The GCI-WMF Iraq Cultural Heritage Conservation Initiative: Building Professional Capacity for Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management

Abstract

One consequence of years of dictatorial regime, international embargo and war was isolation of the professional community responsible for the protection of cultural heritage in Iraq. This community was cut off from international debate concerning the development of methodologies and theories on the conservation and management of archaeological sites, historic monuments and districts. The Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), the governmental body responsible for the nation's cultural heritage, was also depleted of resources. Professionals could not access information, new technologies, such as the Internet and digital photography, and could not follow the international literature or discussions reflecting advances in practice. The Getty Conservation Institute and the World Monuments Fund partnered in late 2003 to form the Iraq Cultural Heritage Conservation Initiative (hereafter called the Initiative), to assist the SBAH to redevelop its professional and managerial capabilities. In meetings with the directors of departments of the SBAH in 2004, a plan was conceived to address the problems. A series of training courses was developed aimed at various categories of SBAH's staff, from directors of regional offices to archaeologists, engineers and surveyors. The training programmes covered technical topics such as the use of computers, geographic information systems (GIS), satellite imagery, digital photography, survey equipment (with equipment purchased by the Initiative and organisations such as UNESCO), and other issues related to the documentation, assessment of condition, and management of cultural heritage sites. A parallel activity is developing a GIS for the SBAH to maintain a national inventory of the archaeological and historic sites and monuments of Iraq — a tool that will also enable SBAH to record damage and threats to sites and to plan protective and conservation interventions. Due to the security situation in Iraq, development of the GIS has been reconfigured to be web-based since locating it in Baghdad was not practicable. The web-based GIS, dubbed MEGA (Middle East Geodatabase for Antiquities) has first been developed for Jordan given ready access to the country. The Jordanian Department of Antiquities (DOA) has been of great assistance in mounting training activities for Iraqi colleagues and has opened sites in Jordan for field exercises. This paper illustrates the activities of the Initiative and advocates similar projects not only in post-conflict areas, but as a matter of standard practice generally, since trained personnel and inventories can reduce the damage that war and civil strife so often inflict on cultural heritage.