From Persepolis to Isfahan: Safeguarding Cultural Heritage
his conference focused on protecting the cultural heritage of Iran. As is well known cultural heritage worldwide is under threat, and from many countries there are stories of damage to monuments and archaeological sites allied to ongoing deterioration of cultural resources. At present, the problem is particularly acute in Iraq and Syria due to military activity and state-sponsored vandalism. Fortunately these problems do not exist in Iran. Nevertheless, monuments and archaeological sites are susceptible to damage caused by acid rain, sandstorms, earthquakes, floods, neglect, looting, and urban development. The aim of this conference was to review the extent of the damage, to raise awareness of the problem, to look at the framework within which protection is currently provided, to chart best practice worldwide, and suggest some practical measures to help and support Iranian colleagues.
Speakers include:
- Professor Robert Hillenbrand, University of St Andrews – Keynote Speaker
- Dr Chahryar Adle, President of the International Scientific Committee, UNESCO; ICOMOS, Paris; and Tehran
- Dr Alireza Anisi, ICAR, Tehran
- Dr Sussan Babaie, Courtauld Institute of Art
- Dr Dariush Borbor, Tehran
- Dr Rémy Boucharlat, CNRS, Lyons
- Dr John Curtis, CEO, Iran Heritage Foundation
- Dr Hassan Fazeli, ICAR, Tehran
- Dr Wouter Henkelman, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris
- Professor Jukka Jokilehto, ICCROM
- Professor Marisa Laurenzi Tabasso, Rome
- Professor Roger Matthews, University of Reading
- Mr Bijan Rouhani, Vice President of ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness, ICORP
There will also be a panel discussion involving:
- Mr Neil MacGregor, Director, British Museum
- Professor Martin Roth, Director, Victoria & Albert Museum
- Mr Jon Snow, Journalist and Newscaster
Welcome address given by Mrs Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian, Trustee of the Soudavar Memorial Foundation and member of the Organising Committee, at the conference
On behalf of the Soudavar Memorial Foundation I would like to welcome and thank the speakers and the guests for their participation and truly heart-warming interest. About three years ago, when I drew attention to the importance of Iran’s deteriorating natural and cultural heritage, I hardly imagined that my appeal would bear fruit so soon, but one can count on Vahid and Maryam Alaghband to make things happen. After last year’s highly successful environmental conference, our joint collaboration with Iran Heritage is focusing this year on cultural heritage, with the support of BIPS and the Flora Foundation. Let us hope it bodes well for collaborative efforts on cultural heritage at a time and in a neighbourhood where we have seen the testimony of great civilizations suffer serious and at times irreversible damage.
Cultural heritage is no less important than natural heritage. What biodiversity is to nature, cultural diversity is to identity and to its creative genius in all its manifestations. While the former is vital to our physical survival, the latter is essential to our understanding of who we are and as a source of inspiration to be drawn upon by generation after generation. Iran is particularly fortunate in being blessed with a diversity of monuments and archaeological sites that chart the progress of civilization not only on a national level but on a global scale. This renders the conservation of Iran’s rich heritage all the more urgent as it faces challenges from natural erosion, environmental pollution, vandalism, ignorance and bad taste, mindless urban development, and last but not least indiscriminate sanctions that affect both natural and cultural heritage to the detriment of all . We cannot afford to remain indifferent, if only for the sake of future generations. Although the challenges faced by Iran’s heritage are neither as dramatic nor as immediate as in Iraq and Syria, where part of an equally diverse and rich heritage is irretrievably lost, longer term the potential risks may prove to be as damaging if we do not act now. That is why we are assembled here with dedicated experts who have devoted their talents to the study and salvage of a heritage which we share with the world as our contribution.
I would like to conclude with an episode from the life of my mother, a known patron of the arts, who passed at age 101 last June. Years before she donated her art collection to her father’s endowment, the Malek Library and Museum in Tehran, where it can be seen in a special wing dedicated to her memory, she was sitting in her house in the centre of Tehran surrounded by her cherished artworks as missiles poured down at the height of Iran-Iraq War. Despite entreaties she refused to take shelter and abandon her collection to vandals and looters. To her the sanctity of cultural heritage was greater than the sanctity of human life. She viewed artistic creation as the material manifestation of the best that human genius can produce, and it outlives (or should outlive) our mortal coils to provide lessons from the past for future generations. It is in that spirit and in tribute to the sanctity of human genius that we are proud to support the cultural heritage of Iran as an integral part of human heritage.
Programme
18.00 – Registration
18.30-19.30 – Keynote Lecture:
Prof. Robert Hillenbrand (University of St Andrews): The state of Iranian monuments in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
19.30-20.30 – Drinks Reception
09.00 – Registration
Session 1
09.30-09.45 – Welcome addresses from Vahid Alaghband, Fatema Soudavar and Ali Ansari
09.45-10.15 – Dr John Curtis (CEO, Iran Heritage Foundation)
Protecting Cultural Heritage: A View Across the Middle East
10.15-11.15 – Panel discussion with Mr Neil MacGregor (Director of the British Museum), Prof. Martin Roth (Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum) and Mr Jon Snow (Journalist and Newscaster)
11.15-11.30 – Coffee
Session 2 (Chair: Prof. Pierre Briant)
11.30-1.30 – Persepolis Panel:-
Dr Alireza Askari Chaverdi & Prof Pierfrancesco Callieri
From Palace to Town: The Activities of the Iranian-Italian Joint Archaeological Mission at
Persepolis, 2008-2013
Dr Mohammad Hassan Talebian (Deputy Director ICHHTO, Tehran), Prof. Marisa Laurenzi Tabasso (Rome), Dr Alireza Askari Chaverdi (Shiraz), Prof. Pierfrancesco Callieri (Bologna) Recent Diagnostic Investigations on the Stone Monuments of the Persepolis Terrace
Dr Mehr Azar Soheil (ICOMOS, Rome)
The Conservation of Persepolis in the 21st-Century and Beyond
Prof. Michael Roaf (University of Munich and Oxford University)
Changing Attitudes to Persepolis
13.30-14.30 – Lunch
Session 3 (Chair: Dr Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis)
14.30-15.30 – Keynote Lecture
Dr Mohammad Hassan Talebian (Deputy Director of ICHHTO, Tehran)
Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in Iran (tbc)
15.30-16.00 – Dr Wouter Henkelman (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris)
The Present Condition of Darius’ Monument at Bisitun
16.00-16.30 – Tea
Session 4 (Chair: Prof. Robert Hillenbrand)
16.30-17.00 – Dr Sussan Babaie (Courtauld Institute of Art)
Isfahan: Architourism and Historic Preservation
17.00-17.30 – Dr Alireza Anisi (Iranian Research Center for Cultural Heritage and Tourism)
Tepe Hissar in Damghan: a Conservation and Management Plan
17.30-18.00 – Dr Chahryar Adle (President of the International Scientific Committee,
UNESCO; ICOMOS, Paris; and Tehran)
The Hectic Inscription of the First Iranian Sites on UNESCO’s List of the World Heritage
Properties in the Revolutionary Iran of 1979 and its Aftermath
Session 5 (Chair: Hassan Hakimian)
10.00-10.30 – Prof. Pierre Briant (Collège de France & Musée du Louvre, Paris)
Collecting and Disseminating Information About Iranian Cultural Heritage on the Web: The Achemenet-program (2000-2015)
10.30-11.00 – Bijan Rouhani (Vice President of ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness, ICORP)
Developing Disaster Risk Management Plan for Cultural Heritage Sites in Iran
11.00-11.30 – Coffee
Session 6 (Chair: Iradj Bagherzade)
11.30-12.00 – Prof. Roger Matthews (University of Reading)
Archaeological Research in the Cultural Heritage of Iran: Traditions, Realities, Prospects
12.00-12.30 – Dr Hassan Fazeli (University of Tehran)
Challenges and Opportunities in Salvage Archaeology in Iran: Some Current Issues
12.30-13.00 – Dr Rémy Boucharlat (CNRS, Lyons)
Rescue Excavations in the Sivand Dam: A Pioneering but Controversial Archaeological
Project
13.00-14.00 – Lunch
Session 7 (Chair: Bijan Rouhani)
14.00-14.30 – Dr Dariush Borbor (Tehran)
Threats to Cultural Heritage from Urban Development in Iran
14.30- 15.00 – Prof. Jukka Jokilehto (ICCROM)
Urban conservation from Persepolis to Isfahan
Session 8 (Moderators: Iradj Bagherzade, John Curtis, Hassan Hakimian)
15.00-16.00 – ‘The Way Forward’ – Discussion with Q&A from the Audience
Summing Up and Closing Remarks
16.00 – Tea and end of conference
Speakers
- Welcome Addresses & John Curtis
- Neil MacGregor, Martin Roth, Jon Snow
- Mehr Azar Soheil
- Michael Roaf
- Wouter Henkelman
- Dariush Borbor
Welcome Addresses
Vahid Alaghband, Chairman, Iran Heritage Foundation
Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian, Trustee, Soudavar Memorial Foundation
Ali M. Ansari, President, British Institute of Persian Studies
Protecting Cultural Heritage: A View Across the Middle East
John Curtis, CEO, Iran Heritage Foundation
Safeguarding Cultural Heritage
Panel discussion with Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, Martin Roth, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Jon Snow, Journalist and Newscaster
The Conservation of Persepolis in the Twenty-First Century and Beyond
Mehr Azar Soheil, International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), Rome
Changing Attitudes to Persepolis
Michael Roaf, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich and University of Oxford
The Present Condition of Darius’ Monument at Bisotun
Wouter Henkelman, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris
Threats to Cultural Heritage from Urban Development in Iran: A Case Study of the Urban Renewal of Mashhad Historical City Centre
Dariush Borbor, Research Institute and Library of Iranian Studies
- Jukka Jokilehto
- Sussan Babaie
- Alireza Anisi
- Chahryar Adle
- Pierre Briant
- Roger Matthews
- Hassan Fazeli Nashli
- Rémy Boucharlat
Urban Conservation from Persepolis to Isfahan: Reflections on Territorial Management of Iranian Cultural Heritage
Jukka Jokilehto, International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM)
Isfahan: Architourism and Historic Preservation
Sussan Babaie, Courtauld Institute of Art
Tepe Hissar in Damghan: A Conservation and Management Plan
Alireza Anisi, Iranian Research Center for Cultural Heritage and Tourism
The Inscription of the First Iranian Sites on UNESCO’s List of the World Heritage Properties in the Revolutionary Iran of 1979 and its Aftermath
Chahryar Adle, President of the International Scientific Committee, UNESCO; ICOMOS, Paris; and Tehran
Collecting and Disseminating Information about Iranian Cultural Heritage on the Web: The Achemenet-Programme (2000-2015)
Pierre Briant, Collège de France and Musée du Louvre, Paris
Archaeological Research in the Cultural Heritage of Iran: Traditions, Realities, Prospects
Roger Matthews, University of Reading
Challenges and Opportunities in Salvage Archaeology in Iran: Some Current Issues
Hassan Fazeli Nashli, University of Tehran
Rescue Excavations in the Sivand Dam: A Pioneering but Controversial Archaeological Project
Rémy Boucharlat, Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Lyons)