Looking back on 18 April 2021 | Thank you!

On the 18 April 2021, around 25 Australia ICOMOS members and colleagues who attended the NSW International Day of Monuments and Sites event held at the Big Dig Archaeology Centre had a very special and emotional afternoon. We were privileged for hearing the stories of the survivors of the Kinchela Boys Home. They ‘Unlocked the Past to Free the Future’. Their story well fitted to this year’s theme of the Day ‘Complex Pasts: Divers Futures’.

ICOMOS Armenia actively participated in the 2021 edition of the IDMS by producing seven videos. These videos are presented as cartoons in English and sign language, telling the story of the country, its monuments and its various events. Aimed at young people, the videos can also make adults think about the value of cultural goods and monuments.

On the occasion of IDMS 2021, ICOMOS Bosnia and Herzegovina organised two events, one on 19 April , 2021 entitled ‘Architectural maps of Austro-Hungarian period in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sarajevo map’, and the other on 20 April, 2021, entitled ‘1891-2021: 130th anniversary of major Austro-Hungarian military constructions in Banja Luka’.

The National Committee of Chile organised a webinar on 18 April 2021, on the issue of governance of the Valparaíso World Heritage site. This event was a reaction to the agreement recently signed between the city’s municipality (current manager of the site) and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, to redefine the figure of the site manager.

During the month of April, and particularly on the International Day for Monuments and Sites on 18 April, 2021, ICOMOS China and its partners gathered ideas, efforts and forces to propose 46 events on the theme of ‘Complex Pasts, Diverse Futures’, with a focus on perception, conservation and inclusion of people in heritage. For example, the festivities began with a thematic programme for disabled children to appreciate historic paintings in the Forbidden City. Some of the events are ongoing until this summer, to perpetuate the idea that heritage is a valuable matter to share.

During the hard times of Covid-19, ICOMOS China believes that cultural heritage should yield more influences on the recovery of people’s health and minds. The aim is to unite the global community in support of heritage conservation, with ICOMOS China playing a significant role in this process.

On the occasion of the International Day for Monuments and Sites of 2021, the International Scientific Committee of CIPA prepared a short video presenting the history of the IDMS and the CIPA ISC, highlighting its aims, proceedings, challenges and actions.

Egypt celebrated the IDMS 2021 by starting on 8 April in Cairo until 10 April in Alexandria.

The Cairo event was organised by AS 50 campaign and AH-CI | Egypt with the Cultural Development Fund, under the Auspices of Dr Ines Abdeldayem, Minister of Culture. The title of the event was “Okasha.. The man who gave the impossible a chance”, as Tharwat Okasha was the first Egyptian Minister of Culture and played an important role in preserving heritage. The event included a number of integrated activities, such as:

• A lecture by Arch. Hamdy EL-Setouhy, Expert member of ICOMOS and Founder of Abu Simbel Campaign. He explained the theme of this year “Complex Pasts: Diverse Futures”. The lecture dealt with lessons learnt from the situation surrounding the salvation of the Abu Simbel temples.
• Abu Simbel Symphony, written by musician Aziz Al-Shawan 50 years ago, was played by a clarinet quartet. The Balance Quartet was composed of: Marwa Zayed – Sarah Ahmed – Amr Imam – Raymond Fawzy – Toaa Ali
• A showing of the documentary film, “The Eighth Wonder”, about the Abu Simbel temple and the salvation directed by the international director John Feeney in the 1960s, and a showing of a collection of paintings by the artist Hussein Bicar.

The event was attended by many specialists and those interested in cultural heritage, as well as the head of the Cultural Development Fund at the Ministry of Culture.
While the event of Alexandria was held in the Museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria on 10 April, it has included the announcement of the results of the “Reliving a Heritage” competition and the awarding of prizes to the winners. The competition was open to youth from all disciplines, and was aimed to regenerate knowledge about the importance of heritage revival.

ICOMOS EPWG would like to thank everyone for their contribution to the EPWG Global Café and IDMS celebration, as they had some great discussions during their webinars with people engaged and enjoying the event.

Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Urban Research and Development Center (EMU-URDC) and Famagusta Walled City Association (MASDER) organised a historic environment awareness event series including a photographic documentation-exhibition and roundtable discussion with the theme of “Looking at our Home/City from Outside: Eyesore Scenes in Famagusta Walled City” on the occasion of IDMS 2021.

Exhibition opening and talk took place on 17 April 2021, organised by EMU-URDC and MASDER. The event emphasized the values of living in a historic city like Famagusta and sought to raise awareness of the importance of preserving such values. The event also aimed to make Famagusta Walled City a more sustainable historical city and community within the scope of the UN’s SDG11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities”. Therefore, identifying, bringing forward and discussing the problems encountered in the city was part of the event.

Joining the ICOMOS celebrations for the International Day of Monuments and Sites on the 18 April 2021, the European Heritage Youth Ambassadors curated an online quiz about World Heritage sites addressing this year’s special theme “Complex Pasts: Diverse Futures”. The 17 questions were representative of our ambassadors and the places they live, have previously resided, or have a strong affinity for. Seven EU countries were featured along with three non-European heritage sites, while a number of questions were related to transboundary and serial heritage sites, covering a vast geographical percentage. Questions were broadly related to a number of themes including cultural landscapes, monuments, local communities, language, architecture and raising awareness of our rich and diverse cultural heritage.

The online quiz opened for public participation on 18 April and was accessible through Facebook and Twitter for one week as well as Instagram for 24 hours. Overall, more than 130 people took the quiz, enriched their knowledge and engaged with the World Heritage sites in an interactive way, participating in the celebrations for the International Day of Monuments and Sites through the eyes of youth in the field of heritage.

Launched in January 2021, the European Heritage Youth Ambassadors programme is a result of a fruitful partnership between Europa Nostra, European Students’ Association for Cultural Heritage (ESACH) and European Heritage Tribune with an aim to amplify the voices of young professionals in the field of heritage.

The National Committee of India collaborated with Reconnecting With Your Culture, the UNESCO Chair University and Heritage, ICOMOS PRERICO, Asian Cultural Landscape Association, IFLA and the World Culture Project for a webinar about “Culture as an Idea and a Reality: From Cultivation of the Soul to Contemporary Cosmology”. Held on 18 April 2021, it was moderated by Olimpia Niglio, and D. Paul Schafer and Rana P.B. Singh were among the speakers.

The National Committee of Italy gathered the efforts from its different Scientific Committees to produce an online marathon about specific themes, actions and subjects around the notion of heritage. Starting on 6 May 2021, you will be able to find the list of videos prepared by the Italian Scientific Committees below, and in our “IDMS 18 April 2021” YouTube playlist.

ICOMOS Mexico shared a short video about Tonala pottery, a pre-Hispanic tradition in danger of extinction in Jalisco, Mexico.

The Foundation for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Rabat (Foundation presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa) and ICOMOS Morocco with the support of the Wilaya of Rabat organised a webinar on “Rabat: a Rich Past and a Promosing Future” to celebrate the International Day for Monuments and Sites.

ICOMOS Philippines had organised a webinar, which was able to bring in a lot of thought-provoking discussions among attendees and panellists, as well as a lively membership exchange of their National Committee members, even post-event. As local safety restrictions are still in place due to the pandemic, their event was held entirely online via Zoom.

The ICOMOS Sustainable Development Goals Working Group was honoured to invite you to their Brainstorming and Sharing Session the day before the International Day for Monuments and Sites. Moderated by Focal Point Gabriel Caballero, this online meeting engaged discussions about Inclusivity, Gender equality and Indigenous people.

On the occasion of the International Day for Monuments and Sites, the School of Arab Studies of Grenada, Spain, had prepared a specific programme around La Casa del Chapiz, heritage of the CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas). From 13 April to 18 April 2021, six videos were produced around the representation of Spanish heritage.

On 18 April 2021, the Street Art (Spray & Save) event launched the activities of a newly found Sustainable Conservation Trust dedicated to community-based adaptive reuse of military heritage. Four local artists painted during the day at the open space of a successful adaptive reuse project Hotwalls in the old town of Portsmouth, United-Kingdom.

To thank ICOMOS for the invitation to celebrate the IDMS, the National committee of Venezuela published an article on their blog,on the theme of the Sunday 18 April 2021. In addition, the editors of the Venezuelan architecture magazine “Entre Rayas” offered to publish the next issue in physical format.

On 23 April 2021, the Working Voluntary Club “CVT Club UNESCO” from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, gathered with students as part of a heritage education campaign. The aim of the project is to train a group of young volunteers for the dedicated to saving our local heritage, which is considered endangered due to the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the last 20 years.