Preserving Cultural
Heritage in Armed Conflicts
by Yue Zhang
SUMMARY
The ongoing armed conflicts in the Middle East have caused severe damage
to the regions cultural heritage. Despite the challenges, great joint efforts
have been made between local heritage professionals and the international
heritage community. Such efforts demonstrate creative approaches to
preserving cultural heritage in conflict zones, and illuminate the future of
more efficient international cooperation.
From the demolition of Iraqi archeological sites during the recent Iraq War, to the
bulldozing of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban in March 2001, to the recent
destruction of some ancient Syrian artifacts and the looting of others by the Islamic State
(ISIS), crimes against cultural heritage in armed conflicts pose a major challenge to the
humanities in the 21st century. Cultural heritage has become a target in the Middle East
because it represents a peoples history, memory, and culture, all of which are subject to
erasure. As Michel Foucault remarked in a 1975 interview on film and popular memory:
Michel Foucault, Film and Popular Memory: An Interview with Michel Foucault,
Radical Philosophy 11, no. 11 (1975), 28.
WILSON BRIEFS
attracted participants from Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey. The courses broadly
cover ways to combat illicit trafficking, provide emergency stabilization for built heritage,
protect moveable heritage, and record intangible heritage. In addition to training, SHOSI
is engaging emergency preservation projects for at-risk cultural heritage. One such
timely measure successfully protected the building and mosaic collection of the Maarra
Museum, located south of Aleppo, from the Assad regimes June 2015 air force attack.
WILSON BRIEFS
@TheWilsonCenter
facebook.com/WoodrowWilsonCenter
www.wilsoncenter.org
WILSON BRIEFS