of Archaeology in Libyan Universities in the Protection of Libyan Cultural Heritage

Mofeda Mohammed Kreidigh (Sabratha University)

PAPER PRESENTATION

As part of ASOR’s 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting, Mrs. Mofeda Mohammed (Sabratha University) presented The Role of the Departments of Archaeology in Libyan Universities in the Protection of Libyan Cultural Heritage. Narration in English. Slides in Arabic.

Digitizing Manuscripts from the Trans Saharan Trade in Ghadames, Libya

Qasim Youshaa (Ghadames Manuscripts Association)

PAPER PRESENTATION

Ghadames is one of the five UNESCO World Heritage sites in Libya. Its mud brick architecture is outstanding, but just as remarkable are the collections that have long been sheltered there.

The Ghadames Manuscripts Association has been working to digitize and preserve a repository of manuscripts documenting hundreds of years of the trans Saharan trade stretching from the Libyan coast towards the Niger River valley. These efforts have recently expanded as new techniques of digitization and data management have been adopted in partnership with ASOR and Hill Museum and Manuscript Library.

Authentic Orchestrations and Orchestrated Authenticity

Reem Furjani (Scene)

PAPER PRESENTATION in “Cultural Heritage: Preservation, Presentation, and Management” session

Arguing against exclusive value-production in conventional conservation practices, an emerging discourse in the heritage field encourages re-thinking value as a socio-cultural construct that occurs within what communities do with and around heritage. However, while the new Critical Heritage field positions communities as carriers of the authentic native interpretations, this paper questions this authenticity by foregrounding the role of the spatial setting in influencing lay processes of meaning-making. As a case study, the study focuses on a spatial transformation around the Roman Arch of Marcus Aurelius in the Medina of Tripoli during a politically-driven restoration of it. By taking three sections in the timeline of the colonial symbol, differences are revealed in lay interpretations before and after this transformation. The first illuminates community ways of engaging with the arch following the Roman period. Voyageur diaries between the 17th and 20th centuries record a native de-valuing of the aesthetic and monumental qualities of it as manifested in its utilisation to serve functional purposes; nonetheless, lay efforts to sustain it indicate a valuing of its historical symbolism. Secondly, its restoration during the Italian colonisation of Libya included contextual appropriations to emphasise its grandeur which authoritatively re-constructed its monumental meaning in a way that abates native socio-cultural filters. This is revealed in the third section which ethnographically documents current civil society uses of the arch as an aesthetic monument. In this way, the paper illuminates processes of decay and re-creation of meanings and their influence on authenticity in community ways of doing heritage.

Rural Archaeological Sites in Cyrenaica at Risk

Ahmad Emrage (University of Benghazi)

PAPER PRESENTATION in “Cultural Heritage: Preservation, Presentation, and Management” session

Numerous rural settlements and fortified structures exist in the countryside of Cyrenaica (Libya). Although the earliest of such settlements date back to the Greek period, most of them were constructed and used for agricultural industrial and perhaps defensive purposes during the Roman and late Roman periods.

In the recent years, many of these rural sites have faced different types of threats ranging from agricultural activity to urban encroachment to looting and vandalism. Following a brief introduction to the typology of these sites and their archaeological and historical importance across a wide range of chronological periods, the paper will discuss and analyze the types of threats this archaeological heritage is currently facing. Attention will then be given to analysis of efforts by local authorities and nongovernmental organizations that are working to identify, monitor, and mitigate the damage and looting of this heritage. Finally, the paper concludes by showing how efforts to raise awareness of the importance of this heritage among the local population is critical to mitigating and preventing all of these threats. It will also highlight how does the trend towards fortification of rural sites in Cyrenaica compare with similar phenomena observed in some other areas of the late Roman Empire.

In general, the paper summarizes a comprehensive research that I have conducted for my PhD dissertation over three years (2011-2014) to document and analyze the architecture, typology, chronology and function of the rural Roman fortified sites in Cyrenaica.

Digitization Work of the Ghadames Association for Heritage and Manuscripts

Abd al Jabar As Saghrir (Ghadames Association of Heritage and Manuscripts)

POSTER

The Ghadames Association for Heritage and Manuscripts is a Libyan civil society organization dedicated to documenting and preserving the cultural heritage of Ghadames, an oasis town recognized as UNESCO World Heritage located near Libya’s border with Algeria and Tunisia. This poster describes the recent documentation and digitization campaigns of the Association, including the digitization of manuscripts of the trans-Saharan, a project conducted in partnership with ASOR and the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library and with the support of the Whiting Foundation. This poster also describes the frontiers that our group plans to explore in the coming years.

Suitcase Museums in Benghazi, Libya

Abdelhafid Massalati (Suitcase Museum Project)

POSTER

Despite its rich history, Benghazi is a city with few cultural centers serving the public. While it is Libya’s second largest city, there is no formal museum. The Suitcase Museum project conducted in partnership with ASOR has sought to remedy this deficiency, tapping into a considerable demand for cultural programming among the city’s residents. Describing the multi-layered past of the city, from its establishment as a Greek colony in the sixth century B.C. to the present day challenges of post-conflict recovery, this program provides an expansive overview of Libyan cultural heritage. It also explains the nature of current threats to heritage sites and collections around the country, as well as the work of local authorities and the public to protect these resources.