e-News n°150

1 December 2017

Call for membership: ICOMOS International Scientific Committee PRERICO - deadline 21 December 2017

The ICOMOS Scientific Committee for Places of Religion and Ritual (PRERICO) was, after discussion by a small group of members for several years, on 7 March 2017 formally recognised by the ICOMOS Board with the support of the Advisory Committee of ICOMOS together with acceptance of its statutes/by laws.

An election for officers was held and the results were as follows:
Hae Un Rii, Republic of Korea, President,
Henrik Lindblad, Sweden, Vice President,
John Hurd, United Kingdom, Vice President,
Britta Rudolff, Bahrain/Germany, Secretary,
Vita de Waal, United Kingdom, Treasurer.

Other members of the original Committee include Erik Anderson - Sweden, Dinu Bumbaru - Canada, Yonca Erkan - Turkey, Michael Mail – United Kingdom, Giora Solar - Israel, Michael Turner – Israel.

PRERICO is now pleased to announce that, following an inaugural meeting in Paris (Charenton) on 6-7 March 2017, it is now seeking applications for membership from ICOMOS members.

PRERICO has been established to research, and provide specialised interests in Monuments and Sites of Religions and Ritual, including places of world religions and local traditions and beliefs, religious heritage and sacred places including their intangible significance.

The purpose of the Paris (Charenton) meeting was to establish and trigger the activity of the Committee and develop an action plan, together with establishing criteria for membership. The Committee, through this communication, hopes to attract applicants to contribute their expertise to this important thematic work. Applications from all members both expert and associate are governed by the selection criteria in PRERICO's by-laws and need to reflect diversity in region, culture, religion or belief, profession, and age. See Membership criteria below.

A provisional program of PRERICO work, events and scientific meetings was part of the outcomes of the March working session.

PRERICO Draft Triennial Work Programme

These are the activities considered for PRERICO’s first triennial programme to be adopted at its first annual meeting in New Delhi in December 2017:

• In the World Heritage context initiate a gap analysis and / or thematic study on religious/sacred heritage;
• Represent ICOMOS at international meetings related to religious heritage;
• Contribute to the establishment of international guidelines, principles and ethical approaches for its conservation;
• Assist in the evaluation of World Heritage nominations of sites with religious or ritual connotations and assist in the review of WMF nominations;
• Participate actively in the General Assembly of ICOMOS in 2017 by arranging a first annual meeting of PRERICO; being present at the ISC Forum and proposing a session during the Scientific Symposium;
• Arrange for a seminar / workshop to review existing documentation providing guidelines for the conservation of religious heritage;
• Consider good practice for maintenance approaches within reasonable budgets to provide guidance to religious communities for heritage maintenance;
• Expansion of membership through calls and announcements of ISC activities.

PRERICO recognises the great effort of several ISCs and National Committees who work on related topics and we look forward to future co-operating with these and others.

Colleagues wishing to apply for membership, at any level, are invited to apply to membership@prerico.icomos.org including Name, National Committee and ICOMOS membership number, a brief CV, before 21 December 2017.

PRERICO are expecting a fairly large number of applicants and would kindly ask for your patience as we evaluate each application.

With best regards,

Hae Un Rii
President
PRERICO

PRERICO Membership Criteria

The PRERICO membership is regulated in article 4 in the By-Laws for PRERICO, which states that the Committee shall be composed of Expert, Associate, Institutional and Honorary members. This document completes the By-Laws by specifying individual criteria or qualifications for members of the four categories. For all other formal membership criteria and regulations, see By-Laws, article 4-4.1.

1. Expert members*

1.1. The minimum professional qualifications for Expert Members of PRERICO are the following. University degrees, technical or philosophical diplomas, and apprenticeships or equivalent practical experience, will be acceptable as criteria for nomination. Above all, an ability to demonstrate an active interest in the understanding, protection, conservation and management of places of religion and ritual (see By-Laws, article 2 - Aims) through active participation, publications, monographs or research, is required.

1.2. Crafts persons or other professionals wishing to be elected to the Committee at any level, but lacking qualifications such as degrees or other normally accepted standards referred to above. Nominees under this criterion must demonstrate and present at least two examples of well-implemented projects performed in accordance with the aims of PRERICO, be of good reputation and be recognized for ethical conservation science standards, customary conservation and maintenance, traditional knowledge and other skills in their own field.

1.3. Expert members may also be voting members, these are designated by the National Committees, proposed by PRERICO’s Bureau and approved by PRERICO (see By-Laws articles 4.1 (1), 5.1.c), 5.2.b)).

2. Associate Members*

2.1. Associate Members shall consist of ICOMOS members who have demonstrated an interest in the field but are not yet considered international experts, young promising professionals and students studying appropriate research.

3. Institutional Members

3.1. Institutional Members shall be institutions, academic programs, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, faith and other religious communities or any other legal entity who wants to contribute to the mission of PRERICO.

4. Honorary Members
Honorary Members can include former Officers or Bureau Members of PRERICO who, because they have exceeded their length of term, can no longer be Bureau Members.
*Membership of ICOMOS is mandatory

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