ICOMOS is sad to hear about the passing of Professor Dawson Munjeri. With a long, illustrious, and fruitful national and international career, he is regarded as a key contributor to the conservation and promotion of African tangible and intangible cultural heritage. His role in the inscription of Zimbabwean sites on the World Heritage List makes him a leading authority in the country's cultural heritage protection.
Since its inception in 1982 by ICOMOS and its adoption the same year by the UNESCO General Conference, the International Day for Monuments and Sites (IDMS) has taken place every year on April 18. Celebrated throughout the world, this day represents an opportunity to promote and celebrate the importance of cultural heritage.
The theme of this year's event (2024) was "Disasters and conflicts through the lens of the Venice Charter". Africa was no exception. ICOMOS is pleased to highlight four activities that took place on the continent on this occasion.
Following the 2019 ICOMOS Heritage Alert, issued in response to the delisting of this internationally recognised modernist exhibition hall and the political pressure to demolish it in favour of a new museum building, ICOMOS welcomes recent indications that plans for such demolition have changed. The winning design of the architectural competition, selected from among 5 proposals, for a new museum that also preserves the existing hall was published on 11 January 2024.
The 2024 United Nations Ocean Decade Conference - co-organized by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC/UNESCO) - took place in Barcelona 10-12 April, 2024. The event centred around the identification of the future challenges and priorities for ocean knowledge and science. Experts from the ICOMOS International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH) represented ICOMOS at the conference.
Preserving Legacies: A Future for our Past welcomes a new cohort of heritage sites and custodians across the world to work together to ensure their places of cultural significance are protected from climate change impacts and allowing us to continue to learn from our past and inspire our future.
With climate change as their fastest growing threat, not only is their physical integrity at risk of erosion, but so are the values, knowledge and sense of community imbued in these places.
Following the work initiated through a capacity-building workshop in 2022 in Kinshasa and Kongo Central, ICOMOS is implementing the second phase of the national cultural heritage inventory in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ICOMOS President Teresa PATRÍCIO; legal advisor on cultural heritage Bély NIANGAO (ICLAFI/Burkina Faso) and cultural heritage inventory expert Boussad AICHE (Algeria), attended the first mission which took place from 24-30 March 2024 in Kinshasa, DRC.
From 18-22 March 2024, a UNESCO/ICOMOS mission to Chernihiv on Guidance for Developing a Rehabilitation Plan for the Historic Center of Chernihiv and Methodology for Emergency Preparedness Plans was held in Chernihiv, Ukraine.
ICOMOS sent 5 international experts onsite to help with the rehabilitation and methodology.