Supporting Documentary Heritage Preservation in the Arab Region (original) (raw)

Preserving Endangered Archives in Jerba, Tunisia: The al-Bāsī Family Library Pilot Project

Manuscript Studies: A Journal of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, 2018

In July 2017, we launched a project entitled "Preserving Endangered Archives in Jerba, Tunisia: The al-Bāsī Family Library Pilot Project. "1 Generously supported by the Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) funded by the British Library and Arcadia, the project aims at the digital preservation of the private Arabic manuscript library of the al-Bāsī family in the town of Houmet Souk on the island of Jerba in southern Tunisia. This report offers a brief history of the collection and its contents as well as a description of the project's training efforts and aims.

A documentary research on the state of Kuwait’s national archives : pre and post the Gulf War

2017

Austin for the contribution, support, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge she portrayed during this journey. She consistently encouraged me and steered me in the right direction whenever she thought I needed it. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my Master's thesis. I would also like to acknowledge professor Ciaran B. Trace of the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin who was my academic advisor accompanying my two-year journey with constructive advice, suggestions, and recommendations. Dr. Trace is also the second reader of this thesis and I am grateful and indebted to her for her very thoughtful and insightful comments that strengthened and improved my work. My deepest gratitude goes to my husband for his tolerance, and continuous support and encouragement. I wish to acknowledge and thank my mother for her prayers and encouragement. vi Special thanks go to my sisters, brothers, and friends for their unending support of my determination to realize my potential and fulfill my dreams.

Against All Odds: Keeping Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Arab World Vibrant

Handbook on Intangible Cultural Practices as Global Strategies for the Future: Twenty Years of the UNESCO Convention on Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage Edited by Christoph Wulf, 2025

Arab countries comprise communities and groups that are socially and linguistically diverse and different in size and prevalence. They have lived with rich manifestations of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) that have interacted through history and continue to interact with the political, social, economic, and environmental surroundings. Multiple languages and dialects are also spread among these communities, representing a vehicle through which ICH is transmitted. This contribution briefly presents and evaluates the concept of ICH, and how it began to come to the attention of legislative, academic and institutional circles in the Arab countries, and summarizes the most important achievement related to the implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for safeguarding ICH. Some recommendations that are expected to contribute to safeguarding ICH in a sustainable context for the benefit of communities and their social and economic well-being are proposed.

The Heritage Collection/ Library of Qatar: History, Development, Potential, Goals and Trends

Museums in Arabia Conference Programme, London, King's College, 26 - 28 June, 2019

The Heritage Collection has grown out of a private book collection that Sheikh Hassan b. Mohammad b. Ali Al Thani inherited at the late 1970s. Heavily enlarged and developed over many years, it got an integral part of the Qatar National Library (QNL) in 2012. The very prominent place in the new library building (opened in 2017/ 2018) clearly indicates the important role the Heritage Collection is given in the quickly developing cultural landscape of Qatar (Museum of Islamic Art, Mathaf, National Museum). The paper will offer a closer look into the history in order to understand the achievements and the goals of this project, and what kind of material is covered (using examples from different areas of the collection). Finally some remarks will be made regarding the relationship between the physical collection and the digital collections presented in the Qatar Digital Library (QDL) which went online in 2014.

Lababidi and Ravaioli 2017_Heritage Preservation in Islamic Contexts

Heritage Preservation in Islamic Contexts, 2017

This book tackles the marginalisation of Islamic heritage and materiality, and aims to reposition it at the centre of academic debate. For centuries Middle Eastern cultures have been studied and classified by foreign and fundamentally ‘Orientalising’ disciplinary traditions that have often side-lined regional Islamic contexts. Vernacular practices of valuing and caring for material culture have been equally disregarded, with limited input in heritage decision-making from local, non-expert voices. At present, the Arabian Gulf represents an area of particular interest in this debate. Countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have a rapidly developing heritage sector, with new museums opening their doors to increasingly international audiences. This book presents the results of a two-year investigation into practices of valuation and preservation of material culture in the Islamic world, particularly in relation to archaeological, museological and architectural heritage in Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.