Activities
Stakeholder consultation for Saudi Arabian documentary heritage
With the aim of enhancing understanding of the needs of Saudi Arabian and Arab memory institutions for the preservation of documentary heritage, UNESCO’s Memory of the World (MoW) Programme organized a stakeholder consultation in partnership with the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) on 22-23 October in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Arab world possesses an abundance of rich documentary heritage that not only encapsulates the past but also hods present-day relevance in shaping national cultures and identities across the region. Unfortunately, there remains a lack of awareness of the value and significance of Arab documentary heritage, as reflected in the underrepresentation of Arab States in the International MoW Register, accounting for only 3% of all inscriptions.
The risks faced by documentary heritage are manifold, including neglect, natural decay, technological obsolescence and, in some cases, deliberate destruction. To address these challenges, there is an urgent need for a more comprehensive cataloguing of Arab and Saudi Arabian documentary heritage.
In this context, UNESCO’s stakeholder consultation convened national and regional actors including the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture, UNESCO Gulf States & Yemen Office, Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, the Cultural Archive Center, MoW subcommittee experts and memory institutions.
Over the two-day consultation, participants gained a deeper understanding of UNESCO’s MoW Programme, its objectives, mechanisms, the opportunities it offers, and the steps required for the formation of a Saudi Arabian National MoW Committee and National Register established by the Ministry of Culture.
Additionally, participants and representatives exchanged best practices, identified priorities, and addressed the challenges facing the preservation of documentary heritage. The discussion also explored the importance of youth engagement, the evolving nature of documentary heritage including digital form and rock art.
This stakeholder consultation, held as part of the MoW project to preserve documentary heritage in AlUla, solicited feedback and mobilized support from national stakeholders and regional experts to build consensus on the scope and objectives ahead of the 2024 inaugural conference: The Kingdoms Institute Platform for the Promotion of Documentary Heritage – a flagship conference that will bring together documentary heritage practitioners and policymakers to showcase their efforts at preserving and accessing the wealthy of documentary heritage reposed in their memory institutions.
Inaugural Conference in AlUla 2024
Kingdoms Institute Platform for the Promotion of Documentary Heritage
A major activity of the AlUla Documentary Heritage Project, the Kingdoms Institute Platform for the Promotion of Documentary Heritage in the Arab World will be taking place in its first edition in the very heart of AlUla, with dates to be announced shortly. The conference is being implemented by the UNESCO MoW Programme with financial support from the RCU
Set to be a multifaceted opportunity for memory institutions from all corners of the Arab world, the conference will gather participants to discuss advancing the identification, preservation of, accessibility to, and promotion of the Arab world’s rich documentary heritage.
Key aims of the conference:
1. Promote the global significance of Saudi Arabian documentary heritage and that of the larger Arab region to the stakeholders as well as to the public;
2. Build capacities for the identification, preservation, and accessibility of documentary heritage as sustainable development among memory institutions in the Arab world;
3. Strengthen regional networking among policy-makers and memory institutions in the Arab world to more effectively engage with the documentary heritage in AlUla.
Itinerary
In pursuit of these key aims, the conference’s itinerary offers a variety of activities for participants, including high-level plenary sessions, a reception hosted by RCU, capacity-building workshops for memory institutions, hybrid exhibitions, first-presentations of AlUla research findings, and seminars and roundtables.
Carefully curated to address challenges relevant to the Arab region, a line-up featuring expert speakers will focus on an array of subjects.
Further details about the date, schedule, agenda, and all other details will be provided shortly.
For comments, suggestions, or any inquiries, please contact mowsecretariat@unesco.org (UNESCO Documentary Heritage Unit, Communication and Information Sector).
