THE INAUGURAL EVENT IN A NEW SERIES OF WORLD MONUMENTS FUND TALKS: THE PAST, TODAY Heritage & Conflict: Syria’s Battle to Protect its Past

Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR Thursday 12th November 2015, 7pm (doors open at 6.30pm)

Syria’s Monuments Man to give first ever talk to a London audience on what it’s like to be “the world’s saddest Director of Antiquities”

We’ve all seen the images that convey not only the human tragedy but also the grievous destruction of ancient and irreplaceable monuments such as Palmyra.

To launch an important new World Monuments Fund Britain programme of issue-based events, Professor Maamoun Abdulkarim, Director-General of Antiquities and Museums for Syria, and James Davis, Programme Manager for the Google Cultural Institute, will tell the human story behind the global headlines and report on the latest international efforts to document cultural heritage. The evening will be introduced by Lisa Ackerman, Executive Vice-President of World Monuments Fund.

With the loss of cultural heritage dominating the media, in his first visit to the UK, Professor Maamoun Abdulkarim will talk about Syria’s frontline efforts to protect its irreplaceable heritage from insurgent forces. The structures, whether caught in the crossfire, deliberately destroyed to gain the media spotlight or looted to fund extremist activity, are symbolic of a treasured cultural legacy and are simply irreplaceable. What if anything can be done to protect what remains?

This event is generously supported by American Express.
This series of events will continue in March, April and June 2016.

Photograph: © iStock RPMGas

Heritage & Conflict: Syria’s Battle to Protect its Past Thursday 12th November 2015, 7pm (doors open at 6.30pm)

Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR. Twitter @WorldMonuments, @JohnD_WMFB, #HeritageConflict

Box Office Tickets are available for £15 (£10 for WMF members) from www.wmf.org.uk/activities or 020 7251 8142