On Thursday 10th December 2009 at 6.30pm in The Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EL

We would like to invite you to this year’s ICOMOS-UK Christmas Lecture and Wine Reception, in association with The Royal Institution of Great Britain:

The lecture will be given by Professor Clive Ruggles, Chair of the International Astronomical Union ’s Working Group on Astronomy and World Heritage.

In today’s brightly lit world it is all too easy to forget just how overwhelming the dark night sky would have been to human societies in the past—a prominent part of the observed world that was impossible to ignore.

The objects and cycles seen there were vital to people striving to make sense of the world within which they dwelt and to keep their actions in harmony with the cosmos as they perceived it.

The Thirteen Towers, Peru

For the archaeoastronomer, certain ancient monuments provide tantalising glimpses of long lost beliefs and practices relating to the sky, although they have to be interpreted with considerable caution.

In this lecture Clive Ruggles, Emeritus Professor of Archaeoastronomy at the University of Leicester, will describe some major new discoveries made in recent years, focusing on his own ongoing work in Peru, Polynesia, and prehistoric Europe.

Clive is Chair of the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on Astronomy and World Heritage, which is working with UNESCO and ICOMOS to help identify, protect and preserve the most outstanding manifestations of global cultural heritage relating to the sky. Clive is also President of the Prehistoric Society, and President of IAU Commission 41 (History of Astronomy).  His books include Skywatching in the Ancient World: New Perspectives in Cultural Astronomy, edited with Gary Urton (Colorado, 2007), Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth (ABC-CLIO, 2005), and Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland (Yale UP, 1999).

Admission (including wine and mince pies after the lecture) is £15 for ICOMOS-UK or The Royal institution of Great Britain members.
Admission for non-members is £18 and for students it is £10.

We do hope you will join us on the 10th December, 

For more information and a booking form please contact:

Camilla Massara
Events Co-ordinator
International Council on Monuments & Sites UK

Tel 020 7566 0031
E-mail: camillamassara@icomos-uk.org

Blackpool Blackpool’s special history is rooted in its significance as the world’s first working-class seaside resort and its development into a unique centre of popular entertainment.

Today, still synonymous with fun and excitement, Blackpool constitutes an exceptional cultural landscape – a living, evolving expression of the industrial archaeology of the popular seaside holiday.

 Although always at the forefront of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship (the town’s motto is ‘Progress’), Blackpool continues to retain its core identity and ambience and to sustain its distinctive atmosphere of revelry and participation, with an impressive array of surviving architectures, built environments and entertainment traditions dedicated to the provision of leisure and enjoyment. Blackpool is now at a critical point in its historical development, looking to reinvent itself through a new masterplan, pursued through the urban regeneration company ReBlackpool. The Blackpool Resort Masterplan sets out an ambitious vision that will transform the town by redefining Blackpool’s future as a top-quality, world-class resort destination, improving the lives of residents and visitors alike. The trick will be to combine modernisation and the search for new markets with an appeal to tradition, identity and the heritage of the recent past and to encourage high quality architecture and redevelopment that responds to and respects the history, heritage and special character of the place.

View more information

Centre for Sustainable Heritage, Room 106, Roberts Building 1st Floor – Malet Place, Corner with Torrington Place
London WC1E 6BT

Guest Lecture delivered by:
Professor Michael Turner
UNESCO Chair in Urban Design and Conservation Studies
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem
Member of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee

The conservation of cultural heritage in general and of Jerusalem in particular, can be perceived either as the means of consensus or as the essence of the casus belli of the cultural and political reality of the city. The former has more to offer and with the need for sustainability – conserving the city of past, present and future generations – mutual recognition can transcend the barriers of conflict.

The Arch of Ecce Homo, Jerusalem

This presentation takes a look at the wider options for the definition of Jerusalem’s multi-cultural significance and will present a possible scenario that employs the almost globally accepted UNESCO World Heritage Convention as the foundation of consensus building. While the significance of religious myth and symbolism is high on the list, it should be put into the spatial perspective to balance the sacred and profane. This reappraisal might provide a focus for a clearer definition of the city’s cultural significance, peeling the palimpsest, thus giving revised boundaries, relevant buffer zones and a mechanism for management. A dynamic interpretation demands a collective respect by all concerned citizens of the events in the city, thus allowing the shared historic score to be played with different emphases and different instruments by each of the players.

Please email Ben Glynn at b.glynn@ucl.ac.uk if you wish to attend.
Please note that this is a public lecture and all are welcome to attend

Contributing to the UCL Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities debate

International Conference – Under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya Bint Al Hassan

The conference will critically explore the major issues facing the MENA region with regard to the development of tourism and its relationships with heritage and culture, to draw upon best practice from international scholars and to help develop new research capacities amongst the region’s scholars, policy makers and professionals. The conference will bring together over 150 international delegates, all with an interest in sharing research relating to the changing relationships between tourism, heritage and culture in the Middle East and North Africa; it will provide an important occasion for exchanging ideas about tourism, heritage and culture which we recognise as an important mechanism in generating inter-cultural dialogue. UNESCO and ICCROM will be represented.
 
Brochure and Registration Form 

The Conference is being organised by the Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change (CTCC) based in the UK, and the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL) based in Jordan and it is supported by the Greater Amman Municipality. The event will be held in the King Hussein Cultural Centre in the heart of Amman. Dr Taleb Rifai, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nation’s World Tourism Organisation will be a keynote speaker.
 
For more information please contact:

Lina G. Tahan
Conference Convenor
 ———————————————————————————–
Dr. Lina G. Tahan
Senior Research Fellow
Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change
Faculty of Arts and Society
Leeds Metropolitan University
Old School Board
Civic Quarter
Calverley Street
Leeds LS1 3ED
UNITED KINGDOM
 
Mob:+44 (0) 7770 52 52 91
Tel:+44 (0) 113 812 9178
Fax:+44 (0) 113 812 8544
www.tourism-culture.com

Cultural landscapes reflect the interaction between people and their environment over time. Sustaining the distinctiveness of World Heritage cultural landscapes can mean sustaining not just the symptoms of interaction but the underlying processes that contribute towards their Outstanding Universal Value.  The Lecture will consider examples of World Heritage cultural landscapes from around the world and show how these sites could provide approaches that are relevant for other landscapes, both rural and urban, in the UK.
 
Venue: The Gallery, 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ (nearest tube station Farringdon)
 
Doors open at 6pm when wine or juice will be available
 
Tickets: £8

Tel: 020 7490 2974 to make advance reservation, or (subject to availability) tickets can be purchased at the door on the night from 6pm

Email: enquiries@gardenhistorysociety.org

The following members were elected:

President

• Gustavo ARAOZ (United States of America)

Secretary General

• Bénédicte SELFSLAGH (Belgium)

Treasurer General

• Jadran ANTOLOVIC (Croatia)

Candidates – Vice President

• Kristal BUCKLEY (Australia)
• GUO Zhan (China)
• Andrew HALL (South Africa)
• Francisco LOPEZ MORALES (Mexico)
• Olivier POISSON (France)

Candidates – Executive Committee

• Sofia AVGERINOU KOLONIAS (Greece)
• Alfredo CONTI (Argentina)
• Gideon KOREN (Israel)
• Kirsti KOVANEN (Finland)
• Philippe LA HAUSSE (Mauritius)
• Wilfried LIPP (Austria)
• Christoph MACHAT (Germany)
• Yasuyoshi OKADA (Japan)
• Hae-Un RII (Korea)
• Angela ROJAS (Cuba)
• Hristina STANEVA (Bulgaria)
• Boguslav SZMYGIN (Poland)

Membership is open to ICOMOS members able to demonstrate expertise in any field associated with protection, maintenance and conservation of monuments and sites that have intangible cultural heritage associations.

If you are interested in joining this Committee and you are a member of ICOMOS-UK, please contact Camilla Massara on camillamassara@icomos-uk.org for more information.

Sherban Cantacuzino, ICOMOS-UK President Emeritus

We are please to announce that architect Sherban G. Cantacuzino originally from Romania, CBE FSA D.Univ (York) MA (Cantab) FRIBA and ICOMOS-UK President Emeritus, has been awarded a Medal in Category 3 – Dedicated Service at the 2008 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage.

Sherban has dedicated his life to architecture and heritage conservation in Europe and around the world. He has taught, published and helped shape national and European policies and programmes in the field of cultural and natural heritage protection. He held functions in a large number of committees in the United Kingdom and in several international organisations. After 1989, he focussed on Central and Eastern European countries and offered his experience to organise measures to safeguard the heritage in these countries. He initiated numerous projects, particularly in Croatia and Romania , where he is the Founder-President of Pro Patrimonio, the National Trust of Romania. The career of Sherban Cantacuzino is valued for its outstanding contribution to the welfare of Europe ‘s cultural heritage. His continuous energy and dedication for the cause of historic buildings and environmental conservation in Romania has been particularly admired.

ICOMOS-UK Website goes live

Welcome to ICOMOS-UK’s new website!

Our new site is based around a blog which is an international heritage and conservation news service. Here you will find stories, features and reviews about our events, projects and members, as well as news from around the world on conferences, campaigns and reports.

ICOMOS-UK plays an essential role in advising on aspects of World Heritage and sites for nomination across the UK. Our new website will therefore focus on stories about World Heritage in the UK and internationally.

On our new site, you can find all the information you need about ICOMOS-UK and its specialist committees, as well as features on our recent projects (use the links at the top of the page, and for features visit the ‘In Focus‘ section). On the left hand side you will see our latest stories and underneath the latest news from the ICOMOS Documentation Centre and the World Heritage Centre.

On the right hand side you can use the links to browse the site by category (‘I’m looking for’) or by theme. The size of the themes (also known as Tags) indicate how many stories are associated with that topic. You can also browse the site through monthly archives. The new site is also fully searchable using the Search Box on the top right hand side.

The International Heritage News Service will also feature reports from our members who represent the UK on ICOMOS International Scientific Committees (read David Yeomans’ report on Standards for Historic Buildings).  We also welcome reviews of events and publications on internationally important subjects from our members (read Barry Joyce’s book review of Shayam Chainani’s Indian Diary).

We hope you’ll enjoy browsing our new site and continue to send us your stories from around the world. Remember you can leave comments after any of our stories and features.

Heritage and Environment: An Indian Diary by Shyam Chainani

This is a personal account of a lifetime’s campaigning for the protection of India’s architectural and wider environmental heritage by a remarkable man.

Shyam Chainani’s father was, in the time of the Raj, one of the few Indians to become an ICS officer (one of the ‘heaven born’) and after Independence was appointed a High Court Judge. His son initially followed a conventional career as a business executive with the great Tata Group, following education in India, Magdalene College Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As a young man Shyam Chainani’s instinctive appreciation of the contribution historic buildings make to the urban environment led him to start questioning the destruction which he saw around him in the Bombay of the 1960s and 70s. When his beloved Royal Bombay Yacht Club’s nearby predecessor building of 1898 was proposed for demolition, he was galvanised into what became an obsessive lifetime’s devotion to environmental action.

It is a remarkable tribute to Tata and, by extension, the new young democratic country of India, that Chainani’s employer continued, for over 20 years, to pay a salary to allow him to carry out full time campaigning work, even when sometimes those campaigns were in direct opposition to the interests of the company. Is there a comparable example in UK business history?

The 500 plus pages of this illustrated book recount numerous instances of moral bravery by the committed few who gathered under the banner of the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) and were prepared to stick their necks out over matters of principle, sometimes in the face of seriously intimidating threats.

The name of the Group came to be rather misleading once its campaigning activities extended to many of the other great cities of India and even to hill stations and sites of ecological importance.

One of its bitterest and most challenging campaigns was fought in the 1980s against the might of the Navy, in defence of Bombay’s historic Naval Dockyard and its other historic buildings. The dockyard has been in continuous use since the early part of the 18th century and is where numerous ships for the East India Company and later the Royal Navy were built. Chainani describes how, after protracted and sometimes vicious exchanges at ministerial and chief of staff level the Government’s Director of Archaeology was finally won over by BEAG and the Government was persuaded to declare the historic structures listed buildings. This together with the winning over of some admirals frustrated the Navy’s intention to demolish the 18th and 19th century frontage buildings.

Government ‘heritage’ officials were not always so cooperative. Protection for India’s archaeological sites was put in place before Independence but the resultant great bureaucracy ‘The Archaeological Survey of India’ (ASI) considers the protection of the overwhelming bulk of India’s built heritage outside its remit and the book recounts how it has fallen to the heroic discriminating few to campaign for legislative protection for this vitally important part of the country’s cultural heritage.

Anyone interested in India’s extraordinary post independence history will find this an intriguing read, providing as it does an insight into the complex workings of that liberal democracy. Those who have fallen under the spell of India and love its historic towns and villages should purchase a copy to demonstrate their solidarity with the brave few whose heroic battles are catalogued here.

Barry Joyce
March 2008

Book details

HERITAGE AND ENVIRONMENT: AN INDIAN DIARY
By
Shyam Chainani

Published by The Urban Design Research Institute. November 2007.

Rs.995, $25, £13

ISBN 81-9019740-4-4